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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