Status Line

Display custom information in the footer using a shell command.

The status line lets you run a shell command whose output is displayed in the footer’s left section. The command receives structured JSON context via stdin, so it can show session-aware information like the current model, token usage, git branch, or anything else you can script.


With status line (default approval mode — 1 row):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  user@host ~/project (main) ctx:34%   🔒 docker | Debug | 67%  │  ← status line
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

With status line + non-default mode (2 rows):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  user@host ~/project (main) ctx:34%   🔒 docker | Debug | 67%  │  ← status line
│  auto-accept edits (shift + tab to cycle)                       │  ← mode indicator
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

When configured, the status line replaces the default ”? for shortcuts” hint. High-priority messages (Ctrl+C/D exit prompts, Esc, vim INSERT mode) temporarily override the status line. The status line text is truncated to fit within the available width.

Prerequisites

jq is recommended for parsing the JSON input (install via brew install jq, apt install jq, etc.)
Simple commands that don’t need JSON data (e.g. git branch --show-current) work without jq

Quick setup

The easiest way to configure a status line is the /statusline command. It launches a setup agent that reads your shell PS1 configuration and generates a matching status line:


/statusline

You can also give it specific instructions:


/statusline show model name and context usage percentage

Manual configuration

Add a statusLine object under the ui key in ~/.qwen/settings.json:


{
  "ui": {
    "statusLine": {
      "type": "command",
      "command": "input=$(cat); model=$(echo \"$input\" | jq -r '.model.display_name'); pct=$(echo \"$input\" | jq -r '.context_window.used_percentage'); echo \"$model  ctx:${pct}%\""
    }
  }
}

Field	Type	Required	Description
`type`	`"command"`	Yes	Must be `"command"`
`command`	string	Yes	Shell command to execute. Receives JSON via stdin, first line of stdout is displayed.

JSON input

The command receives a JSON object via stdin with the following fields:


{
  "session_id": "abc-123",
  "version": "0.14.1",
  "model": {
    "display_name": "qwen-3-235b"
  },
  "context_window": {
    "context_window_size": 131072,
    "used_percentage": 34.3,
    "remaining_percentage": 65.7,
    "current_usage": 45000,
    "total_input_tokens": 30000,
    "total_output_tokens": 5000
  },
  "workspace": {
    "current_dir": "/home/user/project"
  },
  "git": {
    "branch": "main"
  },
  "metrics": {
    "models": {
      "qwen-3-235b": {
        "api": {
          "total_requests": 10,
          "total_errors": 0,
          "total_latency_ms": 5000
        },
        "tokens": {
          "prompt": 30000,
          "completion": 5000,
          "total": 35000,
          "cached": 10000,
          "thoughts": 2000
        }
      }
    },
    "files": {
      "total_lines_added": 120,
      "total_lines_removed": 30
    }
  },
  "vim": {
    "mode": "INSERT"
  }
}

Field	Type	Description
`session_id`	string	Unique session identifier
`version`	string	Qwen Code version
`model.display_name`	string	Current model name
`context_window.context_window_size`	number	Total context window size in tokens
`context_window.used_percentage`	number	Context window usage as percentage (0–100)
`context_window.remaining_percentage`	number	Context window remaining as percentage (0–100)
`context_window.current_usage`	number	Token count from the last API call (current context size)
`context_window.total_input_tokens`	number	Total input tokens consumed this session
`context_window.total_output_tokens`	number	Total output tokens consumed this session
`workspace.current_dir`	string	Current working directory
`git`	object \| absent	Present only inside a git repository.
`git.branch`	string	Current branch name
`metrics.models.<id>.api`	object	Per-model API stats: `total_requests`, `total_errors`, `total_latency_ms`
`metrics.models.<id>.tokens`	object	Per-model token usage: `prompt`, `completion`, `total`, `cached`, `thoughts`
`metrics.files`	object	File change stats: `total_lines_added`, `total_lines_removed`
`vim`	object \| absent	Present only when vim mode is enabled. Contains `mode` (`"INSERT"` or `"NORMAL"`).

Important: stdin can only be read once. Always store it in a variable first: input=$(cat).

Examples

Model and token usage


{
  "ui": {
    "statusLine": {
      "type": "command",
      "command": "input=$(cat); model=$(echo \"$input\" | jq -r '.model.display_name'); pct=$(echo \"$input\" | jq -r '.context_window.used_percentage'); echo \"$model  ctx:${pct}%\""
    }
  }
}

Output: qwen-3-235b ctx:34%

Git branch + directory


{
  "ui": {
    "statusLine": {
      "type": "command",
      "command": "input=$(cat); branch=$(echo \"$input\" | jq -r '.git.branch // empty'); dir=$(basename \"$(echo \"$input\" | jq -r '.workspace.current_dir')\"); echo \"$dir${branch:+ ($branch)}\""
    }
  }
}

Output: my-project (main)

Note: The git.branch field is provided directly in the JSON input — no need to shell out to git.

File change stats


{
  "ui": {
    "statusLine": {
      "type": "command",
      "command": "input=$(cat); added=$(echo \"$input\" | jq -r '.metrics.files.total_lines_added'); removed=$(echo \"$input\" | jq -r '.metrics.files.total_lines_removed'); echo \"+$added/-$removed lines\""
    }
  }
}

Output: +120/-30 lines

Script file for complex commands

For longer commands, save a script file at ~/.qwen/statusline-command.sh:


#!/bin/bash
input=$(cat)
model=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.model.display_name')
pct=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.context_window.used_percentage')
branch=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.git.branch // empty')
added=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.metrics.files.total_lines_added')
removed=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.metrics.files.total_lines_removed')
 
parts=()
[ -n "$model" ] && parts+=("$model")
[ -n "$branch" ] && parts+=("($branch)")
[ "$pct" != "0" ] 2>/dev/null && parts+=("ctx:${pct}%")
([ "$added" -gt 0 ] || [ "$removed" -gt 0 ]) 2>/dev/null && parts+=("+${added}/-${removed}")
 
echo "${parts[*]}"

Then reference it in settings:


{
  "ui": {
    "statusLine": {
      "type": "command",
      "command": "bash ~/.qwen/statusline-command.sh"
    }
  }
}

Behavior

Update triggers: The status line updates when the model changes, a new message is sent (token count changes), vim mode is toggled, git branch changes, tool calls complete, or file changes occur. Updates are debounced (300ms).
Timeout: Commands that take longer than 5 seconds are killed. The status line clears on failure.
Output: Only the first line of stdout is used. The text is rendered with dimmed colors in the footer’s left section and truncated if it exceeds the available width.
Hot reload: Changes to ui.statusLine in settings take effect immediately — no restart required.
Shell: Commands run via /bin/sh on macOS/Linux. On Windows, cmd.exe is used by default — wrap POSIX commands with bash -c "..." or point to a bash script (e.g. bash ~/.qwen/statusline-command.sh).
Removal: Delete the ui.statusLine key from settings to disable. The ”? for shortcuts” hint returns.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
Status line not showing	Config at wrong path	Must be under `ui.statusLine`, not root-level `statusLine`
Empty output	Command fails silently	Test manually: `echo '{"session_id":"test","version":"0.14.1","model":{"display_name":"test"},"context_window":{"context_window_size":0,"used_percentage":0,"remaining_percentage":100,"current_usage":0,"total_input_tokens":0,"total_output_tokens":0},"workspace":{"current_dir":"/tmp"},"metrics":{"models":{},"files":{"total_lines_added":0,"total_lines_removed":0}}}' \| sh -c 'your_command'`
Stale data	No trigger fired	Send a message or switch models to trigger an update
Command too slow	Complex script	Optimize the script or move heavy work to a background cache