[eric-engberg]

What

When Claude Code runs the global ccstatusline command (a pinned install, which is the install menu's default, or a self-managed one), most keys in the line editor paused the TUI for a quarter to half a second, and keys pressed during the pause could be lost. The TUI now looks up the global command once, and again only when the installation changes, instead of on every redraw.

Why (evidence)

App looked up the global command in its render body. inspectActiveGlobalCommand() runs which -a ccstatusline, npm prefix -g and bun pm bin -g with execFileSync. For a pinned install, getPinnedGlobalRelaunchCommand() also runs which -a and the bin-dir lookup again, even when no version mismatch is shown. npm prefix -g alone takes about 170 ms. The label editor's live preview (#710), every widget edit (r, m, d, move-mode arrows, accepting a label) and every screen change redraw App, so each of those keys waited for 3 to 5 subprocesses before the preview, and the next key, were handled.

Measured in a real pty on macOS (Node 26, Bun 1.4.2). The setup is a scratch HOME with a fake bun global install, and real npm and bun answer the lookups:

	npx (control)	self-managed	pinned
label letter → preview	2-37 ms	224-587 ms	267-551 ms
subprocesses per letter	0	3	5
raw-value toggle (r)	2-10 ms	222-368 ms	253-262 ms
12 letters typed 50 ms apart, until all shown	624-645 ms	863-1252 ms	1023-1037 ms

Keys that arrive during a pause reach Ink in one read. Ink 6.2 parses a read of several backspaces as no key, and several arrows as one. With a pinned install, 6 backspaces 60 ms apart deleted 2-3 characters, and 6 ↓ in move mode moved the widget 2 places.

How

• The lookups move into a useMemo keyed on what they depend on: the saved installation metadata, Claude Code's status line command, the installed state, and whether loading has finished.
• They run once loading finishes, and again after an install, update or uninstall from the TUI, since each changes one of those. For example, after the TUI updates a pinned install, it looks again, so the version-mismatch screen still clears.
• Classifying the installation now takes the installation metadata instead of the whole settings object, so the memo doesn't re-run on every settings edit. App picks classifyInstalledStatusLine() when Claude Code runs ccstatusline and classifyInstallation() otherwise.
• Ctrl+S and Check for Updates still look the command up when pressed, so the save guard keeps checking what's on disk.
• An install or update made in another terminal while the TUI is open is picked up on Ctrl+S, after an install/update/uninstall in the TUI, or on relaunch, rather than on the next key.

What the screens show doesn't change. With pinned, self-managed and version-mismatch setups, Main Menu, Manage Installation and the mismatch screen render byte-for-byte as on main.

Demo

Relabelling Model and Context Length with a pinned global install. Before: backspaces pressed during a pause are dropped, so the old labels aren't fully cleared ("MoChatting with", "Ctcontext used:"). After: every key lands as typed.

Powerline

Before:

After:

Plain

Before:

After:

Testing

• New App tests in a real Ink render:
  • With a pinned or a self-managed install, the lookup runs once across opening a line, typing three label letters, accepting, toggling raw value and going back to the menu. Before the fix it ran 14 times (fails on main under Bun and Node).
  • After the TUI updates a pinned install whose on-disk version changes, the lookup runs again and the mismatch screen clears. A memo that never refreshes fails this test.
• bun test: 3171 pass, 0 fail. bun run lint: clean.
• App.test.ts under Node (vitest): 30/30 (27/27 on main).
• Built dist/ under Bun 1.4.2 and Node 26.10.0: piped renders agree and match main; the TUI opens and exits.
• pty after the fix: pinned and self-managed match the npx control: 2-42 ms per label letter with 0 subprocesses per key, raw toggle 2-4 ms, 12 letters shown in 644-653 ms, and all 6 queued backspaces and arrows land. Subprocesses at startup drop from 10-14 to 7 (self-managed) and 9 (pinned).