cstat: A Native Rust Status Line for Claude Code with 2ms Performance

What cstat Does

cstat is a native Rust binary that provides a status line for Claude Code. It addresses performance issues with existing solutions by eliminating subprocess spawning.

Performance Comparison

The developer reports that claude-hud spawns 24 subprocesses (jq, git, grep, date) on every invocation, taking 62ms each time. Claude Code calls the status line command approximately every 300ms. cstat achieves the same functionality in 2ms with zero subprocess spawns.

Displayed Information

• Model name
• Rate limits with reset countdown timers
• Project directory
• Git branch and dirty state
• Context window usage (color-coded)
• Active tools with file targets (e.g., Edit auth.ts, Grep x3)
• Running subagents with model and duration
• Task progress

Installation and Setup

Install via Homebrew:

brew install basuev/cstat/cstat

Then add to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{"statusLine": {"type": "command", "command": "cstat"}}

Technical Details

• Single ~1MB binary
• No runtime dependencies
• Statically linked Linux builds

Source

Available on GitHub: https://github.com/basuev/cstat