Memory explosion

Environment

• Claude desktop app: 1.6259.0
• macOS: 26.3.1 (build 25D771280a)
• Hardware: MacBook Pro Mac16,1, Apple M4 (4P + 6E), 16 GB unified memory
• Disk free at incident: 290 GB (swap had room — not a disk-pressure trigger)
• Mode: Claude Code running inside Claude.app (Cowork / Code mode)
• Date: 2026-05-06

Summary

During an active Claude Code session hosted inside the Claude.app desktop app,
the app process accumulated 73.62 GB of memory (4.6× physical RAM, forced
into compressed memory + swap). macOS triggered the
"Dein System hat keinen Programmspeicher mehr" / "Your system has run out of
application memory" Force Quit dialog. All other listed apps combined held
~5 GB; Claude.app alone was 73.62 GB.

Screenshot of the Force Quit dialog attached (IMG_3197.HEIC) — clearly shows
"Claude (Pause): 73,62 GB".

Repro context (best-effort)

• Mode: Claude Code session inside Claude.app
• Session content: agentic work including HEIC image attachments converted

via sips, several Bash tool results, two WebSearch tool results, no
unusually large file reads

• Session length: moderate (not an outlier "all-day" session)
• Other Claude.app conversations / windows: <please confirm Joe>
• The session was NOT in a pathological state by user perception — memory

growth was silent until macOS intervened.

Why this is reportable

73 GB on a moderate session is past "normal Electron leak" — that's
pathological. Likely candidates:

1. Tool-result images (screenshots, attached HEICs) not being released after

render — held in renderer DOM/heap for full session

1. HEIC decode caching: a 2.9 MB HEIC decompresses to a much larger bitmap;

if decoded repeatedly per render, snowballs fast

1. Cowork/Code mode keeping full Claude Code transcript + tool results in

renderer in addition to model context

Repro suggestion for engineering

1. Open Claude.app, start a Code/Cowork session
2. Attach a 2-3 MB HEIC image and have Claude convert it via Bash + Read
3. Run a couple of WebSearch tool calls returning images/results
4. Watch Activity Monitor for Claude Helper (Renderer) memory growth
5. Heap should grow monotonically across tool results without GC reclaim

Workarounds I'm using meanwhile

• Quit + relaunch Claude.app at first sign of slowdown
• Pre-convert HEIC to ≤1600 px JPEG before attaching
• Start fresh conversations for each task
• Prefer Claude Code in Terminal over Claude.app's Code mode for long sessions

Attachments

• IMG_3197.HEIC — Force Quit dialog screenshot

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