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This command is in Beta. The API and behavior may change in future versions.

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Overview

The statusline command displays a compact, single-line status for integration with Claude Code hooks and shell prompts. It shows real-time information about the current session including model, costs, burn rate, and context usage. The command uses a hybrid caching system that combines:
  • Time-based expiry: Cache expires after a configurable refresh interval
  • File modification detection: Immediate invalidation when transcript file changes

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Usage

echo '{"session_id":"...","transcript_path":"...","model":{...}}' | ccusage statusline

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Flags

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Command-Specific Flags

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--visual-burn-rate
enum
default:"off"
Controls the visualization of the burn rate status:
  • off: No visual indicator
  • emoji: Show emoji indicator (🟢/⚠️/🚨)
  • text: Show text status (Normal/Moderate/High)
  • emoji-text: Show both emoji and text
Short flag: -BChoices: off, emoji, text, emoji-text
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--cost-source
enum
default:"auto"
Session cost source:
  • auto: Prefer Claude Code cost, fallback to ccusage calculation
  • ccusage: Always calculate using ccusage
  • cc: Always use Claude Code’s pre-calculated cost
  • both: Show both costs side by side for comparison
Choices: auto, ccusage, cc, both
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--cache
boolean
default:"true"
Enable cache for status line output. Improves performance by reusing results when data hasn’t changed.Negatable: Use --no-cache to disable
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--refresh-interval
number
default:"30"
Refresh interval in seconds for cache expiry. Cache is also invalidated immediately when transcript file is modified.Default: 30 seconds
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--context-low-threshold
number
default:"50"
Context usage percentage below which status is shown in green (0-100).Default: 50Validation: Must be less than --context-medium-threshold
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--context-medium-threshold
number
default:"80"
Context usage percentage below which status is shown in yellow (0-100). Above this threshold, status is shown in red.Default: 80Validation: Must be greater than --context-low-threshold
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--offline
boolean
default:"true"
Use cached pricing data for Claude models. Default is true for better performance in statusline.Short flag: -ONegatable: Use --no-offline to fetch fresh pricing

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Common Flags

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--config
string
Path to configuration file. Default: auto-discovery.
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--debug
boolean
default:"false"
Show debug information.Short flag: -d

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Input Format

The command expects JSON input from stdin matching Claude Code’s hook data format: 
{
  "session_id": "abc123-def456-ghi789",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/transcript.jsonl",
  "model": {
    "id": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    "display_name": "Claude 4 Sonnet"
  },
  "cost": {
    "total_cost_usd": 0.85
  },
  "context_window": {
    "total_input_tokens": 125000,
    "context_window_size": 200000
  }
}

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Required Fields

  • session_id: Unique session identifier
  • transcript_path: Path to transcript JSONL file
  • model.id: Model identifier
  • model.display_name: Human-readable model name

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Optional Fields

  • cost.total_cost_usd: Pre-calculated cost from Claude Code
  • context_window.total_input_tokens: Current context tokens
  • context_window.context_window_size: Maximum context window size

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Output Format

Single-line status with emoji indicators: 
🤖 Claude 4 Sonnet | 💰 $0.85 session / $2.50 today / $0.85 block (2h 30m left) | 🔥 $0.34/hr 🟢 | 🧠 125,000 (62%)

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Status Components

  1. 🤖 Model: Display name of the model
  2. 💰 Costs:
    • Session cost (from Claude Code or calculated)
    • Today’s total cost
    • Current block cost and time remaining
  3. 🔥 Burn Rate (if --visual-burn-rate enabled):
    • Cost per hour
    • Status indicator (🟢 Normal / ⚠️ Moderate / 🚨 High)
  4. 🧠 Context: Current tokens and percentage of limit
    • Green: < 50% (or --context-low-threshold)
    • Yellow: 50-80% (or --context-medium-threshold)
    • Red: > 80%

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Burn Rate Thresholds

  • 🟢 Normal: < 2,000 tokens/minute
  • ⚠️ Moderate: 2,000-5,000 tokens/minute
  • 🚨 High: > 5,000 tokens/minute

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Caching Behavior

The hybrid caching system validates cache using two mechanisms:
  1. Time-based: Cache expires after --refresh-interval seconds
  2. File-based: Cache invalidates immediately when transcript file is modified
This ensures real-time updates while maintaining good performance.

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Cache Invalidation

  • When transcript file modification time changes
  • When refresh interval expires
  • When cache is manually disabled with --no-cache

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Process Coordination

The command uses a semaphore file (stored in system temp directory) to prevent concurrent updates:
  • If another process is updating, returns cached output
  • Includes deadlock protection by checking if updating process is still alive

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Examples

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Basic usage with hook data

echo '{"session_id":"123","transcript_path":"/path","model":{"id":"claude-sonnet-4","display_name":"Sonnet 4"}}' | ccusage statusline

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Show emoji burn rate indicator

ccusage statusline --visual-burn-rate emoji < hook-data.json

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Compare cost sources

ccusage statusline --cost-source both < hook-data.json

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Disable caching for testing

ccusage statusline --no-cache < hook-data.json

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Custom context thresholds

ccusage statusline --context-low-threshold 30 --context-medium-threshold 70 < hook-data.json

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Faster refresh for development

ccusage statusline --refresh-interval 5 < hook-data.json

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Integration with Claude Code Hooks

This command is designed for integration with Claude Code’s hook system. Configure your hook to pipe data to statusline: 
# Example hook configuration
{
  "hooks": {
    "on_message": "jq -c '.hook_data' | ccusage statusline"
  }
}

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Performance Considerations

  • Default offline mode: Avoids API calls for pricing data
  • Hybrid caching: Reduces computation while staying responsive
  • Process coordination: Prevents concurrent updates from multiple hook calls
  • Stale output on error: Returns last known good state if update fails
Cache files are stored in system temp directory under ccusage-semaphore/. They are session-specific and automatically managed.

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Troubleshooting

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No output or errors

  • Ensure valid JSON input is provided via stdin
  • Check that required fields (session_id, transcript_path, model) are present
  • Use --debug flag to see error details

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Stale data

  • Reduce --refresh-interval for more frequent updates
  • Use --no-cache to bypass caching entirely
  • Check that transcript file path is correct

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Context percentage not showing

  • Ensure context_window data is provided in hook input
  • Or verify transcript file is accessible for calculation
  • blocks - View detailed billing blocks with burn rate
  • session - View session-level usage statistics
  • daily - View daily usage reports

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