Status line configuration

Create a custom status line for Claude Code to display contextual information

Make Claude Code your own with a custom status line that displays at the bottom of the Claude Code interface, similar to how terminal prompts (PS1) work in shells like Oh-my-zsh.

Create a custom status line

You can either:

• Run /statusline to ask Claude Code to help you set up a custom status line. By default, it will try to reproduce your terminal’s prompt, but you can provide additional instructions about the behavior you want to Claude Code, such as /statusline show the model name in orange

• Directly add a statusLine command to your .claude/settings.json:

{
  "statusLine": {
    "type": "command",
    "command": "~/.claude/statusline.sh",
    "padding": 0 // Optional: set to 0 to let status line go to edge
  }
}

How it Works

• The status line is updated when the conversation messages update
• Updates run at most every 300ms
• The first line of stdout from your command becomes the status line text
• ANSI color codes are supported for styling your status line
• Claude Code passes contextual information about the current session (model, directories, etc.) as JSON to your script via stdin

JSON Input Structure

Your status line command receives structured data via stdin in JSON format:

{
  "hook_event_name": "Status",
  "session_id": "abc123...",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/transcript.json",
  "cwd": "/current/working/directory",
  "model": {
    "id": "claude-opus-4-1",
    "display_name": "Opus"
  },
  "workspace": {
    "current_dir": "/current/working/directory",
    "project_dir": "/original/project/directory"
  }
}

Example Scripts

Simple Status Line

#!/bin/bash
# Read JSON input from stdin
input=$(cat)

# Extract values using jq
MODEL_DISPLAY=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.model.display_name')
CURRENT_DIR=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.workspace.current_dir')

echo "[$MODEL_DISPLAY] 📁 ${CURRENT_DIR##*/}"

Git-Aware Status Line

#!/bin/bash
# Read JSON input from stdin
input=$(cat)

# Extract values using jq
MODEL_DISPLAY=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.model.display_name')
CURRENT_DIR=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.workspace.current_dir')

# Show git branch if in a git repo
GIT_BRANCH=""
if git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null)
    if [ -n "$BRANCH" ]; then
        GIT_BRANCH=" | 🌿 $BRANCH"
    fi
fi

echo "[$MODEL_DISPLAY] 📁 ${CURRENT_DIR##*/}$GIT_BRANCH"

Python Example

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import json
import sys
import os

# Read JSON from stdin
data = json.load(sys.stdin)

# Extract values
model = data['model']['display_name']
current_dir = os.path.basename(data['workspace']['current_dir'])

# Check for git branch
git_branch = ""
if os.path.exists('.git'):
    try:
        with open('.git/HEAD', 'r') as f:
            ref = f.read().strip()
            if ref.startswith('ref: refs/heads/'):
                git_branch = f" | 🌿 {ref.replace('ref: refs/heads/', '')}"
    except:
        pass

print(f"[{model}] 📁 {current_dir}{git_branch}")

Node.js Example

#!/usr/bin/env node

const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

// Read JSON from stdin
let input = '';
process.stdin.on('data', chunk => input += chunk);
process.stdin.on('end', () => {
    const data = JSON.parse(input);
    
    // Extract values
    const model = data.model.display_name;
    const currentDir = path.basename(data.workspace.current_dir);
    
    // Check for git branch
    let gitBranch = '';
    try {
        const headContent = fs.readFileSync('.git/HEAD', 'utf8').trim();
        if (headContent.startsWith('ref: refs/heads/')) {
            gitBranch = ` | 🌿 ${headContent.replace('ref: refs/heads/', '')}`;
        }
    } catch (e) {
        // Not a git repo or can't read HEAD
    }
    
    console.log(`[${model}] 📁 ${currentDir}${gitBranch}`);
});

Helper Function Approach

For more complex bash scripts, you can create helper functions:

#!/bin/bash
# Read JSON input once
input=$(cat)

# Helper functions for common extractions
get_model_name() { echo "$input" | jq -r '.model.display_name'; }
get_current_dir() { echo "$input" | jq -r '.workspace.current_dir'; }
get_project_dir() { echo "$input" | jq -r '.workspace.project_dir'; }
get_version() { echo "$input" | jq -r '.version'; }

# Use the helpers
MODEL=$(get_model_name)
DIR=$(get_current_dir)
echo "[$MODEL] 📁 ${DIR##*/}"

Tips

• Keep your status line concise - it should fit on one line
• Use emojis (if your terminal supports them) and colors to make information scannable
• Use jq for JSON parsing in Bash (see examples above)
• Test your script by running it manually with mock JSON input: echo '{"model":{"display_name":"Test"},"workspace":{"current_dir":"/test"}}' | ./statusline.sh
• Consider caching expensive operations (like git status) if needed

Troubleshooting

• If your status line doesn’t appear, check that your script is executable (chmod +x)
• Ensure your script outputs to stdout (not stderr)