[BUG] Native memory leak — 1 GB RSS in 21 seconds (v2.1.71) [closed as duplicate]

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Native Memory Leak — Claude Code v2.1.71

Environment: macOS (darwin), Node v24.3.0, Claude Code 2.1.71
Trigger: manual heapdump after 21.0s uptime

Memory at dump time (~21s uptime)
| Metric | Value |
|--------|-------|
| RSS | 1038 MB |
| Heap Used | 123 MB |
| Heap Total | 50 MB |
| External | 81 MB |
| Array Buffers | 23 MB |
| Peak Malloc | 1038 MB |
| Growth Rate | 177837 MB/hour (~49 MB/s) |

Analysis
The JS heap is only ~123 MB but RSS is ~1038 MB after just 21 seconds of uptime. The vast majority of memory (~915 MB) is in native
allocations outside V8's control. The heapsnapshot confirms JS objects are not the source — top JS consumers are normal
(ArrayBuffers, code blocks, closures totaling ~70 MB).

Leak indicators flagged by diagnostics:

• Native memory > heap - leak may be in native addons (node-pty, sharp, etc.)
• High memory growth rate: 177836.7 MB/hour

This points to a native addon memory leak (likely node-pty or similar).

Attached files

• Diagnostics JSON

ba6f9371-88e6-40e6-940e-81a4dfb59bcb-diagnostics.json

)

What Should Happen?

Memory usage should remain stable and proportional to session activity. A fresh session with minimal interaction should not exceed
~200-300 MB RSS.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Launch Claude Code (claude) in a project directory
2. Send a short message (e.g. "hey")
3. Run /heapdump after ~20 seconds
4. Observe RSS at ~1 GB in the diagnostics JSON despite minimal activity

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

2.1.20

Claude Code Version

2.1.71

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_