One line fills up fast. Once you want git, the context window, the cost and the plan limits, a second line reads better than one long one that gets cut at the edge. This lesson covers the Layout tab and the four line shapes.
Add lines and move segments between them
Open Layout in the middle of Statusline Studio. Each line is a row of chips.
- Add line adds a line, up to four
- Drag a chip to reorder it, or onto another line to move it there. With the keyboard, focus a chip (Tab) and use the arrow keys: left and right along its line, up and down to the line above or below
- Click a chip to edit it, press Delete to remove it
- Undo and Redo in the bar at the top (
Ctrl+Z,Ctrl+Shift+Z) take back or bring back any change
A layout that works for most people:
| Line | Segments |
|---|---|
| 1 | Model name, current directory, git branch, git dirty / clean |
| 2 | Context used % as a bar, 5-hour limit %, session cost |
Put what you glance at most on the first line. The Dev Cockpit template is built this way: git state on top, gauges underneath.
Pick a line shape
In Theme, Line shape sets how segments are laid out across the terminal:
| Shape | What it does |
|---|---|
| Flow | Segments run left to right, one after another |
| Split | Left and right halves, split by the Right align segment |
| Columns | Every segment padded to one width, so lines line up |
| Boxed | A box around the whole status line (adds two rows) |
Pin segments to the right edge
Split lines put your context on the left and numbers on the right, like a dashboard. You need two things:
- Choose Split as the line shape
- Add the Right align segment from Layout controls where the right half should begin
Everything after Right align hugs the right edge of the terminal. The Neon Split template shows it: context left, spend pinned to the right.
The script measures the terminal width each time it runs, so the right half stays at the edge when you resize the window.
Line up two lines in columns
With Columns, every segment is padded to the same width, so the segments of line 1 sit above those of line 2. Set the width with Column width. This suits two lines of numbers, like the Aligned Columns template.
Columns take more room. If the preview's cols badge goes past your terminal width, lower the column width or remove a segment.
Frame it in a box
Boxed draws a frame around the whole status line. It adds two rows (the top and bottom of the box), so it works best with one or two lines. See the Boxed Report template.
Add space by hand
Fixed gap from Layout controls inserts 2, 4, 8 or 12 spaces between two segments. Use it to group segments inside one line, for example a gap between the git segments and the cost segments, without starting a new line.
The next lesson is about the numbers most people add a status line for: the context window, the cost and the plan limits.