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CLAIM C009 Supported 2026-10-17

GitHub issue #22543 in anthropics/claude-code, opened 2026-02-02 by mjbyt, records a report that after using the cowork feature Claude Desktop becomes extremely slow, alongside a VM bundle file that grows to 10GB, is never cleaned up, and regenerates quickly after deletion; the report documents a cleanup test showing approximately 75% faster performance immediately after removing the bundle, while also noting performance degrades again over time even with the bundle at 0 bytes, suggesting a memory leak or accumulating work.

Verbatim Excerpts from Cited Records
“After using the cowork feature, Claude Desktop becomes extremely slow - slow startup, UI lag, and slow responses.”
— mjbyt · anthropics/claude-code (issue 22543 opening body, Description section) · 2026-02-02T12:53:44Z ·GitHub Issue ↗
“This file grows to **10GB** and is never cleaned up. It regenerates quickly after deletion (deleted one day, back to 10GB the next).”
— mjbyt · anthropics/claude-code (issue 22543 opening body, Investigation section) · 2026-02-02T12:53:44Z ·GitHub Issue ↗
“**Result: ~75% faster immediately after cleanup on tasks that previously failed/hung.**”
— mjbyt · anthropics/claude-code (issue 22543 opening body, Cleanup Test Results section) · 2026-02-02T12:53:44Z ·GitHub Issue ↗
Counter-record: No in-thread refutation of the reported VM bundle behavior as of 2026-10-17: 79 comments discuss the report, including multiple corroborating reports of large VM bundles (21GB+, 24GB) and user workarounds (deleting vm_bundles/Cache directories, junction/symlink tricks); an Anthropic team member (felixrieseberg) responded in-thread. The original report documents a workaround (quit Claude Desktop and delete vm_bundles/Cache/Code Cache directories) while warning performance degrades again over time even with the bundle at 0 bytes. Falsification probe: If issue #22543 is deleted without archive, if the author edits the opening body so the quoted sentences no longer match verbatim, or if the author/maintainers post a definitive retraction showing the behavior was misattributed, this claim drops to Withdrawn. Audit verification: Verified 100% continuous verbatim substring against official GitHub REST API by scripts/verify_claim_verbatim.py.