VSCode - Nordic KConfig extension misbehaviour/excessive CPU/memory usage.

[Zsilet]

Problem - while working in a project where VSCode does not have visibility to the nRFConnect SDK folders, but where the project includes project-specific KConfig files, the KConfig extension seems to be misbehaving as follows:

1. It throws an error into the VSCode output window every 1-2 minutes. This is annoying since it pulls focus from the terminal window even while one is actively interacting with the terminal). 
2. It is using a massive amount of CPU and memory resources (causing computer to freeze pretty often). System monitor shows the underlying python process consuming anywhere from 1-2 GB of RAM at steady state, with spikes up to 5 GB. 

Disabling the extension makes all the performance issues disappear.

This issue seems to have popped up since either the latest version of VSCode or the latest version of the extension. I have had the extension installed for months before this with the same project configuration and have never had any issues.

The issue is seen on an ASUS laptop (ZenBook UX564EI_Q538EI, Intel i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz, 16GB RAM), running Linux (Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS).

VSCode version  info:
Version: 1.74.2
Commit: e8a3071ea4344d9d48ef8a4df2c097372b0c5161
Date: 2022-12-20T10:27:19.253Z
Electron: 19.1.8
Chromium: 102.0.5005.167
Node.js: 16.14.2
V8: 10.2.154.15-electron.0
OS: Linux x64 6.0.6-76060006-generic
Sandboxed: No

Extension version info: nRF Kconfig v2022.11.50

I am happy to provide any additional details to debug this issue. 

[Zsilet]

Yes, disabling the extension does resolve the issue and as such, this issue is not blocking me at this point. The only reason I have left the extension running for the last month is to provide more information on this ticket. 

I am glad to hear that the issue may be known, and I'm not particularly looking for a timeline to a fix. I do want to note, as I mentioned earlier, that this seems to be broken in Kconfig v2022.11.50, and has worked fine in earlier versions. 

Please let me know if the VSCode extension team has any other questions if/when they do get around to debug this, I am happy to help.  

[Øyvind]

Zsilet said:

Please let me know if the VSCode extension team has any other questions if/when they do get around to debug this, I am happy to help. 

Thanks for letting us know! WIll have the team reach out if needed!

[pzaremba]

I'm having the exact same problem.  This thread saved me from pulling the rest of my hair out.

The "node" process on the dev container eats more and more memory and CPU until it runs out of memory, causing the whole extension host to reset and causing all kinds of chaos.

Something is seriously wrong with the KConfig extension when used in a Docker dev container.

Ubuntu 22.04 / VSCode dev container running on same version

VSCode version 1.100.0

nordic-semiconductor.nrf-kconfig

Version

2025.4.26

Last Updated

2025-05-22, 16:07:27

Size

4.66MB

Until there's some news on this, it remains disabled.   Extremely frustrating amount of time I took to figure out this extension was causing my grief!

[Øyvind]

pzaremba please open a new DevZone ticket with your issue as this case is 2 years old.

Kind regards,
Øyvind