idle-intel

name

idle-intel

description

Turn Claude Code's wait-state status line into useful micro-briefings about the current project (security vulns, outdated dependencies, unpushed commits, stale branches, TODO/FIXME debt) instead of a generic spinner. Use this skill whenever the user wants to set up idle-intel, customize their Claude Code status line, "make waiting useful", monetize or enrich agent wait time, see project health at a glance, or mentions spinner customization, statusLine configuration, or wait-state productivity. Also use it to add new intel collectors or adjust rotation timing.

idle-intel

The status line is the most-watched line on a developer's screen while an agent thinks. Today it says "Thinking...". It could say something worth knowing.

idle-intel replaces the empty wait state with a rotating micro-briefing about the project the user is already working on: known vulnerabilities, major dependency updates, unpushed commits, forgotten stashes, stale branches, accumulated TODO/FIXME debt. One line at a time, changing every 12 seconds, zero interruption to the workflow.

Design principle: the wait state is valuable because it is empty. So each insight must be glanceable (one line), local (about this project, not the world), and silent when there is nothing to say. Never a feed, never an ad, never a distraction.

Architecture

idle-intel/
├── SKILL.md
└── scripts/
    ├── collect.py      # scans the project, writes insights to a cache (slow path, background)
    └── statusline.sh   # reads one cached line, rotates by time (fast path, <50ms)

Two-speed design is mandatory: the statusline command runs constantly and must never do heavy work. collect.py does the scanning (npm audit, pip outdated, git checks, TODO grep) and writes to <project>/.claude/idle-intel/cache.txt with an atomic swap. statusline.sh only reads the cache and triggers a background refresh if it is older than 30 minutes.

Installation (what to do when the user asks to set it up)

1. Copy scripts/ somewhere stable, e.g. ~/.claude/idle-intel/:

   mkdir -p ~/.claude/idle-intel
   cp scripts/collect.py scripts/statusline.sh ~/.claude/idle-intel/
   chmod +x ~/.claude/idle-intel/statusline.sh
   

2. Wire it into Claude Code's status line in ~/.claude/settings.json (merge with existing settings, do not overwrite the file):

   {
     "statusLine": {
       "type": "command",
       "command": "~/.claude/idle-intel/statusline.sh"
     }
   }
   

3. Prime the cache for the current project so the first status line is instant:

   python3 ~/.claude/idle-intel/collect.py .
   

4. Tell the user to restart Claude Code (or start a new session). During the next wait state they will see lines like:

   ◈ npm audit: 2 high severity vulns -> run `npm audit fix`
   ◈ git: 3 unpushed commits on this branch
   ◈ 14 FIXME markers in the codebase -- oldest debts bite hardest
   

Windows (Git Bash) specifics

On Windows, three things differ. Apply all of them when the user is on Windows:

1. Python is python, not python3 (scripts auto-detect via command -v python3 || command -v python).
2. Claude Code executes the status line command OUTSIDE Git Bash, so C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe (WSL) may shadow Git's bash, and quoting "Program Files" breaks. Solution: generate a .cmd wrapper next to the scripts:

   @echo off
   "C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\bash.exe" "C:\full\path\to\statusline.sh"
   

3. Point settings.json at the wrapper using forward slashes: "command": "C:/full/path/to/statusline.cmd".

Always back up an existing settings.json and MERGE the statusLine block into it -- never overwrite the user's plugins/marketplaces configuration.

Requirements: bash, python3 (stdlib only). npm, pip, git are each optional — collectors skip silently when a tool or manifest is missing.

Adding a new collector

Each collector in collect.py is a function (root: Path) -> list[str] registered in the tuple inside main(). Rules:

• Return at most ~3 lines; the cache is a briefing, not a report.
• Never raise: wrap external calls with the provided run() helper, which times out and returns None on any failure.
• One line = one complete, glanceable insight with a concrete next action where possible.
• Local project facts only. No network calls beyond the package managers' own checks.

Good candidate collectors to suggest if the user wants more: license conflicts in deps, test count vs. last-run status, Cargo.toml/go.mod support, changelog highlight for the most recently bumped dependency, largest file added in the last week.

Uninstall

Remove the statusLine block from ~/.claude/settings.json and delete ~/.claude/idle-intel/. Per-project caches live in <project>/.claude/idle-intel/ and can be deleted freely.