Memory leak: RSS reaches 2.6GB in ~3 minutes with 45GB/hour growth rate

Bug Description

Claude Code exhibits abnormal memory growth, reaching ~2.6GB RSS within approximately 3 minutes of usage (201 seconds uptime). The diagnostics indicate a memory growth rate of ~45,506 MB/hour, which is clearly a leak.

Diagnostics Summary

| Metric | Value |
|--------|-------|
| RSS | 2,674 MB (~2.6 GB) |
| Heap Used | 2,674 MB |
| External Memory | 2,641 MB |
| ArrayBuffers | 2,329 MB |
| Growth Rate | ~13.3 MB/s (45,506 MB/hour) |
| Uptime at dump | 201 seconds (~3.4 min) |
| CC Version | 2.1.72 |
| Node Version | v24.3.0 |
| Platform | Linux (6.19.6-zen1-1-zen) |

The bulk of memory is in external / arrayBuffers (2.3GB of the 2.6GB total), suggesting the leak is in native/buffer allocations rather than JS heap objects.

Diagnostics Analysis Output

potentialLeaks: ["High memory growth rate: 45506.7 MB/hour"]
recommendation: "WARNING: 1 potential leak indicator(s) found."

Reproduction

The leak occurs during normal interactive usage. A heapdump (34MB .heapsnapshot) and full diagnostics JSON were captured via /heapdump and are available upon request.

Environment

• OS: Arch Linux, kernel 6.19.6-zen1-1-zen
• Claude Code: 2.1.72
• Node.js: v24.3.0
• Shell: zsh