Feature Request: Enhanced Status Line with Context Information Integration

Summary

Request to integrate or improve status line functionality similar to the community-developed context enhancement script that provides additional contextual information in the Claude Code status line.

Background

A community member has created a comprehensive status line enhancement script (reference) that adds valuable context information to Claude Code's status line.

Current Community Solution

The existing script provides the following features:

• Model name display: Shows current model being used
• Current folder name: Displays active project directory
• Git branch information: Shows current branch when in a git repository
• Context usage metrics: Real-time context usage percentage and token counts (out of 200,000 limit)

Implementation Details

The community solution consists of a Python script that:

#\!/usr/bin/env python3
import json
import sys
import os

# Constant
CONTEXT_LIMIT = 200000

# Read JSON from stdin
data = json.load(sys.stdin)

# Extract values
model = data['model']['display_name']
current_dir = os.path.basename(data['workspace']['current_dir'])

# Check for git branch
git_branch = ""
if os.path.exists('.git'):
    try:
        with open('.git/HEAD', 'r') as f:
            ref = f.read().strip()
            if ref.startswith('ref: refs/heads/'):
                git_branch = f" |⚡️ {ref.replace('ref: refs/heads/', '')}"
    except:
        pass

transcript_path = data['transcript_path']

# Parse transcript file to calculate context usage
context_used_token = 0

try:
    with open(transcript_path, 'r') as f:
        lines = f.readlines()
        
        # Iterate from last line to first line
        for line in reversed(lines):
            line = line.strip()
            if not line:
                continue
            
            try:
                obj = json.loads(line)
                # Check if this line contains token usage information
                if (obj.get('type') == 'assistant' and 'message' in obj and 'usage' in obj['message']):
                    usage = obj['message']['usage']
                    input_tokens = usage.get('input_tokens', 0)
                    cache_creation_input_tokens = usage.get('cache_creation_input_tokens', 0)
                    cache_read_input_tokens = usage.get('cache_read_input_tokens', 0)
                    output_tokens = usage.get('output_tokens', 0)
                    
                    context_used_token = input_tokens + cache_creation_input_tokens + cache_read_input_tokens + output_tokens
                    break
            except json.JSONDecodeError:
                continue
                
except Exception:
    pass

# Calculate percentage
context_percentage = (context_used_token / CONTEXT_LIMIT) * 100

# Print status line
print(f"[{model}] 📁 {current_dir}{git_branch} | Context used: {context_percentage:.1f}% ({context_used_token:,}/{CONTEXT_LIMIT:,} tokens)")

Current Setup Process

Users currently need to:

1. Download the Python script
2. Add execution permissions: chmod +x /path/to/claude-code-status-line.py
3. Update ~/.claude/settings.json:

``json
{
"statusLine": {
"type": "command",
"command": "/path/to/claude-code-status-line.py"
}
}
``

Current Output Format

[Model Name] 📁 <folder> |⚡️ <branch> | Context used: XX.X% (XXX,XXX/200,000 tokens)

Proposed Enhancement

Consider integrating similar functionality natively into Claude Code to eliminate the need for external scripts:

1. Built-in Status Elements: Native support for model, folder, git branch, and context usage display
2. Configurable Status Line: Allow users to customize which elements appear
3. Real-time Updates: Automatic context usage tracking without file parsing
4. Cross-platform Compatibility: Remove dependency on external Python scripts
5. Enhanced Git Integration: Better git repository detection and branch display

Benefits

• Improved User Experience: No external script setup required
• Better Context Awareness: Real-time visibility into context usage and limits
• Enhanced Productivity: Quick project and session status at a glance
• Reduced Friction: Native integration eliminates manual configuration
• Reliability: Built-in functionality more stable than external scripts

Technical Considerations

The community solution demonstrates that the following data is already available:

• Model information via data['model']['display_name']
• Workspace directory via data['workspace']['current_dir']
• Transcript path via data['transcript_path']
• Token usage via transcript file parsing

This suggests native integration would be straightforward since the underlying data is already accessible.

Suggested Implementation

• Add native status line configuration options in Claude Code settings
• Provide template-based status line customization
• Include optional display elements (model, folder, git, context usage)
• Implement real-time context tracking without external file parsing
• Support user-defined status line formats and icons