Feature request: render hint text on a separate line instead of sharing the statusline row

Background

Currently, Claude Code's hint text (e.g., ctrl+g to edit in VS Code) is displayed on the right side of the same row as the statusline output (as documented: "Notifications share the status line row").

This creates an implicit constraint on custom statusLine commands: output width must not approach the full terminal width, otherwise the hint text gets squeezed to 0 width and causes the renderer to break (input text disappears, dialog box vanishes, etc.).

Problem

Custom statusline commands that implement left-right aligned layouts (e.g., directory/branch on the left, model/clock on the right) naturally pad output to near terminal width. This directly conflicts with the hint text display area, and:

• The docs don't explicitly state that statusline command output should avoid full width
• The symptoms (text disappearing for a few seconds) are hard to associate with hint text
• The disappearance duration exactly matches the hint text's display duration, making it difficult to debug

Suggestion

Two possible approaches (when a custom statusLine command is configured):

Option A: Render hint text on a separate line (first or last row of the statusline area) instead of sharing the same row as statusline output. This avoids the horizontal space conflict entirely.

Option B: Include the hint text content in the JSON passed via stdin to the statusline command, allowing custom implementations to render it however they choose (e.g., integrated into their own layout, styled differently, or placed on a specific line).

Either approach would:

1. Allow custom statusline commands to freely use full-width / right-aligned layouts
2. Give hint text its own display space without interference
3. Remove the need for users to "leave room on the right side"

Current Workaround

Limit statusline command output width to COLUMNS - 10, leaving space for hint text:

SL_COLS=$(( ${COLUMNS:-80} - 10 ))

This is a workaround I found while developing my own custom statusline.

Environment

• macOS 15.3.1 (Darwin 25.2.0)
• Claude Code (latest)

Related Issues

• #21647 — Prompt bar UI bug: text disappears
• #14011 — Hint text corrupts statusline output