Feature request: persistent context window status line

Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Mar 5, 2026 by polkwagner Closed Apr 3, 2026

Feature Request

Add a persistent status line/bar that always shows context window usage (% used, tokens consumed/available).

Current behavior

Context usage is only visible via the /context command, which must be manually invoked each time.

Desired behavior

A persistent status line (bottom of terminal, or inline after each response) showing:

  • Context window % used
  • Token count (e.g., 11k/200k (6%))
  • Optionally: breakdown by category (system, memory, messages, free)

Why this matters

When working on long sessions or large codebases, it's easy to hit context limits unexpectedly. A persistent indicator would let users:

  • Proactively manage context before hitting limits
  • Understand how much room remains for complex operations
  • Decide when to start a new session

Alternatives considered

  • tmux status bar: not feasible because context data isn't exposed outside the session
  • Keybinding for /context: works but still requires manual invocation
  • Shell prompt integration: same problem — no external API for token counts

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