Performance Troubleshooting

Slow File Tree Rendering

Symptom: Explorer view takes seconds to load or scrolling is janky.

Solutions:

1. Large directories: Directories with 10k+ files use streaming. If the initial load is slow, check network/disk speed.
2. Disable file watcher for noisy dirs: Add patterns to Settings → Workspace → Ignored Patterns (e.g., node_modules/, target/, .venv/)
3. Collapse deep trees: Use the "Collapse All" button to reduce rendered nodes

High Memory Usage

Symptom: The app uses > 2 GB RAM.

Common causes and fixes:

The app has a built-in heap watcher that evicts cached data at 80% memory pressure.

Slow Git Operations

Symptom: Status, diff, or log operations take > 1 second.

Check:

1. Repository size: Very large repos (> 1M files) are inherently slower. The app uses virtual scrolling to stay responsive.
2. Disk speed: Git operations are I/O bound. SSDs make a significant difference.
3. Background indexer: The first time you open a repo, the indexer builds its cache. Subsequent opens are faster.
4. Antivirus: Some AV software scans every file git touches. Exclude your repo directory.

Slow Clone

Symptom: Cloning takes much longer than expected.

For Crab URLs: Clone only downloads metadata (refs + pack). If it's slow, check network bandwidth to your cloud storage region.

For HTTPS/SSH URLs: The full repository content is downloaded. Large repos with history take time. Use --depth 1 for shallow clones if you don't need history.

Terminal Lag

Symptom: Keystrokes in the terminal have visible delay.

Solutions:

1. WebGL rendering: Ensure GPU acceleration is working. If not, the terminal falls back to canvas (slower). Check: Settings → About → GPU Status.
2. Large output: Commands that produce massive output (e.g., cat on a large file) can temporarily lag. The terminal buffers and catches up.
3. Font rendering: Complex fonts with ligatures are slower. Try disabling ligatures in Settings → Terminal → Font → Ligatures.

Slow Diff Loading

Symptom: Opening a diff takes > 1 second.

Solutions:

1. Large files: Diffs for files > 10,000 lines show a warning before loading. This is intentional to prevent UI freezes.
2. Syntax highlighting: Highlighting is async but can be slow for unusual languages. It doesn't block the initial render.
3. Monaco lazy load: The first diff you open loads the Monaco editor (~500 KB). Subsequent diffs are instant.

Reducing Resource Usage

For constrained environments (low RAM, slow disk):

1. Reduce terminal scrollback: Settings → Memory → 1,000 lines
2. Disable file watcher: Settings → Workspace → File Watcher → Off (manual refresh only)
3. Disable prefetch: Settings → Prefetch → Off
4. Close unused repos: Each open repo maintains a connection to the sidecar