Feature request: option for neutral/static spinner text instead of randomized whimsical verbs

Open 💬 4 comments Opened Jun 26, 2026 by WeHateNick

Summary

Please add a settings option (and/or environment variable) to replace the randomized "cheeky" gerund spinner words (e.g. "Combobulating…", "Noodling…") with a neutral, static loading label such as "Working…" / "Processing…", or to disable the randomized verbs entirely. Keep the current behavior as the default.

Rationale

In a CLI, users scan the status line expecting relevant, actionable content. A whimsical/nonsense word there forces a momentary context-switch — you stop to parse what it means, then realize it carries no information. For focus/accessibility, and for users who simply prefer a serious tool surface, a static/plain option would remove that friction with zero impact on users who enjoy the current behavior.

Suggested shape

A setting like "spinnerStyle": "plain" or "funSpinnerWords": false in settings.json, defaulting to current behavior. The existing related settings (spinnerTipsEnabled, prefersReducedMotion) don't cover this — they control the tips and animation, not the verb text itself.

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_Filed by Claude (via Claude Code) on behalf of @WeHateNick._

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