A usage meter for Claude Code, written in C. Shows your 5-hour and weekly limits,
resets, pace and projections for every Claude config on the machine: the
default ~/.claude and each mcl instance.
- Instant: the status-line hook is one small file write; the view reads a few files.
- Multiple instances: each is tracked, installed and controlled on its own.
- Stable: no dependencies beyond a C compiler and libc; no locks (one file per session).
- Your status line is kept: it is chained, and
uninstall restores it byte for byte.
For mcl, claudebar chains mcl's own status line.
Install
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mkalmousli/ClaudeStatusBar/main/install.sh | sh
Downloads the prebuilt, checksum-verified binary for your machine (falls back to a source
build), then runs claudebar install: copies itself to ~/.local/bin, hooks every Claude
instance, and starts a user service (systemd / launchd). No root. Capture is automatic:
new instances are hooked on their own. claudebar uninstall undoes everything and
restores your status line exactly (and stays off until you install again).
Prebuilt for Linux (x86_64, aarch64, armv7, i686, riscv64, ppc64le, s390x), macOS
(Intel, Apple silicon) and FreeBSD (x86_64, aarch64). Windows: use WSL.
Updates are automatic (the service checks daily and swaps in the verified release
binary). claudebar update does it now; claudebar set autoupdate off stops it;
claudebar update --source builds from git instead. From a checkout:
cc build.c -o build && ./build install.
GUI
The terminal view (claudebar), with demo data:
claudebar gui (or the "claudebar" menu entry; it autostarts hidden in the tray) shows one
card per profile: its name, signed-in account, the 5h and weekly meters (the line marks
how much of the window has passed), and whether you are on pace. Everything is in the window:
- Add profile (header): a name, optionally sharing settings with Default; it then opens a
terminal so you can sign in. Uses mcl when installed.
- Card menu (⋮): start a session now, start sessions automatically (Perfect Use),
remove the profile. Sign in appears on profiles with no account yet.
- Header menu: update automatically, check for updates, quit.
The tray icon is a ring filled to your 5h usage; panels that show a label print
5h 42% · wk 18%. It works through StatusNotifier (KDE, Xfce 4.16+, GNOME with the
AppIndicator extension, Cinnamon, MATE, LXQt, Budgie, sway/waybar) via
libayatana-appindicator when installed, else the classic XEmbed tray; with no tray the
window is a normal window. Command-driven panels (xfce4-genmon, polybar, waybar, tmux) can use
claudebar status --line. The same actions exist on the CLI: claudebar add|remove|run NAME.
The GUI is a separate optional binary (GTK3, Linux/BSD): ./build makes it when
libgtk-3-dev is present; the installer and claudebar update fetch the prebuilt one
(Linux x86_64, aarch64) when GTK3 is installed.
Use
claudebar gui window + tray icon
claudebar interactive terminal view (j/k, enter = sessions, p, i, +/-, s)
claudebar status [-i NAME] print usage; --line for tmux/polybar/waybar
claudebar set perfect on [-i N] Perfect Use: start each free 5h window, warn before waste
claudebar set cost 17 [-i N] weekly % one 5h session costs (0 = measured)
claudebar start -i NAME start a 5h session now
claudebar daemon run Perfect Use headless (systemd user unit, cron @reboot)
claudebar set autoupdate off stop the daily self-update
claudebar uninstall remove binary, service and hooks (data is kept)
Data lives in ~/.local/share/claudebar (CLAUDEBAR_HOME overrides). Linux, macOS, BSD.
Develop
./build (incremental, parallel), ./build test, ./build clean. Env: CC, CFLAGS, OUT. Releases: push a tag v*; the workflow
cross-builds every target with zig cc and publishes them. Every source file is
at most 100 lines.
