Claude Code Status Line

Guide for designing, configuring, and debugging the Claude Code status line — a customizable bar rendered at the bottom of the UI that runs a user-supplied shell script on each session update.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when:

• Creating or editing a status-line script
• Configuring the statusLine block in settings.json
• Surfacing token usage, model, cost, git, or project context at a glance
• Debugging blank or stale status-line output
• Customizing the subagent panel via subagentStatusLine

What Is the Status Line?

The status line is a shell command that Claude Code executes locally on each session update. Claude Code pipes a JSON payload (model, workspace, context-window, cost, etc.) to the script's stdin and renders the script's stdout verbatim as the bar at the bottom of the UI. It runs on the user's machine, consumes no API tokens, and is temporarily hidden during autocomplete, help menus, and permission prompts.

The status line is gated by the same workspace-trust acceptance as hooks. Setting disableAllHooks: true in settings also disables the status line.