[BUG] Gray Screen #1675

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1. SoccerField24x7

   added

   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   on Sep 18, 2026
2. myk1yt commented on Sep 20, 2026

   

   myk1yt

   on Sep 20, 2026

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   Triage notes (v3.82.2 codebase):

   Already covered paths:

   • The whole webview React tree is wrapped in an ErrorBoundary (webview-ui/src/App.tsx), so a JS render error already shows a recovery UI with the stack — a plain gray screen is therefore probably not a React render error.
   • State pushes to the webview are throttled to prevent the OOM-driven gray screen (PR fix(webview): throttle state pushes to prevent gray screen OOM #1078, merged 2026-08-16). Since this report is from 3.82.1 (after that fix), the throttle mitigated but did not eliminate the problem.

   Most likely remaining cause: webview renderer process crash under memory pressure on very long sessions (the webview accumulates the full multi-day conversation; the extension keeps posting full-state snapshots). The tracked work that addresses this class:

   • feat(webview): incremental clineMessages delivery for focused task #630 — incremental clineMessages delivery for focused/long tasks
   • perf: globalState write-through causes extension host freezes and OOM pause on large task histories #1541 / perf: remove globalState write-through for taskHistory #1542 — globalState write-through freezes / OOM on large task histories (implementation open as PR perf(webview): stop task history globalState writes #1664)
   • [BUG] When using Claude and running two instances simultaneously, it consumes a massive amount of memory. It used up 20GB of my memory... #764 — memory blow-up with concurrent instances

   If it recurs, the most useful artifacts for narrowing it down:

   1. Help → Toggle Developer Tools → Console output around the failure (renderer errors appear there even when the boundary doesn't catch them).
   2. macOS Activity Monitor sample of the Code Helper (Renderer) process for the window, so we can see whether it's steady memory growth vs. a spike.
   3. Roughly how many messages / how much elapsed time, and whether the task had large file contents or images in context.

   Happy to help dig further with that data.
3. myk1yt commented on Sep 20, 2026

   

   myk1yt

   on Sep 20, 2026

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   Opened #1713 with a mitigation: heartbeat-based crash detection — the webview pings every 30s and the extension auto-reloads it when the renderer dies while visible, so the gray screen should recover by itself instead of needing a full VS Code restart. (The underlying long-session memory growth remains tracked in #630 / #1542.)
4. Randy420Marsh

   added a commit that references this issue on Sep 21, 2026

   fix(webview): detect dead renderer via heartbeat and auto-reload

   ...

   This issue will close once commit 5170032 is merged into the 'main' branch.

   5170032
5. filipworksdev commented on Sep 23, 2026

   

   filipworksdev

   on Sep 23, 2026

   Last edited by filipworksdev

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   Oddly enough the menu bar of the extension continues to work and if you open it in the editor it continues to work as normal. Edit: Also is not random it has to do with a session that is very long that overfills memory 3-4 gb limit aparently
6. EpicLPer commented on Sep 24, 2026

   

   EpicLPer

   on Sep 24, 2026

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   Opened #1713 with a mitigation: heartbeat-based crash detection — the webview pings every 30s and the extension auto-reloads it when the renderer dies while visible, so the gray screen should recover by itself instead of needing a full VS Code restart. (The underlying long-session memory growth remains tracked in #630 / #1542.)

   I'm really looking forward to this being merged, it's been plaguing me like crazy these past weeks! I can roughly run tasks up to 30 minutes before it crashes or I close VS Code and then restart it.

   Either way, a good step already! I think a different and maybe "future proof" approach would be for the extension to see how much memory it's using (if this is the crash reason) and if it approaches the limit within, say, 80%. If it does then schedule an automatic reload of the extension between API calls or commands so it doesn't break the flow or loses any context accidentally, then continues automatically in the previous conversation.

   👍React with 👍1Reacted by MarkSwanson
7. benoitsouche

   added 2 commits that reference this issue on Oct 23, 2026

   Fix gray screens on long sessions (Zoo-Code-Org#1675)

   ...

   da86b62

   Keep long sessions far below the renderer limit: bound message retent…

   ...

   be0a162
8. Dzaze commented on Oct 26, 2026

   

   Dzaze

   on Oct 26, 2026

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   Additional bug report – Gray screen while agent continues running

   Hello Zoo Code team!

   I would like to report an issue that I experience very frequently while using Zoo Code in VS Code on Windows.

   The problem:

   The Zoo Code interface suddenly becomes completely gray and unresponsive.

   However, something interesting happens: the AI agent appears to continue executing its tasks in the background, even though the interface is no longer displaying its activity.

   This suggests that the agent's execution process may remain functional while the graphical interface stops responding.

   What I observe:

   • The Zoo Code panel becomes entirely gray.
   • The problem occurs very frequently.
   • The agent apparently continues working in the background.
   • I can no longer monitor its progress or interact with the panel.
   • The rest of the VS Code interface remains visible.

   Expected behavior:

   Ideally, the interface should recover automatically without interrupting the ongoing agent task.

   It would also be helpful to have a recovery mechanism that reconnects the interface to the running agent without losing the current session.

   I have a screenshot illustrating the issue.

   A personal message to the team:

   I also want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the entire Zoo Code development team.

   You are doing absolutely fantastic work! ❤️

   I truly appreciate the incredible amount of effort, talent, and dedication you put into this project.

   Despite this occasional inconvenience, I remain very grateful for what you are building.

   Keep up the amazing work!

   Best regards,
   Benoist Pirolley
9. SoccerField24x7 commented on Oct 26, 2026

   

   SoccerField24x7

   on Oct 26, 2026

   Last edited by SoccerField24x7

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   Maybe just a coincidence, maybe a regression, but I have seen this gray screen three times already today. (after installing 3.92.0) Another tidbit of information that may be useful: after the last occurrance the context window was at 660k (60%) when I restarted VS Code.
10. edelauna

    added a sub-issue on Oct 27, 2026

    • [ENHANCEMENT] Dispose view listeners and ignore stale views when the webview is replaced #2205
11. edelauna

    closed this as completedin #1715on Nov 1, 2026
12. Dzaze commented on Nov 1, 2026

    

    Dzaze

    on Nov 1, 2026

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    Hello Zoo Code team,

    I can confirm that I have encountered the gray screen issue multiple times, even after updating Zoo Code on Windows.

    The interface becomes completely gray and unresponsive, while the AI agent apparently continues executing tasks in the background.

    I have to say that this is particularly frustrating. Such a seemingly insignificant interface issue can seriously disrupt the development workflow, especially during long-running tasks.

    What makes it even more unfortunate is that the rest of Zoo Code is absolutely excellent. Your team is doing outstanding work, and I genuinely appreciate everything you are building.

    I noticed that issue #1675 was closed via #1715. I cannot yet confirm whether this specific fix is included in my installed version, but the gray screen problem is still occurring.

    Could you please continue investigating and consider reopening the issue if necessary?

    Thank you again for your fantastic work and dedication!

    Best regards,
    Benoist Pirolley (Dzaze)