0.43.6 version's AI codebase chat causes severe system resource spikes and crashes.

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Describe the Bug

When using Cursor’s AI codebase chat feature, the IDE experiences critical performance degradation leading to system crashes and SSH connection failures. The issue appears to be related to using root (/) as the project directory containing numerous files, though this same setup worked without issues in previous versions.

Reproduction Rate:

Tested 3 times on the same project
100% reproduction rate
Each test resulted in identical behavior pattern and system crash
Average time to crash: ~5 minutes of AI codebase chat usage

Potential Cause:

Project directory is set to root (/)
Large number of files in the directory structure
Note: The same project structure worked properly in previous versions, suggesting this might be a regression in v0.43.6’s file scanning or resource management

Steps to Reproduce

Open Cursor IDE (v0.43.6)
Connect to development environment via SSH
Initiate AI codebase chat feature
Within approximately 5 minutes:

System resources begin to spike dramatically
CPU and memory utilization reach critical levels
Disk I/O shows abnormal spikes

IDE becomes unresponsive
SSH connection fails and cannot be reestablished
Entire development environment requires restart

Expected Behavior

Expected Behavior

Cursor IDE should maintain stable performance during AI codebase chat sessions
System resource usage should remain within normal operating ranges
SSH connections should maintain stability
Development environment should remain responsive and accessible

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Operating System

Linux

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Cursor Version: 0.43.6
VSCode Version: 1.93.1
Commit: a846435528b4b760494a836f96f0739889253530
Build Date: 2024-12-06T05:11:55.168Z
Electron: 30.5.1
Chromium: 124.0.6367.243
Node.js: 20.16.0
V8: 12.4.254.20-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.1.0

Additional Information

Local vs Server Behavior:

Local Environment: The Cursor IDE performs normally with AI codebase chat feature
Server Environment: Causes severe system-wide crashes affecting both IDE and server stability

Critical Server Impact:

Not just an IDE crash - causes entire server instability
Forces server restarts
Disrupts all server-hosted services and development environments
SSH connections become unstable and fail

Environment-Specific Nature:

Same codebase and root directory structure
Same Cursor version (0.43.6)
Different outcomes based purely on deployment environment
Suggests possible interaction issues with server resources or server-specific configurations

This environment-dependent behavior suggests the bug might be related to how Cursor handles resource allocation and management in server environments, despite working properly in local development setups. The server-wide impact makes this issue particularly critical for teams using remote development environments.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable