High CPU usage

[linuz90]

1. If you can, please include a screenshot of your problem
2. Please include the name of your operating system
3. If you can, steps to reproduce are super helpful

I'm using Cursor on an M1 MacBook Pro (2020). Imported settings from VSC.

After less than 1h of usage, Cursor starts using the CPU like crazy, to the point I start hearing my MPB fan loudly spinning (for the first time since I bought it).

I tried disabling as many extensions as possible, I've made sure Cursor is updated, but nothing works.

Both VSC and VSC Insiders work flawlessly.

[truell20]

I assume this never happens for you on VSCode?

[linuz90]

I assume this never happens for you on VSCode?

Correct, never. I also noticed a teammate yesterday had the same issue with Cursor, but on the other hand it's been reducing in the last few days on my Mac, not sure why

[BenCully]

I am also having this issue on Mac Studio M2 Max.

[BenCully]

Update: this issue seems to be fixed in the newest release of cursor. Also for more context this was happening while using local and liveshare modes.

[afarwind]

I'm using Cursor on an M3 MacBook Pro (2023). Imported settings from VSC. I am also having this issue

[ufukomer]

same here. Macbook m1 processor, never happens with VSCode:

[sachajw]

This is happening for me too, which basically makes the Ai functionality impossible to use. I am using a MacBook Pro M2 with Sonoma 14.6.1

[aalyokhin]

The same issue for me, M1 Pro runs hot with audible fan noise.

I read somewhere that it may be caused by the ESLint extension. So I've disabled it and got this, notice the heavy process name is different:

So it helped but actually didn't.

[m-w-d-d]

Can confirm getting the same issue as the above - iMac 2019 3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 - issue never happens with VS Code

**EDIT - Checked the extension suggestion I've seen around and disabled all the ones I don't use regularly and it solved it. But then it came back again 5 minutes later.

[ufukomer]

@m-w-d-d my suggestion; terminate this process and meanwhile check the error message on your ide below that it will state which plugin is causing this, then remove it. I still couldn't figure it out but ide is working like a charm even when this process is terminated.

[m-w-d-d]

@m-w-d-d my suggestion; terminate this process and meanwhile check the error message on your ide below that it will state which plugin is causing this, then remove it. I still couldn't figure it out but ide is working like a charm even when this process is terminated.

Will have a try with this @ufukomer - thanks for the suggestion!

[ufukomer]

Here is more clue for you. When I terminate the process with high cpu usage, this text on the bottom of the IDE is appearing: "Initializing JS/TS language features The extension host terminated unexpectedly. Restarting..." This is not about the extensions I have installed. Because I removed all of them and tried it. This is about in-built extensions I guess.

@truell20

[rmay1er]

Same problem already 2 month, so I using another ide. MacBook Air m2 8gb 15.2 (24C101), its heating till 96 celsius

Sample of Cursor Helper (Plugin): extension-host [2-4].txt

[gardner]

This happens often. Generally it goes like this:

• I notice the laptop is nuclear hot
• I look in activity monitor and see Cursor chewing through resources
• I notice my battery is almost dead
• I quit Cursor

[rmay1er]

Read this one

I think it can help

[UPDATED] Yeah, I worked for 2 hours, and there is no problem anymore  📌 This one works well: https://github.com/hyrious/import-cost with esbuild installed globally via npm i -g esbuild

https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-helper-plugin-is-killing-my-m1-cpu/2305/16

[webbower]

👆 This turned out to be my problem as well. Once I disabled this extension and restarted the extensions, the CPU-pegged process disappeared. For me, it was sticking around 200% on an MBP M4 running 15.3.x.

[asplunds]

For me it was also an extension causing the high CPU usage. I disabled all extensions from the command palette and enabled them one by one. The extension "Git Lens" turned out to be the culprit.

[tallytarik]

I was experiencing the same until I disabled this old settings sync extension. Any chance you're using that?

Otherwise suggest trying extension bisect to see if it is caused by a different extension.

[gardner]

Almost 6 months later it's still a daily occurrence.

[code-n-go]

Fresh install, on a MacStudio M3 Ultra w/ 512GB unified RAM... and Cursor is nearly unusable. Everything is snappy and works fine within vscode. The culprit is 'Cursor Helper (Renderer)' taking up a lot of CPU resources. Just opening a terminal instance with btop running makes the editor choppy and unusable.