The right information at the right time: Claude Code's Status Line
2 min read
If you use Claude Code daily, this status line is a small upgrade that makes a big difference. It sits at the bottom of your terminal, right under the textarea, and keeps key info visible at all times, no jumping through hoops and arcane commands needed.
Here's what mine looks like and how to set yours up.
What my status line shows
I configured mine to display six things:
- Working directory — equivalent to
pwd - Git branch — the current branch name
- Session usage — how much I've used in this session
- Weekly usage — spend so far this week
- Current model — which Claude model is active (Opus, Sonnet, Haiku, Mythos?)
- Context usage — how full the context window is
All of this updates in real time as you work.
How to set it up
The fastest way is to run /statusline inside Claude Code. It walks you through the configuration interactively.
You can also configure it manually in your ~/.claude/settings.json. The status line is defined as an array of segments, each pulling from built-in variables like cwd, git.branch, session.cost, weekly.cost, model, and context.usage.
Why it matters
Without the status line, you have to run separate commands to check your branch, your usage, or which model you're on. With it, that information is always one glance away.
It's especially useful when you're:
- Switching between projects — the directory and branch tell you exactly where you are
- Watching your budget — session and weekly cost stay visible so there are no surprises
- Working near context limits — the context meter tells you when it's time to compact or start fresh
Set it up in 30 seconds
Open Claude Code and type /statusline. That's it.
A small change, but once you have it, you won't go back.