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Claude HUD Presets Compared: Full vs Essential vs Minimal

Cowrie
Cowrie
Dev @ Bswen

Purpose

I was setting up Claude HUD and wondered which preset to pick. The configuration offers three options: Full, Essential, and Minimal. What’s the difference, and which one should I use?

What Claude HUD Presets Are

Claude HUD presets are pre-configured display settings that control how much information appears in your status bar. Each preset is designed for different workflows and screen sizes.

The three presets are:

PresetFocus
FullMaximum visibility — shows everything
EssentialBalanced — activity tracking without clutter
MinimalClean — just model and context

Preset Feature Comparison

Here’s what each preset shows:

FeatureFullEssentialMinimal
Tools activity✓✓✗
Agents status✓✓✗
Todo progress✓✓✗
Git status✓✓✓
Usage limits✓✗✗
Session duration✓✓✗
Config counts✓✗✗
Token breakdown✓✗✗
Session name✓✗✗

How Each Preset Looks

Full preset shows everything:

Full preset display
[Opus | Max] │ my-project git:(main*)
Context █████░░░░░ 45% │ Usage ██░░░░░░░░ 25% (1h 30m / 5h)
◐ Edit: auth.ts | ✓ Read ×3
◐ explore [haiku]: Finding code
▸ Fix auth bug (2/5)
⏱️ 15m | 2 CLAUDE.md | 4 rules

Essential preset shows activity and duration:

Essential preset display
[Opus | Max] │ my-project git:(main*)
Context █████░░░░░ 45%
◐ Edit: auth.ts | ✓ Read ×3
▸ Fix auth bug (2/5)
⏱️ 15m

Minimal preset shows only the basics:

Minimal preset display
[Opus | Max] │ my-project git:(main*)
Context █████░░░░░ 45%

When to Use Each Preset

Use Full When

  • Learning what Claude HUD can do
  • Working on complex multi-step tasks
  • Managing rate limits carefully
  • Debugging Claude Code behavior

Full gives you complete visibility. I use it when exploring a new codebase or running long sessions where I need to track usage.

Use Essential When

  • Doing regular development work
  • Want activity visibility without clutter
  • Don’t need usage monitoring

Essential is my daily driver. I can see what tools are running and my git status, but without the extra info lines.

Use Minimal When

  • Working on small screens
  • Prefer minimal distractions
  • Only need context awareness

Minimal stays out of your way. I switch to it when I just want to know my context usage and git branch.

How to Change Presets

Run the configuration command:

Change preset
/claude-hud:configure

Then select the “Reset to [preset]” option for the preset you want.

Summary

In this post, I compared the three Claude HUD presets. The key point is that your choice depends on how much information you want visible: Full for maximum visibility, Essential for balanced activity tracking, or Minimal for a clean, distraction-free display.

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:

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

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