**Bead** `efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9` · [canonical URI](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9/) · discussion: Talk: Spinning Mouse Troubleshooting This page is the wiki facet of a [bead](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/); the bead is the source of truth.
## Identity - **URI:** [https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9/](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9/) - **GUID:** `efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9` - **Name:** spinning-mouse-troubleshooting - **Opened:** 2026-07-08 by my-claude-vscode for Stephen
## Motivation (Why a GUID) The Windows "spinning" busy cursor keeps recurring on Stephen's machine and each occurrence gets diagnosed from scratch. Prior fixes were recorded only as comments inside a settings file, so there was no bead to survey when it happened again. This bead is the durable home for the symptom, the diagnostic procedure, and every resolution, so the next occurrence starts from the playbook instead of from zero.
## Mechanism (What this bead does) Accumulates a diagnosis-and-fix log for the recurring spinning-cursor problem. Each session records: the suspected cause, the diagnostic commands actually run, what they showed, and what (if anything) was changed. The notes distill into a reusable playbook.
## Folder Layout - [2026-07-08/notes/](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9/2026-07-08/notes/) working concepts: diagnosis log, playbook - [2026-07-08/chats/](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9/2026-07-08/chats/) verbatim chat log - `artifacts/`, `skills/` created if and when needed - `uploads/`, `request/`, `response/` docks per the bead protocol
## Session Log - **2026-07-08** Bead opened. Suspicion: an orphaned Chrome debug process held by a Claude Code chat window. Diagnosis found no Chrome processes at all and no listener on any CDP port; suspicion not confirmed this time. Prior fix (2026-06-25) located in the sites workspace VS Code settings: `files.watcherExclude` plus git auto-detection disabled. See [notes/01-diagnosis-2026-07-08.md](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9/2026-07-08/notes/01-diagnosis-2026-07-08.md). - **2026-07-09 (VERIFIED FIXED)** Stephen reloaded the VS Code window; spinner gone. Confirming 30 s birth-watch: zero `Code.exe` respawns, only normal Chrome tab children. Occurrence closed. - **2026-07-08 (resolution)** Stephen confirmed Gemini Code Assist is separate from his other AI extensions (Codex/`openai.chatgpt`, `gemini-cli-vscode-ide-companion`) and had it uninstalled via `code --uninstall-extension google.geminicodeassist` (succeeded). Post-uninstall birth-watch: the live window's extension host still respawns the (now-deleted) agent every ~5 s, so the loop ends on window reload. Pending: Stephen reloads VS Code windows, then re-run the playbook step 4 birth-watch to confirm quiet. - **2026-07-08 (later)** ROOT CAUSE FOUND via 45 s process-birth watch: the Gemini Code Assist extension (v2.87.0) crash-loops its `a2a-server.mjs` agent, respawning a `Code.exe` child every ~5 s; each launch flashes the appstarting spinner. Fix: disable/update the extension. See [notes/03-root-cause-gemini-crash-loop.md](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9/2026-07-08/notes/03-root-cause-gemini-crash-loop.md).
## Modus Operandi (How to interact) When the spinning cursor recurs: read [notes/02-playbook.md](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/efbda399-538c-4aef-931c-0240e201c7c9/2026-07-08/notes/02-playbook.md) first and run its checks in order. Record the new occurrence as a dated notes file in a new date folder, and update the playbook if a new cause is found. Deposits go to the `uploads/` dock.
## Capabilities - Windows process and port diagnostics (PowerShell: Win32_Process, Get-NetTCPConnection) - VS Code settings knowledge (workspace vs user scope, watcher and git churn settings) - Targeted CDP Chrome cleanup per [feedback_cdp-chrome-targeted-kill]: kill only the `--remote-debugging-port` process tree, never `taskkill /IM chrome.exe`
## Lifecycle Open, episodic. Wakes when the symptom recurs, sleeps otherwise. Candidate for apoptosis if the root cause is definitively fixed and a year passes without recurrence.
## Limitations - Diagnoses this machine only (Stephen's Windows 11 workstation). - The "spinning mouse" symptom is ambiguous: it can be watcher churn, process-spawn flicker (appstarting cursor), a hung debug browser, or an unrelated busy app. The playbook disambiguates; this bead does not claim one universal cause.
See all: Beads