macOS runs out of application memory because your dead dev servers never die

Short summary

Orphaned dev server processes from closed terminal tabs silently consume RAM on macOS, eventually triggering out-of-memory warnings. The author explains three common ways servers survive their parent terminals and why killall node is a blunt instrument that kills language servers and AI tooling alongside leftovers. The recommended fix is to stop processes by PID, not by name, and the author built a tool to find and kill only genuine leftovers.

• •Closing terminal tabs instead of Ctrl+C orphans dev server child processes that keep consuming RAM
• •killall node destroys every node process including language servers and AI MCP servers — stop by PID instead
• •Author built a system to identify and kill only genuine leftover processes safely

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.