VS Code Codex: CPU usage to 100% when using 0.4.71 version

Thanks for the bug report. Which process appears to be consuming the CPU?

Thanks for the bug report. Which process appears to be consuming the CPU?

I have the same issue . It is ripgrep. It keeps spawning processes even when a prompt is finished. I'm on windows 10, downgrading works but then you can't use 5.3. It is unusable ATM on windows 10

<img width="1037" height="710" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/09f45a30-269f-4db9-bad2-304699a458ff" />

Task manager shows VS Code and System processes consuming the CPU. I just saw another bug report that might be the cause or related:

https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/10831

It seems it's an infinite loop polling for Skills/list

I can confirm this issue on Windows 11.

Environment:

• Windows 11
• VS Code
• Codex extension 0.4.71

Problem:
After opening a large monorepo, CPU usage quickly reaches 100%.
Task Manager shows multiple parallel 'rg' processes running in VS Code.

Important details:

• Reproducible on large monorepos
• Does not reproduce on small or empty repositories
• Everything worked fine yesterday with the same project on the previous version of the extension
• The problem appeared immediately after updating the extension

Task Manager is almost completely filled with 'rg' processes, and the CPU usage hits 100%, until VS Code becomes unusable.

<img width="1915" height="1030" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5a0650bc-5b4d-4ed4-b0fd-9dba3dde1230" />

In my case it does not seem to be ripgrep, but mainly VS Code and System processes.

<img width="574" height="347" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/bde101da-d991-45ed-8bdf-592144ac502e" />

Once I disable the Codex extension it returns to normal within 10 seconds:

<img width="566" height="422" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d79b08f9-c3c8-474c-bb96-0efe34e5b3ce" />

I am also experiencing the flood of rg.exe caused by OpenAI Codex, even when there is no task executing. When I disabled the extension, the problem went away. I came across the problem when my CPU was reaching above 90c and at risk of overheating. For a minute, I was worried my CPU was dying!

Edit: Looks like there has to have been at least one task executed, but it can still be completed and the problem is present.

Thanks for post.

same problem. any fixes?

We're trying to diagnose the problem but do not have a repro case. If you're a Windows user and are seeing the rg storm, please use the /feedback slash command to upload your logs and post your thread ID here. That will help us get to bottom of this more quickly. Thanks!

Some more info:

• I have tried Codex CLI both in Windows and in WSL and there is no issue.
• Also I tried VS Code Codex in Windows and Widnows sandbox and there is no issue.

The only combination that triggers the CPU usage for me is VS Code Codex in WSL, which is unfortunate because I either have to downgrade and be locked out from 5.3 or not use WSL which still underperforms dramatically in windows (very unreliable use of tools).

Some more info: I have tried Codex CLI both in Windows and in WSL and there is no issue. Also I tried VS Code Codex in Windows and Widnows sandbox and there is no issue. The only combination that triggers the CPU usage for me is VS Code Codex in WSL, which is unfortunate because I either have to downgrade and be locked out from 5.3 or not use WSL which still underperforms dramatically in windows (very unreliable use of tools).

Same here.
I've also tried to switch the extention to the pre-release but same result.

I’m seeing the same issue and was able to mitigate it on my setup.

Environment:

• OS: Windows 11
• IDE: VS Code
• Codex extension: 0.4.71
• Runtime: Codex running inside WSL (Remote – WSL)

Symptoms:

• After executing at least one Codex task, CPU usage spikes to ~100% and does not return to idle even after the task completes.
• Task Manager shows a large number of parallel rg (ripgrep) processes, making VS Code almost unusable.
• The issue only occurs when using the VS Code Codex extension inside WSL.
• Codex CLI works fine (both in Windows and WSL).
• VS Code Codex running directly on Windows (non-WSL) does not reproduce the issue.
• Disabling the Codex extension immediately brings CPU usage back to normal.

Expected behavior:
CPU usage should return to idle (around 3–5%) after Codex finishes responding, as in previous versions.

What worked for me:
It appears to be related to installed Codex skills.

<img width="1735" height="1028" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/09f9d663-6b76-4492-88b2-a84da4f8f9f3" />

1. Inside WSL, I removed all previously installed Codex skills (under ~/.codex/skills).
2. Fully closed VS Code.
3. Reopened VS Code and reattached to WSL.

After doing this, CPU usage returned to normal and the rg process storm stopped completely. I have not seen the issue again since restarting with no skills installed.

Notes:

• Before removing the skills, the issue was consistently reproducible.
• After removing all skills and restarting VS Code, the problem disappeared.
• This suggests a possible infinite polling loop or watcher issue related to skill discovery / Skills/list when running under WSL.

Hopefully this helps others who are hitting the same problem, and may also help narrow down the root cause.

I have the same issue only that my one is slightly different.

Environment:

• Windows 11 Home v. 25H2
• VS Code
• Codex extension 0.4.71

Problem:

After i open a task from the history or start a new task my CPU goes up and not at the same time (as in pictures)
The CPU starts from about 60-75% usage going up to 100% over time while using the extension.
At first i didn't notice until my pc became very sluggish.
I usually close the VScode completely to get back to normal.
I've never used any skills in Codex or ever tried to yet.
Using the pre-release version does the same thing.

<img width="1344" height="1017" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c9fbb2d4-b95d-4e2e-b641-7af9a74678e8" />

• Logical processors

<img width="1319" height="701" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9154ad1f-b6a7-4a85-8c60-7d4ae3dc32c2" />

• kernel times on

<img width="1322" height="816" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9ceb0622-8305-44d6-b49b-7d7bd9f834ad" />

• CPU usage @ 73%

<img width="1322" height="815" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/65b9b838-8828-48a9-bdd6-bc67f114e047" />

<img width="1320" height="814" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9c622e1c-53fa-411d-9613-1d70b44892a1" />

This is only displayed in the Logical view and i only noticed it because of Rainmeter and the sluggish response.

Solution:

To downgrade to a previous version with the compromise of NOT using GPT 5.3

I hope this helps find the root cause.

I am having the same issue, after opening the latest version of the Codex extension in VSCode it spawns hundreds of RG.exe instances and everything stops working..

I think only solution right now is to downgrade to a older version...

I also get this issue when using GPT-5.3-Codex. Sometimes it happens right when I open the Codex chat and sometimes it won't happen until I start typing.
Either way, I have to force close VS Code because it is too unresponsive to disable Codex.
The issue has not happened for me on GPT-5.2-Codex.

I am having the same issue, I used the feedback feature and got the following feedback ID: 019c434e-4401-7501-953f-1380ef013fa9

Here is an attached screenshot of my task manager, as you can see, it is spamming conhost.exe and rg.exe. This happens to me every single time I use the extension even once:
<img width="1200" height="949" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3d8df199-7ec4-4902-9702-826dc9067123" />

Linux/vscode. The same problem. Rollback to 0.4.69 helps.

Fedora Silverblue + vscode in Flatpak + AMD iGPU

One of CPU cores has 100% usage while in the top I see Electron zygote (--type=zygote) each time when I'm trying to type something in the codex extension.
CPU usage spikes while typing, but it drives one core close to 100%. When I'm not typing, it still has significant load to this core(when model is writing code), but not 100%

@etraut-openai same issue

<img width="1705" height="1038" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3f4c0e2c-27eb-450e-8576-44a230cf289c" />

Same issue for me also.. what is the solution of it .

We think we understand the main causes of the high CPU utilization that some users are seeing. We're testing fixes for these issues and hope to have a new version out today that addresses them.

This seems to start it:

Process: rg.exe
Event: Process Start
Result: SUCCESS
Parent PID: <extensionHost PID>

Command line:
"<VSCodeInstall>\resources\app\node_modules\@vscode\ripgrep\bin\rg.exe"
--files
--hidden
--case-sensitive
--no-require-git
-g **//home/<user>/.codex/skills/.system/skill-creator/assets/skill-creator-small.svg
-g !**/.git
-g !**/.svn
-g !**/.hg
-g !**/.DS_Store
-g !**/Thumbs.db
--no-ignore
--no-config
--no-ignore-global

Current directory:
<workspace-root>

Same issue for me. But runs fine when the project is in WSL.

I'm running the Codex extension in Cursor (Run in WSL is on) and having the same issue. Looking forward to the fix!

We've made a bunch of improvements on the performance front. I'm going to close and lock this issue. If you're still seeing performance issues, please open a new bug report. This will help us understand if there are any lingering issues that we haven't already addressed.