Improve Claude CLI Session Visibility and Model Switching

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

The Claude CLI currently provides limited visibility into the context and configuration of an active session. Developers need to manually determine which project directory, Git branch, model, and session usage are currently active. This can lead to confusion, especially when working across multiple projects, branches, or sessions.

Additionally, switching between available Claude models is not as intuitive as it could be. Users may need to manually enter a full model ID to select a specific model, while the /model command does not provide an interactive way to discover and switch between available models.

Problems
Limited project and Git context
The CLI does not clearly display the project root/session working directory.
The current Git branch is not prominently visible.
This makes it harder to confirm what project and branch the current session is operating on.
Limited model and usage visibility
The currently active model is not always clearly visible.
Session usage/context information is not readily available.
Users have to rely on commands or inference to determine the current session state.
Difficult model switching
Switching models requires knowing and manually entering the exact model ID.
The /model command does not provide an intuitive model-selection experience.
There is no convenient way to discover the models currently available to the user and switch between them interactively.
Desired Outcome

The Claude CLI should provide a clear, persistent view of the current session state and make model management easier.

Ideally, the CLI should:

Display the current project/root directory.
Display the current Git branch.
Display the currently active Claude model.
Display relevant session usage/context information.
Allow users to use /model to view available models and interactively switch between them, without requiring users to know or manually type the full model ID.

These improvements would make the CLI more transparent, reduce accidental work in the wrong project or branch, and provide a significantly better experience for developers who frequently switch between projects, branches, and Claude models.

Proposed Solution

Feedback for the Claude CLI

The following improvements would significantly improve the user experience when working with the Claude CLI:

• Show the current project and Git branch: At the bottom of the CLI interface, display the current project/workspace being used, or at minimum the root directory where the session was started, along with the current Git branch. This would make it much easier to understand the context in which the session is running.

• Show the current model and session usage: Display the currently selected model and the current session usage/status directly in the CLI interface. This would make it easier to keep track of which model is being used and how much of the available context/session capacity has been consumed.

• Make model switching easier: It would be very useful to have an easy way to switch models from within the CLI. For example, if I want to switch from Claude 5 to Claude 4.8, I currently have to enter the full model ID manually. The /model command also doesn't appear to provide a convenient way to select or change between available models. Ideally, /model should display the available models and allow the user to select one interactively.

I think these changes would make the Claude CLI much more transparent and user-friendly, especially for developers who frequently switch projects, branches, and models during development.

Alternative Solutions

_No response_

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

CLI commands and flags

Use Case Example

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Additional Context

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