Feature request: show absolute timestamps in inline status lines (not just elapsed duration)
Problem
When working with multiple Claude Code sessions in parallel across many
terminals, the inline status indicators show only elapsed duration:
✻ Brewed for 50s
Worked for 8m 14s
● Mark task #6 complete.
This makes it hard to orient in time after switching between consoles.
"Worked for 8m 14s" tells me how long something took, but not WHEN it
happened. After switching back to a terminal that's been idle for a
while, I can't tell at a glance whether the last action was 2 minutes
or 2 hours ago — and "8 minutes from when?" is impossible to answer
without context. Worse, sessions often span multiple days (left
running overnight, picked up next morning), so a pure clock time like14:22 is also ambiguous.
Proposed solution
Add a setting (e.g. "timestampFormat": "absolute" | "duration" insettings.json, or a CLI flag) that switches inline indicators to
absolute wall-clock timestamps with full date:
✻ Brewed at 2026-05-19 14:22
Worked at 2026-05-19 14:22 (took 8m 14s)
● Mark task #6 complete at 2026-05-19 14:30
Format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM is preferred over just HH:MM:SS because
sessions frequently span multiple days. Either replacing the elapsed
duration entirely, or appending the wall-clock timestamp alongside
it, would work.
Why this matters
Real workflow: developers running 10+ Claude Code instances across
projects often lose track of which session was last active and when.
Sessions can also span days (left idle overnight, resumed next
morning). A full wall-clock timestamp solves orientation instantly
without needing to glance at the system clock or compute "8 minutes
ago from when?" — and without ambiguity about which day an event
happened.
Workarounds tried
- Custom status line with
date— shows current time, but not the
time of each past action.
showTurnDuration: false— hides the duration but doesn't replace
it with anything useful.
Neither addresses the actual need: knowing when each step happened.
This issue has 3 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗