[FEATURE] Hide or make configurable the branch diff-stats badge in the Desktop status bar

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

In Claude Code Desktop, the git status bar shows a branch diff-stats badge above the prompt input (e.g. +200K -30K). The numbers compare the current branch against the base on origin (usually main), not against HEAD or the working tree.

I work on a long-lived feature branch that has diverged far from main, so the badge shows a huge number that reflects how far the branch has drifted (accumulated commits, regenerated lock files, etc.) rather than the change I'm actually making. On every refresh it's a large, hard-to-parse number sitting right above the prompt input, and in this workflow it's effectively meaningless.

This was raised before in #56092, which was auto-closed as a duplicate of #48765. But #48765 is specifically about hiding the Create PR button, not the diff-stats badge — they're different elements with different problems, so the diff-numbers concern wasn't actually captured. Filing this so the diff-stats badge is tracked on its own.

Proposed Solution

Either of these would resolve it (whichever is easier to implement):

1. Hide it — a flag in ~/.claude/settings.json, e.g. { "showBranchStatusBadge": false }.

1. Make it configurable — let me choose/edit the target (base) branch used for the diff, e.g. { "diff": { "baseBranch": "release/2026-06" } }, so the comparison is against a meaningful branch instead of always main.

Ideally the badge would disappear (option 1) or recompute against the configured base (option 2) as soon as the setting changes, without restarting the session.

Alternative Solutions

• Ctrl+B collapses the entire sidebar, which also hides the session list and file tree — too broad.
• Switching to the CLI in a plain terminal hides the badge but loses the Desktop IDE features (inline diffs, file navigation).

Priority

Critical - Blocking my work

Feature Category

CLI commands and flags

Use Case Example

Example scenario:

1. I'm on a long-lived feature branch (e.g. feature/phase-4) that is many commits and a regenerated lock file ahead of main.
2. The status bar badge shows +200K -30K, comparing the branch against main on origin.
3. With this feature I'd set showBranchStatusBadge: false — or point diff.baseBranch at the branch I actually branched from.
4. The badge would then disappear or show a meaningful number, removing the noise above the prompt input.

Additional Context

Related issues:

• #56092 — hide the branch status badge / PR widget (closed as duplicate of #48765); raised this exact diff-numbers problem
• #48765 — hide the Create PR button (the issue this was merged into; narrower scope)
• #51738 — badge shows diff-vs-base line count instead of branch content
• #62391 — override the diff view base branch (Cloud Mode)