[BUG] v2.1.74 - Session resume crashes PowerShell + memory leak cascades to Claude Desktop (Windows non-admin) - CRITICAL !!!

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?

Bug description
After the forced auto-update to 2.1.74, launching a session with claude --resume <session_id> loads the context successfully but crashes PowerShell violently after a few seconds of inactivity (no user input needed). This happens 100% of the time.

Cascade effect
After the CLI crash, Claude Desktop subsequently crashes as well. Something appears to remain corrupted in memory. This did NOT happen before the update.

Additional impact

• Running irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex to reinstall also crashes PowerShell (reproduced 3 times)
• The installer wiped the sessions directory (~/.claude/sessions/) during one of the crash/reinstall cycles
• The sessions folder is now empty despite projects folder being intact

Suspected cause
Memory leak introduced in 2.1.74 on Windows. The Node.js/Bun + Electron combination (CLI + Desktop running simultaneously) saturates memory rapidly on non-admin profiles.

Workaround tried
$env:NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=512" — did not prevent the crash.

What Should Happen?

Expected behavior
Claude Code CLI should resume sessions stably without crashing the shell or leaking memory to other processes.
Just stay stable without crash on the moon after a just few seconds.

Error Messages/Logs

Crash before Messages / Logs.

Steps to Reproduce

Memory leak introduced in 2.1.74 on Windows. The Node.js/Bun + Electron combination (CLI + Desktop running simultaneously) saturates memory rapidly on non-admin profiles.

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.74

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

Environment

• Claude Code version: 2.1.74 (stable channel)
• OS: Windows (non-administrator user profile)
• Shell: PowerShell
• Claude Desktop: also affected

Bug description
After the forced auto-update to 2.1.74, launching a session with claude --resume <session_id> loads the context successfully but crashes PowerShell violently after a few seconds of inactivity (no user input needed). This happens 100% of the time.

Cascade effect
After the CLI crash, Claude Desktop subsequently crashes as well. Something appears to remain corrupted in memory. This did NOT happen before the update.

Additional impact

• Running irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex to reinstall also crashes PowerShell (reproduced 3 times)
• The installer wiped the sessions directory (~/.claude/sessions/) during one of the crash/reinstall cycles
• The sessions folder is now empty despite projects folder being intact

Expected behavior
Claude Code CLI should resume sessions stably without crashing the shell or leaking memory to other processes.

Suspected cause
Memory leak introduced in 2.1.74 on Windows. The Node.js/Bun + Electron combination (CLI + Desktop running simultaneously) saturates memory rapidly on non-admin profiles.

Workaround tried
$env:NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=512" — did not prevent the crash.