OpenCode CLI Debloat Guide

Strip OpenCode CLI down to the bare essentials. Kill background processes, stop unnecessary I/O, reclaim your CPU and RAM.

If your machine is heating up or OpenCode feels sluggish, this is why.

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The Problem

Out of the box, OpenCode runs several background systems you probably don't need:

Feature	What it does behind your back	Impact
Snapshot	Continuously diffs and hashes every file in your project for undo/restore	Constant disk I/O + CPU
LSP	Spawns persistent language server processes that index your entire codebase	RAM + CPU (often hundreds of MB)
Formatter	Runs prettier/formatters as child processes after every file write	CPU spikes on every save
Auto-update	Checks for and downloads updates on every launch	Network + disk on startup
Share	Maintains session sharing infrastructure	Unnecessary overhead
Telemetry	OpenTelemetry tracing spans on AI SDK calls	Background overhead

Combined, these can easily consume 1-2+ GB of RAM and keep your CPU busy enough to spin up the fans — even when you're not doing anything.

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The Fix

Add this to your OpenCode config file:

Location: ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "snapshot": false,
  "lsp": false,
  "formatter": false,
  "autoupdate": false,
  "share": "disabled",
  "compaction": {
    "auto": true,
    "prune": true
  },
  "experimental": {
    "openTelemetry": false
  }
}

If you already have an opencode.json, merge these keys into your existing config. Don't replace the whole file.

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What Each Setting Does

"snapshot": false — THE BIGGEST WIN

Snapshots track every file change in your working directory so you can undo/restore. This means OpenCode is constantly:

• Watching your filesystem for changes
• Reading and hashing files to detect diffs
• Storing copies of file states in memory and on disk

On large projects (or if you run OpenCode from your home directory), this alone can peg a CPU core and generate significant heat.

Trade-off: You lose the ability to undo file changes from within OpenCode. Use git instead.

"lsp": false — SECOND BIGGEST WIN

LSP (Language Server Protocol) spawns background processes like typescript-language-server, pylsp, etc. These:

• Index your entire project on startup
• Sit in memory permanently (often 200-800 MB each)
• Re-index on file changes
• Provide code intelligence features (hover info, go-to-definition)

Most people use OpenCode for AI-assisted coding and don't need a second set of language servers running alongside their editor's.

Trade-off: You lose in-tool code intelligence. Your editor already provides this.

"formatter": false

Disables auto-formatting after every file write. OpenCode spawns child processes (prettier, biome, etc.) each time it writes a file.

Trade-off: Files won't be auto-formatted. Run your formatter manually or let your editor handle it.

"autoupdate": false

Stops OpenCode from checking for and downloading updates every time it launches.

Trade-off: You need to manually update with opencode upgrade when you want new versions.

"share": "disabled"

Kills the session sharing system entirely.

Trade-off: You can't share sessions. Most people never use this.

"compaction": { "auto": true, "prune": true }

This one actually helps performance. It aggressively prunes old tool outputs from your conversation context, keeping memory usage down during long sessions.

"experimental": { "openTelemetry": false }

Disables OpenTelemetry tracing spans. No reason to keep this on unless you're debugging OpenCode itself.

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Before & After

Before debloat:

• Multiple background processes (LSP servers, file watchers, formatters)
• Constant disk I/O from snapshot tracking
• 1-2+ GB RAM overhead
• Fans spinning, machine heating up

After debloat:

• Just the AI agent and your conversation
• Minimal disk I/O (only when you actually read/write files)
• Drastically lower RAM usage
• Cool and quiet machine

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How to Verify

Check your resolved config after applying:

opencode debug config

You should see all the debloat settings reflected in the output.

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Per-Project Override

If you want debloat globally but need LSP or formatters for a specific project, add an opencode.json in that project's root:

{
  "lsp": true,
  "formatter": true
}

Project configs override global configs, so you can selectively re-enable features where needed.

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FAQ

Q: Is this safe? Yes. These are all official config options documented in the OpenCode config schema. You're just turning off features you don't need.

Q: Can I undo this? Yes. Delete the keys from your config or set them back to true. Changes take effect next time you start OpenCode.

Q: Will this break anything? No. Core functionality (AI chat, file editing, bash, tools) is completely unaffected. You're only disabling auxiliary features.

Q: I still want auto-updates but just want notifications. Set "autoupdate": "notify" instead of false. You'll get notified of new versions without auto-downloading.

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One-Liner Setup

If you don't have an existing config and want to start fresh:

mkdir -p ~/.config/opencode && cat > ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json << 'EOF'
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "snapshot": false,
  "lsp": false,
  "formatter": false,
  "autoupdate": false,
  "share": "disabled",
  "compaction": {
    "auto": true,
    "prune": true
  },
  "experimental": {
    "openTelemetry": false
  }
}
EOF

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License

MIT — do whatever you want with this.