VS Code extension: excessive memory usage (6GB+2GB) immediately after launch

Description

Claude Code VS Code extension spawns two processes immediately after launch, consuming ~8 GB RAM total (6 GB + 2 GB). This causes the system to freeze on machines with limited RAM.

Environment

• Extension version: 2.1.27 (darwin-arm64)
• VS Code: latest stable
• OS: macOS (Darwin 25.2.0, Apple Silicon — MacBook Air)
• Project: TypeScript monorepo (Turborepo + pnpm, 15 packages)

Steps to reproduce

1. Quit VS Code completely (Cmd+Q)
2. Reopen VS Code with a monorepo project
3. Open Activity Monitor / ps aux | grep claude
4. Two Claude processes appear immediately:

• One at ~6 GB RAM, ~80% CPU
• One at ~2 GB RAM, ~19% CPU

Expected behavior

Memory usage should be reasonable at launch (< 500 MB), especially before any conversation is started.

Actual behavior

~8 GB RAM consumed immediately after VS Code opens, before any user interaction with the extension. pkill -f "claude" does not help — VS Code respawns the processes instantly.

Additional context

• Cmd+Shift+P → Claude Code: Restart does not resolve the issue
• /clear in chat does not reduce memory
• Only Cmd+Q (full quit) + reopen provides temporary relief, but the high memory usage returns immediately
• The native binary path: ~/.vscode/extensions/anthropic.claude-code-2.1.27-darwin-arm64/resources/native-binary/claude

Process details

PID  %CPU %MEM COMMAND
3324 80.9 26.0 claude --output-format stream-json ... --resume <id>
3235 19.0  3.0 claude --output-format stream-json ... --max-thinking-tokens 0
3257  3.9  1.0 claude --output-format stream-json ... --max-thinking-tokens 31999