Status Line and Terminal Customization

Claude Code runs in your terminal. Did you know you can customize its appearance and behavior? Let’s see how to adapt the interface to your preferences.

The Status Line

What is the status line?

The bar at the bottom of the screen that displays:

Active model
Tokens used
Session cost
Connection status

Customize the status line

Via the /config command:

/config

Status line options:

Minimal: Just the model
Standard: Model + tokens
Detailed: Everything (model, tokens, cost, latency)
Hidden: No status line

Configuration in settings

{
  "statusLine": {
    "style": "detailed",
    "showCost": true,
    "showTokens": true,
    "showModel": true,
    "showLatency": false
  }
}

Vim Mode

Enable vim mode

/vim

Or at launch:

claude --vim

Available vim shortcuts

Mode	Key	Action
Normal	`i`	Insert mode
Normal	`v`	Visual mode
Normal	`dd`	Delete line
Normal	`yy`	Copy line
Normal	`p`	Paste
Normal	`/`	Search
Insert	`Esc`	Normal mode

Vim configuration

{
  "editor": {
    "mode": "vim",
    "lineNumbers": true,
    "relativNumbers": false
  }
}

Themes and Colors

Built-in themes

Claude Code adapts to your terminal theme. To force a theme:

export CLAUDE_CODE_THEME=dark

Options:

dark: Dark background
light: Light background
auto: Automatic detection

Custom colors

In your terminal config file (.zshrc, .bashrc):

# Claude Code colors
export CLAUDE_CODE_COLOR_PRIMARY="#00ff00"
export CLAUDE_CODE_COLOR_SECONDARY="#0066ff"
export CLAUDE_CODE_COLOR_ERROR="#ff0000"
export CLAUDE_CODE_COLOR_SUCCESS="#00ff00"

Keyboard Shortcuts

Default shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Enter`	Send message
`Shift+Enter`	New line
`Ctrl+C`	Cancel/Interrupt
`Ctrl+L`	Clear screen
`Esc Esc`	Rewind menu
`Shift+Tab`	Accept Edits mode
`↑` / `↓`	Prompt history
`Tab`	Autocompletion

Customize shortcuts

{
  "keybindings": {
    "submit": "Enter",
    "newLine": "Shift+Enter",
    "cancel": "Ctrl+C",
    "clearScreen": "Ctrl+L",
    "rewind": "Esc Esc",
    "acceptEdits": "Shift+Tab",
    "history.up": "ArrowUp",
    "history.down": "ArrowDown"
  }
}

Autocompletion

File completion

Type @ then Tab to see available files:

@sr[Tab]
→ @src/
→ @src/api/
→ @src/components/

Command completion

Type / then Tab:

/co[Tab]
→ /compact
→ /config
→ /cost

Smart completion

Claude Code suggests completions based on:

Current context
Command history
Project files

Advanced Terminal Configuration

History size

{
  "history": {
    "maxSize": 1000,
    "saveToDisk": true
  }
}

Scroll buffer

{
  "terminal": {
    "scrollback": 10000,
    "wordWrap": true
  }
}

Display format

{
  "display": {
    "codeBlockStyle": "bordered",
    "syntaxHighlighting": true,
    "lineNumbers": true,
    "diffStyle": "unified"
  }
}

Shell Integration

Useful aliases

Add to your .zshrc or .bashrc:

# Launch Claude Code
alias cc='claude'

# Claude Code with specific model
alias ccs='claude --model sonnet'
alias cco='claude --model opus'
alias cch='claude --model haiku'

# Continue last session
alias ccr='claude -c'

# Claude Code in print mode
alias ccp='claude -p'

Shell functions

# Analyze a file with Claude
analyze() {
  cat "$1" | claude -p "Analyze this file and identify potential issues"
}

# Generate tests for a file
gentest() {
  claude -p "Generate tests for @$1" --allowedTools Read,Write
}

# Quick review
review() {
  git diff | claude -p "Review these changes"
}

Terminal Multiplexers

With tmux

# Create a Claude Code session
tmux new-session -s claude

# In tmux
claude

# Detach: Ctrl+B, D
# Reattach: tmux attach -t claude

Recommended tmux configuration

# ~/.tmux.conf

# Status bar for Claude Code
set -g status-right '#[fg=green]Claude #[fg=white]| #[fg=cyan]%H:%M'

# Adapted colors
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"

With screen

screen -S claude
claude
# Detach: Ctrl+A, D
# Reattach: screen -r claude

Notifications

Task completion notifications

{
  "notifications": {
    "onTaskComplete": true,
    "onError": true,
    "sound": false
  }
}

System notifications

With libnotify (Linux):

claude -p "Long task" && notify-send "Claude finished"

With osascript (macOS):

claude -p "Long task" && osascript -e 'display notification "Claude finished"'

Configuration Profiles

Create profiles

~/.claude/
├── profiles/
│   ├── work.json
│   ├── personal.json
│   └── ci.json
└── settings.json

“work” profile

{
  "model": "sonnet",
  "statusLine": { "style": "detailed" },
  "editor": { "mode": "vim" }
}

“ci” profile

{
  "model": "haiku",
  "statusLine": { "style": "hidden" },
  "notifications": { "enabled": false }
}

Load a profile

claude --profile work

Accessibility

High contrast mode

{
  "accessibility": {
    "highContrast": true,
    "largeText": false,
    "screenReaderFriendly": true
  }
}

Disable animations

{
  "display": {
    "animations": false,
    "progressIndicator": "text"
  }
}

Complete Configuration Template

{
  "statusLine": {
    "style": "detailed",
    "showCost": true,
    "showTokens": true,
    "showModel": true
  },
  "editor": {
    "mode": "vim",
    "lineNumbers": true
  },
  "display": {
    "codeBlockStyle": "bordered",
    "syntaxHighlighting": true,
    "diffStyle": "unified",
    "animations": true
  },
  "history": {
    "maxSize": 1000,
    "saveToDisk": true
  },
  "keybindings": {
    "submit": "Enter",
    "newLine": "Shift+Enter",
    "cancel": "Ctrl+C"
  },
  "notifications": {
    "onTaskComplete": true,
    "onError": true
  }
}

What’s Coming Tomorrow

In Day 19, we’ll do a comparison: Claude Code vs Cursor vs GitHub Copilot - understand each tool’s strengths.

This article is part of the “Master Claude Code in 20 Days” series. Day 17: Troubleshooting

Tags: IA Développement