Claude Code plugin that shows what's happening

A new Claude Code plugin called Claude HUD provides real-time visibility into context usage, active tools, running agents, and task progress directly within the terminal. The plugin installs via Claude Code's marketplace and uses the platform's native statusline API to display project path, context health, tool activity, agent tracking, and todo progress without requiring separate windows or tmux. Users can customize the display with Full, Essential, or Minimal presets and configure layout, language, and individual elements through a guided setup or direct config file editing.

A Claude Code plugin that shows what's happening — context usage, active tools, running agents, and todo progress. Always visible below your input. 🌐 English | 中文文档 Inside a Claude Code instance, run the following commands: Step 1: Add the marketplace /plugin marketplace add jarrodwatts/claude-hud Step 2: Install the plugin ⚠️ Linux users: Click here first On Linux, /tmp is often a separate filesystem tmpfs , which causes plugin installation to fail with: EXDEV: cross-device link not permitted Fix : Set TMPDIR before installing: mkdir -p ~/.cache/tmp && TMPDIR=~/.cache/tmp claude Then run the install command below in that session. This is a Claude Code platform limitation https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/14799 . /plugin install claude-hud After that, reload plugins: /reload-plugins Step 3: Configure the statusline /claude-hud:setup ⚠️ Windows users: Click here if setup says no JavaScript runtime was found On Windows, Node.js LTS is the supported runtime for Claude HUD setup. If setup says no JavaScript runtime was found, install Node.js for your shell first: winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS Then restart your shell and run /claude-hud:setup again. Done Restart Claude Code to load the new statusLine config, then the HUD will appear. On Windows, make that a full Claude Code restart after setup writes the new statusLine config. Claude HUD gives you better insights into what's happening in your Claude Code session. | What You See | Why It Matters | |---|---| Project path | Know which project you're in configurable 1-3 directory levels | Context health | Know exactly how full your context window is before it's too late | Tool activity | Watch Claude read, edit, and search files as it happens | Agent tracking | See which subagents are running and what they're doing | Todo progress | Track task completion in real-time | Opus │ my-project git: main Context █████░░░░░ 45% │ Usage ██░░░░░░░░ 25% 1h 30m / 5h Line 1 — Model, provider label when positively identified for example Bedrock , Vertex , project path, git branch Line 2 — Context bar green → yellow → red and usage rate limits ◐ Edit: auth.ts | ✓ Read ×3 | ✓ Grep ×2 ← Tools activity ◐ explore haiku : Finding auth code 2m 15s ← Agent status ▸ Fix authentication bug 2/5 ← Todo progress Claude HUD uses Claude Code's native statusline API — no separate window, no tmux required, works in any terminal. Claude Code → stdin JSON → claude-hud → stdout → displayed in your terminal ↘ transcript JSONL tools, agents, todos Key features: - Native token data from Claude Code not estimated - Scales with Claude Code's reported context window size, including newer 1M-context sessions - Parses the transcript for tool/agent activity - Updates every ~300ms Customize your HUD anytime: /claude-hud:configure The guided flow handles layout, language, and common display toggles. Advanced overrides such as custom colors and thresholds are preserved there, but you set them by editing the config file directly: First time setup : Choose a preset Full/Essential/Minimal , pick a label language, then fine-tune individual elements Customize anytime : Toggle items on/off, adjust git display style, switch layouts, or change label language Preview before saving : See exactly how your HUD will look before committing changes | Preset | What's Shown | |---|---| Full | Everything enabled — tools, agents, todos, git, usage, duration | Essential | Activity lines + git status, minimal info clutter | Minimal | Core only — just model name and context bar | After choosing a preset, you can turn individual elements on or off. Edit ~/.claude/plugins/claude-hud/config.json directly for advanced settings such as colors. , pathLevels , maxWidth , threshold overrides, display.timeFormat , and display.promptCacheTtlSeconds . Running /claude-hud:configure preserves those manual settings while still letting you change language , layout, and the common guided toggles. Chinese HUD labels are available as an explicit opt-in. English stays the default unless you choose 中文 in /claude-hud:configure or set language in config. The short zh alias remains valid, and new guided config writes the canonical zh-Hans value. | Option | Type | Default | Description | |---|---|---|---| language | en | zh | zh-Hans | en | HUD label language. English is the default; set zh or zh-Hans to enable Simplified Chinese labels. | lineLayout | string | expanded | Layout: expanded multi-line or compact single line | pathLevels | 1-3 | 1 | Directory levels to show in project path | maxWidth | number | null | null | Optional fallback width used only when terminal width detection fails completely | forceMaxWidth | boolean | false | Always use maxWidth when it is set, even if terminal width detection returns a smaller value | elementOrder | string | "project","context","usage","promptCache","memory","environment","tools","agents","todos","sessionTime" | Expanded-mode element order. Omit entries to hide them in expanded mode. Existing configs keep their explicit order until updated. | display.mergeGroups | string | "context","usage" | Expanded-mode groups that should share a line when adjacent. Set to disable merged lines. | gitStatus.enabled | boolean | true | Show git branch in HUD | gitStatus.showDirty | boolean | true | Show for uncommitted changes | gitStatus.showAheadBehind | boolean | false | Show ↑N ↓N for ahead/behind remote | gitStatus.pushWarningThreshold | number | 0 | Color the ahead count with the warning color at or above this unpushed-commit count 0 disables it | gitStatus.pushCriticalThreshold | number | 0 | Color the ahead count with the critical color at or above this unpushed-commit count 0 disables it | gitStatus.showFileStats | boolean | false | Show file change counts M +A ✘D ?U | gitStatus.branchOverflow | truncate | wrap | truncate | Keep current truncation behavior or let the git block wrap onto its own line boundary when possible | display.showModel | boolean | true | Show model name Opus | display.showAddedDirs | boolean | true | Show extra workspace directories from /add-dir e.g. +sparkle +lib-foo ; empty array renders nothing. In both layouts at most 5 dirs render overflow shown as +N more and basenames are truncated to 24 chars with … | display.addedDirsLayout | inline | line | inline | inline puts dirs next to the project name with a +name prefix per dir; line renders them on a separate Added dirs: name1, name2 line no + prefix, comma-separated | display.showContextBar | boolean | true | Show visual context bar ████░░░░░░ | display.contextValue | percent | tokens | remaining | both | percent | Context display format 45% , 45k/200k , 55% remaining, or 45% 45k/200k | display.showConfigCounts | boolean | false | Show CLAUDE.md, rules, MCPs, hooks counts | display.showCost | boolean | false | Show session cost using Claude Code's native cost.total cost usd when available, with a local estimate fallback for direct Anthropic sessions | display.showOutputStyle | boolean | false | Show the active Claude Code outputStyle from settings files as style: <name | display.showDuration | boolean | false | Show session duration ⏱️ 5m | display.showSpeed | boolean | false | Show output token speed out: 42.1 tok/s | display.showUsage | boolean | true | Show Claude subscriber usage limits when available | display.usageValue | percent | remaining | percent | Usage display format 25% used, or 75% remaining | display.usageBarEnabled | boolean | true | Display usage as visual bar instead of text | display.usageCompact | boolean | false | Display usage in a shorter text form such as 5h: 25% 1h 30m ; takes precedence over display.usageBarEnabled | display.showResetLabel | boolean | true | Show the resets in prefix before usage countdowns | display.timeFormat | relative | absolute | both | elapsed | elapsedAndAbsolute | relative | How usage-window time is shown: countdown only resets in 2h 30m , wall-clock reset resets at 14:30 , both, elapsed window percentage 53% elapsed , or elapsed plus wall-clock reset | display.sevenDayThreshold | 0-100 | 80 | Show 7-day usage when = threshold 0 = always | display.externalUsagePath | string | "" | Optional path to a local usage snapshot file used only when stdin rate limits are missing | display.externalUsageWritePath | string | "" | Optional absolute .json path in an existing directory. When stdin rate limits exists, ClaudeHUD writes a private snapshot for other local tools. Relative paths, non-json files, and missing parent directories are ignored | display.externalUsageFreshnessMs | number | 300000 | Maximum allowed age for the external usage snapshot before it is ignored | display.showTokenBreakdown | boolean | true | Show token details at high context 85%+ | display.showTools | boolean | false | Show tools activity line | display.toolNameMaxLength | number | 0 | Maximum displayed tool-name length. 0 keeps full names; MCP names may shorten to their final segment when truncating | display.toolsMaxVisible | number | 4 | Maximum completed tools shown on the tools line. 0 means unlimited | display.showAgents | boolean | false | Show agents activity line | display.showTodos | boolean | false | Show todos progress line | display.showSessionName | boolean | false | Show session slug or custom title from /rename | display.showSessionStartDate | boolean | false | Show the transcript session start timestamp | display.showLastResponseAt | boolean | false | Show how long ago the last assistant response was written | display.showClaudeCodeVersion | boolean | false | Show the installed Claude Code version, e.g. CC v2.1.81 | display.showMemoryUsage | boolean | false | Show an approximate system RAM usage line in expanded layout | display.showPromptCache | boolean | false | Show a prompt cache countdown based on the last assistant response timestamp in the transcript | display.promptCacheTtlSeconds | number | 300 | Prompt cache TTL in seconds. Keep the default for Pro, set 3600 for Max | colors.context | color value | green | Base color for the context bar and context percentage | colors.usage | color value | brightBlue | Base color for usage bars and percentages below warning thresholds | colors.warning | color value | yellow | Warning color for context thresholds and usage warning text | colors.usageWarning | color value | brightMagenta | Warning color for usage bars and percentages near their threshold | colors.critical | color value | red | Critical color for limit-reached states and critical thresholds | colors.model | color value | cyan | Color for the model badge such as Opus | colors.project | color value | yellow | Color for the project path | colors.git | color value | magenta | Color for git wrapper text such as git: and | colors.gitBranch | color value | cyan | Color for the git branch and branch status text | colors.label | color value | dim | Color for labels and secondary metadata such as Context , Usage , counts, and progress text | colors.custom | color value | 208 | Color for the optional custom line | colors.barFilled | string | █ | Character used for the filled portion of progress bars | colors.barEmpty | string | ░ | Character used for the empty portion of progress bars | colors.barFilled and colors.barEmpty accept a single visible grapheme. Control characters, invisible format characters bidi controls, zero-width joiners, variation selectors , line/paragraph separators, and noncharacters are rejected. Wide characters emoji, CJK may affect bar alignment depending on the terminal. Supported color names: dim , red , green , yellow , magenta , cyan , brightBlue , brightMagenta . You can also use a 256-color number 0-255 or hex rrggbb . display.showMemoryUsage is fully opt-in and only renders in expanded layout. It reports approximate system RAM usage from the local machine, not precise memory pressure inside Claude Code or a specific process. The number may overstate actual pressure because reclaimable OS cache and buffers can still be counted as used memory. display.showCost is fully opt-in. ClaudeHUD prefers the native cost.total cost usd field that Claude Code provides on stdin when it is available. If that field is absent or invalid for a direct Anthropic session, ClaudeHUD falls back to the existing local transcript-based estimate so the cost line still works on older payloads. The native field is absent before the first API response in a session, so the cost display may stay hidden until then. ClaudeHUD also keeps the cost hidden for known routed providers such as Bedrock and Vertex AI, because cloud-provider billed sessions may report $0.00 or omit the field even though the session was not literally free. display.showPromptCache is fully opt-in. When enabled, ClaudeHUD looks at the timestamp of the last assistant response in the local transcript and shows a live countdown until the prompt cache expires. The default TTL is 5 minutes 300 seconds . Set display.promptCacheTtlSeconds to 3600 if you want a 1-hour Max-style window. If the transcript does not have an assistant timestamp yet, the cache element stays hidden. Usage display is enabled by default when Claude Code provides subscriber rate limits data on stdin. It shows your rate limit consumption on line 2 alongside the context bar. Set display.usageValue to remaining to show quota left instead of quota used. Warning colors and 7-day threshold checks still use the underlying used percentage. ClaudeHUD prefers the official statusline stdin payload. If rate limits are missing, you can opt into a local sidecar fallback by setting display.externalUsagePath to a JSON snapshot written by another tool such as a proxy. Stdin still wins whenever both sources exist. The fallback snapshot must be fresh enough display.externalUsageFreshnessMs and include valid updated at , plus a five hour window, seven day window, or balance label . balance label is optional text for prepaid provider balances; it is trimmed, length-limited, and sanitized before display. Invalid JSON, stale files, or invalid timestamps are ignored quietly. Set display.externalUsageWritePath if you want ClaudeHUD to write the official stdin rate limits into a local snapshot for other tools. The path must be absolute, end in .json , and live in an existing directory. ClaudeHUD writes the file with private permissions and ignores invalid paths quietly. Free/weekly-only accounts render the weekly window by itself instead of showing a ghost 5h: -- placeholder. The 7-day percentage appears when above the display.sevenDayThreshold default 80% : Context █████░░░░░ 45% │ Usage ██░░░░░░░░ 25% 1h 30m / 5h | ██████████ 85% 2d / 7d To disable, set display.showUsage to false . Reset times use relative countdowns by default. Set display.timeFormat to absolute for wall-clock times, both to show both forms, elapsed to show how far through each usage window you are, or elapsedAndAbsolute to show elapsed window progress plus the wall-clock reset time. This setting is manual-only today; /claude-hud:configure preserves it without editing it. Set display.showResetLabel to false if you want shorter usage countdowns such as 3h 17m instead of resets in 3h 17m . Set display.usageCompact to true if you want the shorter usage-only form, for example 5h: 25% 1h 30m . Compact usage takes precedence over display.usageBarEnabled . Requirements: - Claude Code must include subscriber rate limits data on stdin for the current session - Not available for API-key-only users Troubleshooting: If usage doesn't appear: - Ensure you're logged in with a Claude subscriber account not API key - Check display.showUsage is not set to false in config - API users see no usage display they have pay-per-token, not rate limits - AWS Bedrock models display Bedrock and hide usage limits usage is managed in AWS - Google Vertex AI models display Vertex and hide cost estimates pricing differs from Anthropic direct - Claude Code may leave rate limits empty until after the first model response in a session - Some Claude Code builds and subscription tiers may still omit rate limits , even after the first response - If you configured display.externalUsagePath , ClaudeHUD will try that local snapshot before hiding usage - ClaudeHUD never falls back to credential scraping or undocumented API calls Example fallback snapshot: { "updated at": "2026-04-20T12:00:00.000Z", "five hour": { "used percentage": 42, "resets at": "2026-04-20T15:00:00.000Z" }, "seven day": { "used percentage": 84, "resets at": "2026-04-27T12:00:00.000Z" } } { "language": "zh", "lineLayout": "expanded", "pathLevels": 2, "elementOrder": "project", "tools", "context", "usage", "memory", "environment", "agents", "todos", "sessionTime" , "gitStatus": { "enabled": true, "showDirty": true, "showAheadBehind": true, "showFileStats": true }, "display": { "showTools": true, "showAgents": true, "showTodos": true, "showConfigCounts": true, "showDuration": true, "showMemoryUsage": true }, "colors": { "context": "cyan", "usage": "cyan", "warning": "yellow", "usageWarning": "magenta", "critical": "red", "model": "cyan", "project": "yellow", "git": "magenta", "gitBranch": "cyan", "label": "dim", "custom": " FF6600" } } 1 level default : Opus │ my-project git: main 2 levels: Opus │ apps/my-project git: main 3 levels: Opus │ dev/apps/my-project git: main With dirty indicator: Opus │ my-project git: main With ahead/behind: Opus │ my-project git: main ↑2 ↓1 With file stats: Opus │ my-project git: main 3 +1 ?2 = modified files, + = added/staged, ✘ = deleted, ? = untracked- Counts of 0 are omitted for cleaner display Config not applying? - Check for JSON syntax errors: invalid JSON silently falls back to defaults - Ensure valid values: pathLevels must be 1, 2, or 3; lineLayout must be expanded or compact ; maxWidth must be a positive number - Delete config and run /claude-hud:configure to regenerate Git status missing? - Verify you're in a git repository - Check gitStatus.enabled is not false in config Tool/agent/todo lines missing? - These are hidden by default — enable with showTools , showAgents , showTodos in config - They also only appear when there's activity to show HUD not appearing after setup? - Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new statusLine config - On macOS, fully quit Claude Code and run claude again in your terminal - Claude Code v1.0.80+ - macOS/Linux: Node.js 18+ or Bun - Windows: Node.js 18+ git clone https://github.com/jarrodwatts/claude-hud cd claude-hud npm ci && npm run build npm test See CONTRIBUTING.md /jarrodwatts/claude-hud/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines. MIT — see LICENSE /jarrodwatts/claude-hud/blob/main/LICENSE