Kernel panic: 3 Claude processes hit 17.3 GB resident on 18 GB machine, MacBook powered off (v2.1.37)

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

This is my third report in 4 days. Each time worse. This time Claude Code caused a kernel panic — my MacBook physically shut down.

• #24113 (Feb 8): 12.7 GB, swap 96%, still usable
• #24583 (Feb 10): 36 GB single process, Jetsam kill, hard reboot
• Today (Feb 11): Kernel panic. Forced power-off. Fan noise audible before crash.

I was doing normal single-user work. Within ~15 minutes the system froze and died.

The Numbers

From the kernel panic log (panic-full-2026-02-11-195623.0002.panic):

| PID | Resident Memory |
|-----|----------------|
| 90079 | 7,095 MB |
| 67596 | 5,442 MB |
| 90331 | 4,721 MB |
| 5 others | ~1,386 MB combined |
| Total (8 processes) | 18,643 MB |

18.2 GB resident on 18 GB RAM. System had 47 MB free. Watchdog couldn't check in for 93 seconds → kernel panic.

panic(cpu 6 caller 0xfffffe0051cee31c): watchdog timeout: no checkins
from watchdogd in 93 seconds

Why is this still happening?

This memory leak pattern has been reported since v2.1.34. I've provided Jetsam logs, footprint data, and now a full kernel panic dump. Other users report the same (#24644, #23442, #4953). The native macOS app is bricking machines.

Is there a timeline for a fix? Is there anything else I can provide to help debug this?

Environment

• Claude Code: 2.1.37 (native macOS)
• macOS: 26.1 (25B78), Apple M3 Pro, 18 GB
• Terminal: Ghostty

Diagnostic Files

All in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ — happy to upload:

• panic-full-2026-02-11-195623.0002.panic
• ResetCounter-2026-02-11-195626.diag