Option to keep statusline visible during interactive UI elements

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Feb 16, 2026 by mikegilchrist Closed Feb 20, 2026

Feature Request

The statusline (configured via settings.json) disappears when interactive UI elements appear -- permission prompts, AskUserQuestion dialogs, numbered option lists, etc.

For users who rely on the statusline to monitor context window usage, session cost, and session identity, losing this information during the exact moments when they need to make decisions (approve a tool call, choose an option) is frustrating.

Proposed Solution

Add a configuration option to keep the statusline always visible, even during interactive elements. For example:

{
  "statusLine": {
    "type": "command",
    "command": "bash ~/.claude/bin/statusline.sh",
    "alwaysVisible": true
  }
}

Current Workaround

Setting the terminal title bar via \033]0;...\007 escape sequence from within the statusline script (written to /dev/tty). This persists independently of Claude Code's UI, but is less visible and less customizable than the statusline itself.

Use Case

Users monitoring context window usage to decide when to compact, tracking session costs during billing cycles, or identifying which session they're in during multi-session workflows.

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