--- title: Claude Code statusline description: Did you know Claude Code has a customizable status bar similar to Oh-My-Posh? I didn't until Anthropic chose to remove context tracking from the default interface. And I'm glad they did, because the alternative is pretty neat. date: 2026-08-12 tags: - ai --- A couple of months ago Claude Code (CC) really ticked me off. For seemingly no reason, a random update got rid of the default context window token tracker in the bottom right corner. My first thought was a corrupted installation or a temporary regression, because I simply refused to believe they would remove such a useful feature. Back then, not all models shipped with million-token context windows, and having at-a-glance info for how close you were to a compaction was extremely useful. You could still access the information via `/context`, but having to use a slash command felt way worse than if it were gone forever. Anyway, that change finally caused me to read the docs and discover **statusline**: The basic idea is that each CC session exposes metadata about its state and progress (see [Extras](#extras) for details), and you can choose to display and format them as you like under the input bar. ![A Claude Code session pipes its metadata as JSON to statusline.sh on stdin; the script extracts fields with jq, formats them, and prints one ANSI line that renders under the input bar. The loop repeats on every update.](https://skurekjakub.dev/blog/cc-statusline/statusline-flow.drawio.svg) _JSON in on stdin, formatted line out._ A simple implementation can look like this: ![Status line example](https://skurekjakub.dev/blog/cc-statusline/cc-statusline.webp) Which under the hood is just a few lines of bash: ```bash # Reads the session metadata input=$(cat) # Extracts info from session context model=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.model.display_name // "claude"') dir=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.workspace.current_dir // ""') size=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.context_window.context_window_size // 0') pct=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.context_window.used_percentage // 0') # Tokens currently sitting in the context window used=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.context_window.total_input_tokens // 0') # ... # Composes and prints the data separator="${DIM} ยท ${RESET}" line="${CYAN}${model}${RESET}" line="${line}${separator}${context_color}$(human "$used")/$(human "$size") (${pct}%)${RESET}" printf '%s\n' "$line" ``` (Download the full annotated script here: [statusline.sh](https://skurekjakub.dev/downloads/statusline/statusline.sh)) The nice thing is that just like with any other piece of software nowadays, you can use Claude itself to make it. CC exposes the `/statusline` slash command where you simply describe what you want and watch the magic happen. The prompt I used to make the statusline above was: ```prompt /statusline Make a statusline that displays the currently selected model, the current branch and folder, and context window usage formatted as X/Y (%) ``` ## Pushing statusline boundaries On the surface this all looks fairly simple. You're given the tools to put together a summary of data that you want to keep close at hand. Well, as it turns out, you can take it much further. ### Track the session as a boss fight The Speedrun/Gaming entry in [this set of ten themes](https://www.dontsleeponai.com/statusline) visualizes context exhaustion as a boss health bar. ```prompt Make an RPG HUD statusline. Line 1: a heart matching current context window usage (๐Ÿ’š under 50%, ๐Ÿ’› 60-70%, ๐Ÿงก 70-80%, โค๏ธ 80-85%, โ˜ ๏ธ over 85%). Follow this by a "Lvl." indicator which is cost.total_lines_added divided by 100. Then the model name and the directory basename. Then a 10-heart HP bar draining as context usage rises, each heart is 10%: โค๏ธ for remaining, ๐Ÿ’” for the one being lost now, ๐Ÿ–ค for gone. Then the percentage. Line 2: a banner keyed to the same percentage. Under 60% "โš”๏ธ exploring". 60-70% "โš”๏ธ CHECKPOINT: consider a handoff". 70-80% "๐Ÿ›ก๏ธ BOSS INCOMING". 80-85% "๐Ÿ’€ BOSS FIGHT, /compact now". Over 85% "โ˜ ๏ธ auto-compact imminent". ``` And the zero-shot output produced by Opus 5: [rpg-hud.sh](https://skurekjakub.dev/downloads/statusline/rpg-hud.sh) ![Statusline showing a green heart, Lv.9, the model name, the repo, a ten-heart HP bar at 25% context, and an 'exploring' banner](https://skurekjakub.dev/blog/cc-statusline/rpg-hud.webp) _Tested in a session as I'm writing this_ ### Track your COโ‚‚ emissions [claude-carbon](https://github.com/gwittebolle/claude-carbon) uses research from [How Hungry is AI? - Jegham et al. 2025](https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.09598) to estimate your session's carbon footprint. ```prompt Add a live CO2 estimate next to the session cost, one line. Multiply per model context window by the following values: Haiku 20 input / 413 output, Sonnet 39 / 826, Opus 78 / 1652, Fable 156 / 3304. Print to one decimal place, prefixed ๐ŸŒฑ under 100g, ๐ŸŒค under 1kg, ๐Ÿญ above. Accumulate a per-session total in ~/.claude/carbon/ and a daily total in ~/.claude/carbon/, rendered together like "12.4g / 1.2kg today". ``` And the zero-shot output produced by Opus 5: [carbon.sh](https://skurekjakub.dev/downloads/statusline/carbon.sh) ![Statusline showing the model name, a context bar at 26%, a session cost of $27.5531, and 21.1g of CO2e for the session against 64.5g for the day](https://skurekjakub.dev/blog/cc-statusline/carbon.webp) _Tested in a session as I'm writing this_ ### Track external data You can also add and track data external to the session. ```prompt Add the following statusline: Line 1: model name, current directory basename, git branch. Line 2: a context bar, the percentage, cost.total_cost_usd, and session duration from cost.total_duration_ms. Line 3: the time as HH:MM, then the temperature and condition for Prague from "wttr.in/Prague?format=%t+%C", then the BTC spot price from "api.coinbase.com/v2/prices/BTC-USD/spot". ``` And the zero-shot output produced by Opus 5: [ambient.sh](https://skurekjakub.dev/downloads/statusline/ambient.sh) ![External data in a status line](https://skurekjakub.dev/blog/cc-statusline/ambient.webp) _Tested in a session as I'm writing this_ ## Extras The full payload that you can access from inside the script as of CC 2.1.228 is listed here. For the latest info, read the official docs: **Full session metadata JSON** ```json { "cwd": "/current/working/directory", "session_id": "abc123...", "session_name": "my-session", "prompt_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000", "transcript_path": "/path/to/transcript.jsonl", "model": { "id": "claude-opus-5", "display_name": "Opus" }, "workspace": { "current_dir": "/current/working/directory", "project_dir": "/original/project/directory", "added_dirs": [], "git_worktree": "feature-xyz", "repo": { "host": "github.com", "owner": "anthropics", "name": "claude-code" } }, "version": "2.1.90", "output_style": { "name": "default" }, "cost": { "total_cost_usd": 0.01234, "total_duration_ms": 45000, "total_api_duration_ms": 2300, "total_lines_added": 156, "total_lines_removed": 23 }, "context_window": { "total_input_tokens": 15500, "total_output_tokens": 1200, "context_window_size": 200000, "used_percentage": 8, "remaining_percentage": 92, "current_usage": { "input_tokens": 8500, "output_tokens": 1200, "cache_creation_input_tokens": 5000, "cache_read_input_tokens": 2000 } }, "exceeds_200k_tokens": false, "fast_mode": false, "effort": { "level": "high" }, "thinking": { "enabled": true }, "rate_limits": { "five_hour": { "used_percentage": 23.5, "resets_at": 1738425600 }, "seven_day": { "used_percentage": 41.2, "resets_at": 1738857600 } }, "vim": { "mode": "NORMAL" }, "agent": { "name": "security-reviewer" }, "pr": { "number": 1234, "url": "https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/pull/1234", "review_state": "pending" }, "worktree": { "name": "my-feature", "path": "/path/to/.claude/worktrees/my-feature", "branch": "worktree-my-feature", "original_cwd": "/path/to/project", "original_branch": "main" } } ``` --- Sources: - - -