Expanded vs Compact Layout in Claude HUD: Which Should You Use?

Mar 21, 2026

I was working in a split terminal the other day and noticed my Claude HUD statusline was taking up more space than I’d like. I knew there was a lineLayout option, but I wasn’t sure which one would work better for my setup. Here’s what I found.

The Two Layout Options

Claude HUD offers two layout modes:

Expanded — Multi-line display with semantic grouping
Compact — Single-line condensed display

Both show the same core information (model, project, git branch, context, usage). The difference is how they arrange it.

What Expanded Looks Like

[Opus | Max] │ my-project git:(main*)
Context █████░░░░░ 45% │ Usage ██░░░░░░░░ 25% (1h 30m / 5h)
◐ Edit: auth.ts | ✓ Read ×3
▸ Fix auth bug (2/5)

Line 1 shows the model (Opus or Max), plan name, project path, and git branch. Line 2 shows the context bar and usage rate limits. Activity lines (tools, todos) appear below.

I like this layout when I have the vertical space. The context bar being on its own line makes it easy to scan at a glance.

What Compact Looks Like

[Opus | Max] ████░░░░░ 45% | my-project git:(main*) | 5h: 25% | ⏱️ 5m
◐ Edit: auth.ts | ✓ Read ×3
▸ Fix auth bug (2/5)

Everything gets compressed into one line. The context percentage appears inline instead of as a visual bar. Activity lines still show below.

This is what I ended up switching to for my split-pane setup. The single line gives me more room for actual output.

The Separator Option

There’s also a showSeparators option that adds a visual break:

[Opus | Max] ████░░░░░ 45% | my-project git:(main*) | 5h: 25%
────────────────────────────
◐ Edit: auth.ts | ✓ Read ×3
▸ Fix auth bug (2/5)

I tried this but found it defeated the purpose of going compact. The separator takes up another line. Might be useful if you want to visually distinguish the statusline from command output, but for me, it just added noise.

How to Change the Layout

Run the configure command:

/claude-hud:configure

Select “Layout” and pick your preference.

Or edit the config directly:

{
  "lineLayout": "compact",
  "showSeparators": false
}

Valid values for lineLayout are "expanded" or "compact".

When to Use Each

Expanded works better when:

You have vertical space to spare
You want the visual context bar
You’re monitoring usage closely

Compact works better when:

You use split panes or tmux
You want maximum output space
You just need quick status checks

Element Order (Expanded Only)

If you stick with Expanded, you can customize the order of elements:

{
  "lineLayout": "expanded",
  "elementOrder": ["project", "tools", "context", "usage", "agents", "todos"]
}

This doesn’t apply to Compact mode since everything is on one line.

What I Ended Up With

I switched to Compact mode for my daily workflow. The single-line display works well when I have multiple terminal panes open. When I need to debug something and want more detail, I can always switch back temporarily.

The layout choice is really about how you work. If you live in a full-screen terminal, Expanded gives you nice visual separation. If you’re like me and juggle multiple panes, Compact keeps things tight.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others share my knowledge and experience. If you want to contact me, you can contact by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

👨‍💻 Claude HUD GitHub

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!