Claude Code - Memory Allocation Error in SLURM Environment

[amitlevy]

Environment

• OS: Linux (kernel 6.8.0-52-generic)
• Node.js: v20.9.0
• npm: 10.1.0
• Environment: SLURM cluster (Oxford ARC HTC)

Issue Description

When attempting to run Claude Code on a SLURM cluster login node, I encounter a WebAssembly memory allocation error that prevents the tool from starting.

Error Message

node:internal/process/promises:289
            triggerUncaughtException(err, true /* fromPromise */);
            ^

[RangeError: WebAssembly.instantiate(): Out of memory: Cannot allocate Wasm memory for new instance]

Node.js v20.9.0

Steps to Reproduce

1. Installed Node.js via environment modules (module load nodejs)
2. Configured npm to use a custom global directory in a location with sufficient space
3. Successfully installed Claude Code with npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
4. Attempted to run claude command
5. Immediately received the WebAssembly memory allocation error