Compact Status Bar

Most of this extension was written with the pi agent CLI.

Replaces pi's built-in multi-line footer with a single-line status bar in TUI mode.

Back to the extension workspace

Display

cwd · git-branch · extension statuses         provider/model · thinking · context/window · cost

The footer includes:

• the current working directory, shortened to ~ when it is inside the home directory
• the current Git branch, when available
• estimated context usage and total model context window
• cumulative session cost, including assistant messages, tool/nested-call usage, compaction, branch summaries, standalone usage such as cache warming, and extension-model-usage entries from plan-mode/tool-explain. These UI-owned summary costs are not included in Pi 1.3.0's built-in /session totals.
• the active provider, model display name, and thinking level, such as anthropic/Claude Sonnet 4.6 (high); non-reasoning models show (off)
• ⚡︎ immediately after the thinking/effort level when OpenAI Fast mode is active; omitted when off
• other active statuses published by extensions through ctx.ui.setStatus()

The footer omits cumulative input, output, and cache-token metrics. It sorts extension statuses by status ID and removes line breaks. At full width they sit alongside the directory/branch; model, thinking, context and cost form a right-aligned group. Colors are read from the current theme on every render.

With Fast mode on, the model group reads:

openai/GPT-6 Astra · high · ⚡︎ · 71.5%/272k · $16.991

OpenAI Fast registers its status in the shared contract's model-status slot (registerModelStatus). Any extension can use the same presentation metadata; model statuses use the theme's accent color. For independently upgraded installations, the footer also recognizes the legacy fast status id and converts its old fast text to ⚡︎. The status is shown here rather than duplicated beside the directory. It remains attached to the effort level when the model label is shortened.

Colors and width

• Normal context usage appears dimmed.
• Usage above 70% appears as a warning.
• Usage above 90% appears as an error.
• The footer uses dot separators, accent-colored branch names, and dimmed metadata.
• It shortens the directory first, then the provider label before shortening other fields.
• At narrow widths, context (including warning/error color) and extension statuses take priority over model, cost, and location. Overlong status text is ellipsized, never allowed to overflow the terminal.
• Tested against pi 1.3.0 at tiny widths and 40/80/120/160 columns, including ANSI and wide Unicode text.

Cost follows pi's cumulative accounting across all session branches, not just current context. It is cached between session-entry changes rather than rescanning history on every frame.

Plan Mode uses the extension-status area to show its active state, plan title, iteration count, and work status.

Clickable statuses

An extension can make its status clickable by registering an action under the same id it passes to ctx.ui.setStatus (registerStatusAction in the shared status-line.ts contract). Background Bash uses this for its jobs indicator.

• In fullscreen tuiMode, click a status with the mouse. The footer hit-tests the columns recorded during the latest layout; nothing is re-laid out.
• Alt+S highlights the first clickable status and shows its action (⏎ jobs). ←/→ or Tab/Shift+Tab move between clickable statuses, Enter runs the action, Esc or Alt+S leaves. Any other key leaves and reaches pi unchanged. The key listener exists only while navigating.

The footer is drawn on every frame, so the line is laid out only when an input changes (width, segments, directory, branch, statuses, context, model, cost, theme, or focus) and reused otherwise.

Scope and lifecycle

The extension runs only when ctx.mode === "tui". It installs the custom footer when a session starts and restores pi's default footer when that session shuts down or extensions reload.

Because pi supports only one custom footer at a time, another footer extension loaded later can replace this one.

Inside the prompt truly mine composer

When Prompt Truly Mine is loaded, its composer draws this status line inside its own footer bar and this footer returns no rows, saving a screen row. The contract lives in @stagefright5/pi-extension-utils, vendored into each published consumer. Its global key (Symbol.for("@stagefright5/pi-status-line/v1")) remains compatible with older packages, and each extension still works alone. Whenever the composer is not focused or cannot draw it (a picker, selector, or overlay is open, or the terminal is too small), this footer shows the line again in the same frame. The composer passes its own segments, most important first (its mode label, then undo/redo hints or an overflow indicator). They follow the directory and branch, before extension statuses. When space runs out the last segment goes first, before any field is shortened, and the first segment remains visible longer than the directory on narrow terminals.

Installation

Install the standalone package:

pi install npm:@stagefright5/pi-status-bar

For source development and tests, see the source README and workspace development guide.