Your Python/FastAPI service consumes RAM during request processing and doesn't release it back to the OS, even after the request completes. Over time (hours/days), memory usage grows from 500MB → 1GB → 2GB → eventually crashes.
- ✅ Memory increases during processing (expected)
- ❌ Memory stays high after processing (problem)
- ❌ Each request adds a bit more memory (accumulation)