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m1ckc3s/claude-status-bar

A macOS menu bar app that shows live Claude Code status: an animated icon while working, a yellow dot when awaiting permission, and elapsed turn time.

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What is it?

Claude Status Bar is a small macOS menu bar app that tracks Claude Code while you work in another window. The icon animates while Claude is thinking or running a tool, shows a short label such as Editing or Running command, and displays the elapsed time of the current turn. A paused yellow dot signals that Claude is waiting for your permission, in both the CLI and the Desktop app.

The app has no window and no Dock icon. It launches automatically when a Claude Code session starts and quits when none is running. Its installer merges hooks into ~/.claude/settings.json, backing up the file first. When several sessions run at once, the menu bar shows the highest-priority one, so a session awaiting permission is never hidden behind one that is thinking.

The menu offers four animation styles (Spark, Unicode, Clawd, and Orbit), an orange or system-adaptive icon color, and toggles for the timer and status text. It is installable via Homebrew or DMG, and supports macOS 12 and later.

Key features

  • 01Animated menu bar icon while Claude is thinking or running a tool
  • 02Yellow dot when Claude is awaiting your permission
  • 03Live elapsed-time display for the current turn
  • 04Tracks Claude Code CLI, Desktop Code tab, and the Cursor extension
  • 05Aggregates multiple sessions and shows the highest-priority status

Use cases

  • Glancing at the menu bar to see whether a long Claude Code task is still running
  • Noticing a permission prompt while working in another app
  • Running several Claude Code sessions in different terminals and tracking them together

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install via Homebrew

    brew install --cask claude-status-bar && open -a "Claude Status Bar"
  2. 2

    Start a new Claude Code session; the icon appears while Claude Code runs

Things to know

  • macOS 12+ only, and requires Claude Code and Node.js.
  • The Claude Desktop Chat/Cowork tab is not tracked; only the Code tab, CLI and Cursor extension are.

Topics

#claude-code#macos#menubar#status-indicator#developer-tools#swift#anthropic#app#claude#claude-desktop

FAQ

What is claude-status-bar?
A macOS menu bar app that shows live Claude Code status: an animated icon while working, a yellow dot when awaiting permission, and elapsed turn time. Claude Status Bar is a small macOS menu bar app that tracks Claude Code while you work in another window. The icon animates while Claude is thinking or running a tool, shows a short label such as Editing or Running command, and displays the elapsed time of the current turn. A paused yellow dot signals that Claude is waiting for your permission, in both the CLI and the Desktop app.
Is claude-status-bar free to use? What license does it have?
claude-status-bar is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is claude-status-bar still maintained?
Updated within 6 months. The last commit to claude-status-bar was on Sep 18, 2026.
What can I use claude-status-bar for?
Glancing at the menu bar to see whether a long Claude Code task is still running Noticing a permission prompt while working in another app Running several Claude Code sessions in different terminals and tracking them together
How do I install claude-status-bar?
Install via Homebrew: brew install --cask claude-status-bar && open -a "Claude Status Bar" Start a new Claude Code session; the icon appears while Claude Code runs
Where can I get claude-status-bar?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/m1ckc3s/claude-status-bar

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