[Bug] Multiple Claude Code instances spawning, causing terminal flicker and CPU exhaustion since v2.0.14

Bug Description
THIS IS NOT THE COMMON FLICKERING ISSSUE

when i use claude code normally sometimes when i send a message the terminal keeps flickering, and claude code becomes unusable, i never get a reply, no matter how long i wait. the only chance to make it work again is to restart the app, when i check my activity monitor i have someimes up to 7 instances of claude code running eating up my cpu power and makes my entire system unusable.

not sure what to do, noticibly started after version 2.0.14

Environment Info

• Platform: darwin
• Terminal: zed
• Version: 2.0.19
• Feedback ID: 9032a789-a721-4dcc-a31a-9cb3db0556e8

Errors

[]

Additional information about the issue after debugging in verbose mode and checking logs:

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?

Claude Code enters an infinite loop creating empty file-history-snapshot entries, causing:

• Complete UI freeze with flickering/flashing
• High CPU and memory consumption
• No response to user messages
• Requires force-kill to recover (Ctrl+C doesn't work)
• Only solution is to kill process and restart

This has occurred 20+ times over the past few days, making Claude Code essentially unusable.

Evidence

Session log shows infinite snapshot loop (50+ snapshots in 30 seconds):

{"type":"file-history-snapshot","messageId":"...","snapshot":{"messageId":"...","trackedFileBackups":{},"timestamp":"2025-10-16T12:41:35.905Z"},"isSnapshotUpdate":false}
{"type":"file-history-snapshot","messageId":"...","snapshot":{"messageId":"...","trackedFileBackups":{},"timestamp":"2025-10-16T12:41:36.068Z"},"isSnapshotUpdate":false}
{"type":"file-history-snapshot","messageId":"...","snapshot":{"messageId":"...","trackedFileBackups":{},"timestamp":"2025-10-16T12:41:36.256Z"},"isSnapshotUpdate":false}
... [continues indefinitely, ~150-200ms intervals]

Key observations:

• Snapshots created every 150-200 milliseconds
• All snapshots are empty: "trackedFileBackups":{}
• No actual message processing occurs
• No API calls logged
• No errors logged - just infinite snapshot creation

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start Claude Code in a project directory
2. Send any message/prompt
3. Observe: Screen begins flickering, no response received
4. Check Activity Monitor: High CPU usage from node process
5. Check logs: tail -50 ~/.claude/projects/[PROJECT]/[SESSION].jsonl shows infinite file-history-snapshot entries

What Should Happen?

• Claude should process the message and respond
• UI should remain responsive

Actual Behavior

• Infinite loop of empty snapshot creation
• Complete hang requiring force-kill
• Makes Claude Code completely unusable
• Happens consistently across multiple sessions
• Happens in many different terminals including Ghostty, Zed, Cursor, Windsurf terminals

Impact

This bug makes Claude Code completely unusable. After 20+ occurrences in a few days, I cannot reliably use Claude Code for any work.

Corrupted Session Files

Found 20+ corrupted session files with excessive snapshot counts:

$ find ~/.claude/projects/ -name "*.jsonl" -exec sh -c 'grep -c "\"type\":\"file-history-snapshot\"" "$1"' sh {} \; | sort -n | tail -5


this bug was first noticed after version 2.0.14

bug has been present in 2.0.14+ through current 2.0.19

I can provide full session JSONL files, additional system logs, or any other debugging information needed.