WebKit.WebContent process stuck at 100% CPU when popover is closed

[OscarBarreraGithub]

Description

CodexBar's com.apple.WebKit.WebContent process consumes an entire CPU core at 100% indefinitely, even when the popover is closed. The process ignores SIGTERM and requires kill -9 to stop. On memory-constrained machines (8 GB), this also pushes the system deep into swap, compounding the thermal and performance impact. The user has no visible indication that anything is wrong — the menu bar icon continues to function normally while the machine overheats in the background.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Launch CodexBar (normal usage, popover closed)
2. Observe CPU usage via ps -eo pid,pcpu,comm -r
3. com.apple.WebKit.WebContent appears at ~100% CPU

Exact trigger is unknown — happened during normal background operation.

Expected Behavior

WebKit process should be idle or near-zero CPU when the popover is closed and no refresh is active.

Actual Behavior

WebKit renderer stuck at 100% CPU indefinitely. Regular kill (SIGTERM) was ignored — required kill -9. After force-killing, CodexBar respawned a healthy WebKit process and continued working normally.

Environment

• CodexBar 0.18.0-beta.3
• macOS 26.3 (build 25D125)
• Apple M2, 8 GB RAM

[Smallfu666]

same problem

[0seba]

same issue

[lachlanmcmillan]

I'm also getting 100% CPU usage, not sure if this is related.

[ratulsarna]

We have made changes in latest main to help with this issue and also adding a battery saver option in the settings to mitigate this. For now, please disable the "OpenAI Web Extras" option in Codex settings to help with battery drain issue.