[BUG] Windows: excessive Node.js/cmd.exe processes with nine Hostinger MCP servers enabled in Codex #77

Impact and environment

Windows x64, 32 GB RAM. Severe slowdown with approximately 28 GB used (user-reported peak, not captured by diagnostics). Codex Windows package 26.1013.4894.0; client version reported in logs 26.1013.40934; system Node.js 24.14.0; hostinger-api-mcp 3.1.0.

Configuration

Nine user-configured STDIO servers: hostinger-hosting, hostinger-wordpress, hostinger-agency-hosting, hostinger-domains, hostinger-dns, hostinger-vps, hostinger-ecommerce, hostinger-reach, hostinger-billing.
Each runs npx with args of the form:
["--package=hostinger-api-mcp@latest", "hostinger--mcp"]
Other Codex tools/plugins were enabled. Credentials intentionally omitted.

Observed sequence (2026-10-18, Europe/Madrid)

• More working chats appeared to increase process counts. During investigation only one chat was active; six others were loaded but idle.
• Before restarting, a snapshot found 92 node.exe and 38 node_repl.exe processes, including 40 Hostinger-related node.exe.
• A full Codex restart temporarily reduced usage, but many processes reappeared.
• With Hostinger enabled, at 21:48:21: 53 Hostinger node.exe, 62 Codex-descendant cmd.exe, 14.12 GiB whole-system RAM used. Hostinger Node working sets summed to 3755.4 MiB.
• At 21:48:33: 36 Hostinger node.exe, 42 Codex cmd.exe, 13.29 GiB RAM. Some cleanup occurred; this is not proof of a continuous leak.
• Set enabled = false in only the nine Hostinger sections, then fully restarted Codex.
• At 21:52:30 and 21:52:45: zero Hostinger processes, nine Codex cmd.exe, 11.71 and 11.70 GiB RAM respectively; no new sampled processes during that interval.

Relevant logs

Before the earlier restart, repeated Hostinger startup failures included:
MCP server startup failed server_name="hostinger-dns" error=timed out handshaking with MCP server after 29.9999995s
No Hostinger startup failures were found after the subsequent restart while Hostinger remained enabled. Netlify authentication failures also appeared and were left unchanged.

Request

Please investigate interaction between Windows child-process cleanup, per-chat MCP lifecycles, catalog refreshes, NPX startup, and the nine Hostinger servers. The evidence associates substantial overhead with this integration but does not isolate responsibility to Codex or Hostinger. NPX parents and server children are counted separately when present.

Evidence and limitations

Sanitized aggregate snapshots are included below. Whole-system RAM includes other applications; working-set sums may include shared pages. The post-mitigation check lasted only 15 seconds.
The installed package's 93 files matched the npm 3.1.0 archive; dependencies were not exhaustively verified. Inspected Node binaries had valid signatures.
Hostinger remains disabled. I have not re-enabled the integration for further reproduction because this problem can make the PC unusable.

{
  "date": "2026-10-18",
  "timezone": "Europe/Madrid",
  "environment": {
    "os": "Windows x64",
    "ram_gib": 31.91,
    "desktop_package_version": "26.1013.4894.0",
    "desktop_reported_client_version": "26.1013.40934",
    "hostinger_api_mcp": "3.1.0",
    "system_node": "24.14.0"
  },
  "measurements": [
    {
      "time": "2026-10-18T21:48:21.2924296+02:00",
      "system_used_gib": 14.12,
      "hostinger_node_count": 53,
      "hostinger_node_working_set_mib": 3755.4,
      "codex_cmd_count": 62
    },
    {
      "time": "2026-10-18T21:48:33.5769268+02:00",
      "system_used_gib": 13.29,
      "hostinger_node_count": 36,
      "hostinger_node_working_set_mib": 2547.1,
      "codex_cmd_count": 42
    },
    {
      "time": "2026-10-18T21:52:30.3980055+02:00",
      "system_used_gib": 11.71,
      "hostinger_node_count": 0,
      "hostinger_node_working_set_mib": 0,
      "codex_cmd_count": 9
    },
    {
      "time": "2026-10-18T21:52:45.6394079+02:00",
      "system_used_gib": 11.7,
      "hostinger_node_count": 0,
      "hostinger_node_working_set_mib": 0,
      "codex_cmd_count": 9
    }
  ],
  "scope": "Whole-system RAM includes unrelated applications. Working-set sums can include shared pages.",
  "attribution": "Hostinger-related Node.js and cmd.exe processes were descendants of Codex. Exact responsibility between client lifecycle and server startup is not established.",
  "current_mitigation": "Nine Hostinger MCP servers disabled; no further reproduction requested."
}