[BUG] Provide Working Option to Disable Whimsical Status Spinner Messages

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Claude Code currently displays whimsical gerund messages during operation. There is no working configuration option to disable these messages.

Examples of these messages include:

• "Doodling..."
• "Hibernating..."
• "Germinating..."
• "Pondering..."
• "..."

These status messages appear in the spinner during Claude Code's operation.

The documentation and community discussions suggest two potential solutions, but neither works:

1. DISABLE_NON_ESSENTIAL_MODEL_CALLS=1 - Does not disable spinner messages
2. "spinnerTipsEnabled": false in .claude/settings.json - Does not disable spinner messages

Both settings have been tested and fail to remove the whimsical gerund text from the status spinner.

Issue Importance

This request is not about token conservation or API costs. This is about two critical concerns:

1. Developer Experience and Cognitive Load

Some developers may find these messages distracting during focused work. Please respect those developers to provide and opt out. Anyone who enjoy those messages can continue to see it.

2. Enterprise Credibility and Adoption

When presenting Claude Code for enterprise adoption, these whimsical messages give the arguing opponent an unnecessary argument, In architecture review meetings and tool evaluation sessions, decision-makers question whether Claude Code is a serious professional tool or a toy.

What Should Happen?

There should be a clear, working and documented opt out, which disables this feature and only this feature.

Proposed Solution

Add a configuration option that actually works to disable these messages, but nothing else just these messages, and provide a clear "Thinking..." or similar

Option 1: Environment Variable

CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_SPINNER_FLAVOR_TEXT=1

Option 2: Settings File

{
  "spinner": {
    "flavorText": false
  }
}

Option 3: CLI Flag

claude --no-spinner-flavor-text

Any of these approaches would suffice. The critical requirement is that the setting must actually disable the gerund messages, unlike the current non-functional options.

Default Behavior

Keep the default behavior as-is. Many users enjoy these messages. This request is only for an opt-out mechanism for those who need professional, minimal output.

Impact

Providing this option would:

• Respect developer preferences
• Eliminate a possible barrier, when one trying to evangelize the tool
• Require minimal implementation effort
• Cost nothing in terms of functionality or user experience for those who prefer the current behavior

Error Messages/Logs

### Environment
- Claude Code version: [latest]
 Version: 2.0.27
 Session ID: c5a...c1a1
 cwd: /mydir/otherdir/selenium-cli
 Login method: Claude Max Account
 Organization: ...
 Email: ...@gmail.com
 Model: Default Sonnet 4.5 · Smartest model for daily use
 IDE: Connected to Visual Studio Code extension
 Memory: project (CLAUDE.md)
 Setting sources: User settings, Shared project settings, Local, Command line arguments, Enterprise managed policies

Steps to Reproduce

Open a session, and prompt: "Hello". See the "<...>ing" progress message

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.0.27

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

_No response_