Make thinking status words configurable or more professional

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Feb 11, 2026 by philipp-riedele Closed Feb 15, 2026

Problem

While Claude Code is processing/thinking, random words appear in orange text as status indicators — words like "jitterbugging", "hoolabalooing", "percolating", etc.

These words feel unprofessional and out of place in a serious development tool. When working in a focused, professional environment, seeing playful/silly words breaks concentration and feels incongruent with the tool's purpose.

Suggestion

Either:

  1. Make the thinking status words configurable — allow users to define their own set of status words (e.g., via settings.json or .claude/config)
  2. Offer a "professional mode" — a setting that replaces playful words with neutral/professional alternatives (e.g., "thinking", "processing", "analyzing")
  3. Allow disabling them entirely — just show a simple spinner without random words

Why this matters

  • Claude Code is used as a professional development tool
  • The tone of UI elements should match the professional context
  • Users should have control over what their tools display
  • Small details like status text contribute to the overall experience

Example config (suggestion)

{
  "thinkingStatusStyle": "professional"  // "playful" | "professional" | "custom" | "none"
}

Or custom words:

{
  "thinkingStatusWords": ["Thinking", "Processing", "Analyzing"]
}

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