name: statusline description: >- Configure a custom status line in the CLI. Use when the user mentions status line, statusline, statusLine, CLI status bar, prompt footer customization, or wants to add session context above the prompt.

CLI Status Line

The CLI supports a user-configurable status line rendered above the prompt. A command is spawned on each conversation update, receives a JSON payload on stdin describing the session, and its stdout is displayed as the status line. The spec is aligned with Claude Code's status line.

Configuration

Add a statusLine entry to ~/.cursor/cli-config.json:

{
  "statusLine": {
    "type": "command",
    "command": "~/.cursor/statusline.sh",
    "padding": 2
  }
}

The command field supports full paths, ~ expansion, and shell-style argument splitting. You can point it at a script file or use an inline command like jq -r '...'.

Stdin payload

The command receives a JSON object on stdin. The TypeScript interface is StatusLinePayload in packages/agent-cli/src/hooks/use-status-line.ts.

Full JSON schema

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "session_name": "my session",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/transcript.jsonl",
  "render_width_chars": 120,
  "cwd": "/Users/me/project",
  "model": {
    "id": "claude-4-opus",
    "display_name": "Claude 4 Opus",
    "param_summary": "(Thinking)",
    "max_mode": true
  },
  "workspace": {
    "current_dir": "/Users/me/project",
    "project_dir": "/Users/me/project/.cursor/transcripts",
    "added_dirs": []
  },
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "output_style": {
    "name": "default"
  },
  "context_window": {
    "total_input_tokens": 15234,
    "total_output_tokens": null,
    "context_window_size": 200000,
    "used_percentage": 34.5,
    "remaining_percentage": 65.5,
    "current_usage": null
  },
  "vim": {
    "mode": "NORMAL"
  },
  "worktree": {
    "name": "my-feature",
    "path": "/Users/me/.cursor/worktrees/repo/my-feature"
  }
}

Available fields

Fields that may be absent

• session_name — only present when a custom name has been set
• model.param_summary — only present when model has non-default parameters
• model.max_mode — only present when max mode is enabled
• vim — only present when vim mode is enabled
• worktree — only present when running in a worktree

Fields that may be null

• context_window.current_usage — null before the first API call
• context_window.used_percentage, context_window.remaining_percentage — may be null early in the session

Stdout / rendering

• Multiple lines are supported: each line of stdout renders as a separate row in the status area.
• ANSI color codes are supported (use chalk, tput, \033[32m, etc.).
• If the command exits non-zero with empty stdout, the status line is not updated (previous text is kept).
• If the command times out or a new update arrives while the script is running, the in-flight process is killed.
• The status line runs locally and does not consume API tokens.

Examples

Basic: model + context usage

#!/usr/bin/env bash
payload=$(cat)
model=$(echo "$payload" | jq -r '.model.display_name')
pct=$(echo "$payload" | jq -r '.context_window.used_percentage // 0' | cut -d. -f1)
printf "\033[90m%s  ctx %s%%\033[0m" "$model" "$pct"

Context progress bar

#!/usr/bin/env bash
input=$(cat)
MODEL=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.model.display_name')
PCT=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.context_window.used_percentage // 0' | cut -d. -f1)

BAR_WIDTH=10
FILLED=$((PCT * BAR_WIDTH / 100))
EMPTY=$((BAR_WIDTH - FILLED))
BAR=""
[ "$FILLED" -gt 0 ] && printf -v FILL "%${FILLED}s" && BAR="${FILL// /▓}"
[ "$EMPTY" -gt 0 ] && printf -v PAD "%${EMPTY}s" && BAR="${BAR}${PAD// /░}"

echo "[$MODEL] $BAR $PCT%"

Multi-line with git info

#!/usr/bin/env bash
input=$(cat)
MODEL=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.model.display_name')
DIR=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.workspace.current_dir')
PCT=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.context_window.used_percentage // 0' | cut -d. -f1)

BRANCH=""
git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1 && BRANCH=" | 🌿 $(git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null)"

echo -e "\033[36m[$MODEL]\033[0m 📁 ${DIR##*/}$BRANCH"
echo -e "ctx $PCT%"

Inline jq command (no script file)

{
  "statusLine": {
    "type": "command",
    "command": "jq -r '\"[\\(.model.display_name)] \\(.context_window.used_percentage // 0)% context\"'"
  }
}

Testing

Test a script with mock input:

echo '{"model":{"display_name":"Opus"},"context_window":{"used_percentage":25}}' | ./statusline.sh

The command is spawned with child_process.spawn (no shell on Unix, shell: true on Windows for .cmd/.bat compatibility). Updates are debounced at the configured interval. If a new update triggers while a script is running, the in-flight process is killed via AbortController and the new invocation starts immediately.