Jan De Dobbeleer

Posted on Dec 28

Oh My Posh ❤️ Claude Code

#claude #ai #terminal #prompt

Terminal customization just got a lot smarter. Oh My Posh now integrates with Claude Code through its statusline functionality, bringing real-time AI session information and development context directly into your Claude Code prompt.

This isn't just another segment: it's a bridge between your development workflow and AI-powered coding assistance.

What is Claude Code's statusline?

Claude Code's statusline feature allows you to create custom status displays that appear at the bottom of the Claude Code interface, similar to how terminal prompts work in shells. The statusline receives rich JSON data about your current AI session via stdin, including:

Model information: Which Claude model you're using (Claude Sonnet, Claude Opus, etc.)
Token usage: Input/output tokens, context window utilization, and usage percentages
Cost tracking: Real-time cost calculations and session duration
Workspace context: Current and project directories
Session metadata: Unique session IDs and version information

The statusline updates automatically when conversation messages change (throttled to every 300ms max), and Oh My posh creates the status display with full ANSI color support.

Setting Up the Integration

Configuration is straightforward. Add this to your Claude Code settings:

{
  "statusLine": {
    "command": "oh-my-posh claude"
  }
}

That's it! Oh My Posh will automatically detect when Claude Code provides session data and display the relevant information in your prompt.

It's important to note that the claude CLI command operates differently from your regular prompt configuration. When used as a statusline command, Oh My Posh runs in a special mode that's completely separate from your standard terminal prompt. This means you'll likely want to create a dedicated, minimal configuration specifically for Claude Code that focuses on displaying AI session information rather than your usual prompt elements.

By default, the oh-my-posh claude command provides a built-in statusline that shows your current working directory, git context, active model name, and context window usage as a visual gauge. To customize this display, use the --config flag to specify your own theme configuration file that includes a custom claude segment tailored to your preferences.

The Claude Code segment

Oh My Posh's new claude segment taps into this statusline data to bring AI session awareness directly into your terminal prompt. When you use the oh-my-posh claude command as your statusline command in Claude Code, you get access to a wealth of session information that can be displayed in your prompt without needing to know the technical details.

Example Configuration

Here's a sample configuration that shows the model name and context usage:

{
  "type": "claude",
  "style": "diamond",
  "leading_diamond": "\ue0b6",
  "trailing_diamond": "\ue0b4",
  "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
  "background": "#FF6B35",
  "template": " \udb82\udfc9 {{ .Model.DisplayName }} \uf2d0 {{ .TokenUsagePercent.Gauge }} "
}

This displays something like: 🤖 Claude 4.5 Sonnet ▰▰▰▱▱

The gauge provides instant visual feedback on how much of your context window you've consumed, which is crucial for managing long coding sessions.

The Technical Details

Under the hood, Oh My Posh reads the rich JSON session data that Claude Code provides via stdin when used as a statusline command. The segment only activates when Claude Code session data is available, so there's no performance impact when you're not using Claude Code.

Getting Started

If you're already using Oh My Posh, adding Claude Code integration is as simple as:

Install Claude Code if you haven't already
Add the statusline configuration to your Claude Code settings
Optionally create your own configuration including the claude segment
Start a Claude Code session and watch your prompt come alive

For detailed configuration options and all available properties, check out the complete Claude segment documentation.

What's Next?

This integration opens up exciting possibilities. Imagine prompts that:

Change color based on token usage percentage
Show different icons for different AI models
Display cost warnings when sessions get expensive
Integrate with any other segment to show additional development context

The foundation is there, and now it's up to the community to build amazing configurations that make AI-powered development even more seamless.

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