tmux-claude-indicators

The Problem

When running Claude Code in tmux, you can easily miss important events:

Permission prompts waiting for your response
Task completions while you’re in another window
Processing states that indicate Claude is working

You end up constantly switching back to check on Claude’s status.

How It Works

The plugin hooks into Claude Code’s lifecycle events and displays cyberpunk/TRON-inspired emoji indicators directly in your tmux status bar.

State	Indicator	When
Active	🤖 (deep purple)	Claude session running
Thinking	😜🤪😵‍💫 (animated, hot pink)	Processing your request
Question	🔮 (blinking, deep violet)	Waiting for permission
Waiting	🫦 (blinking, laser blue)	Question unanswered 15s+
Complete	✅ (matrix green flash)	Task finished

Window-Aware Display

Indicators adapt based on window focus:

Non-current windows: Colored backgrounds for quick status assessment
Current window: Arrow with colored text on transparent background

This lets you see at a glance which window needs attention without switching.

Installation

Via TPM (recommended)

# Add to ~/.tmux.conf
set -g @plugin 'itsdevcoffee/tmux-claude-indicators'

# Press prefix + I to install

Manual

git clone https://github.com/itsdevcoffee/tmux-claude-indicators ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-claude-indicators
~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-claude-indicators/scripts/install.sh
tmux source ~/.tmux.conf

Requirements

tmux 3.0+ (3.3+ recommended)
Claude Code CLI
bash 4.0+
Python 3 (optional, for automatic hook configuration)

Key Bindings

Key	Action
`prefix + K`	Enable indicators
`prefix + Alt-k`	Disable indicators
`prefix + C`	Clear current window state
`prefix + Alt-c`	Clear all states
`prefix + M`	Display all window states

Configuration

Customize emojis, colors (hex codes), animation timing (default 160ms), and escalation timeout (default 15s).

# Example: Change the thinking emoji
set -g @claude-thinking-emoji "🧠"

# Example: Adjust escalation timeout to 30 seconds
set -g @claude-escalation-timeout 30

Performance

Hook execution: <30ms
Memory: ~4.5MB per session (3 windows)
CPU: Minimal (0.02%)

State Flow

active → thinking → question → waiting → thinking → complete → active
   ↑        ↑           ↑          ↑         ↑          ↑
session  prompt     permission  15s      tool use    task
start    submit     request    timeout   begins      done