Your context window as a stacked bar above the prompt, a color per category, with token counts and the compaction point. /context-bar shows or hides it.
Pixelband
Animated pixel art above your prompt
Puts animated pixel art above your Claude Code prompt, from one of eight scenes or your own image or GIF. It reacts while Claude works and uses no tokens.
What this mod can do
- Reviewed at commit 9e9f99b
- Runs programs
- Reads environment variables
4 more things it can do
- Reads files
- Remembers data between sessions
- Adds the /pixelband command
- Runs on a timer
Good to know (3)
- Images other than PNG and GIF need sips (built into macOS) or ImageMagick on Linux.
- Older macOS Terminal shows only 256 colors, so dark night skies come out greyer than they should.
- Only your own turns animate it, not background subagents.
Preview
Terminal
⎿ pixelband: showing creation: Michelangelo's hands and a spark.
⎿ pixelband: 10 rows tall (20 pixels), as much as the terminal allows.
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What it does
In the author's words
Animated pixel art above your Claude Code prompt that reacts while Claude works: eight scenes, or your own image or GIF. Zero tokens.
- What you see
- A pixel-art band above the prompt, 2 to 24 rows tall
- Works in
- Terminal and Claude Desktop
- Slash commands
- /pixelband
- Uses your tokens
- No
- Changes files
- Only through programs it runs
- Network access
- Only through programs it runs
- Reviewed commit
- 9e9f99b
- Preview recorded with
- Claude Code 2.1.309
How it works
- Shimmers while Claude works, sparkles when a turn finishes and glitches on an error
- /pixelband opens a menu to pick a scene or image, a style, a size and a crop
- Decodes PNG and GIF itself and converts other photos with sips or ImageMagick
- While Claude works, the band shrinks to a 3-row strip, then grows back
Common questions
Can I put my own image or GIF above the Claude Code prompt?
Yes. Run /pixelband set with the path to a PNG, JPEG, HEIC, WebP or GIF, and animated GIFs loop with their own timing. Add --here to use the image for the current project only.
Does pixelband use tokens or upload my images?
It makes no model calls and uploads nothing. It reads the images you pick, and the menu lists your newest images from Downloads, Desktop and Pictures. Photos are converted on your machine by sips or ImageMagick.
Will the pixel art get in the way of Claude's output?
While Claude works the band shrinks to a 3-row strip and grows back when the turn ends. /pixelband working hide hides it during turns, /pixelband idle hide hides it until Claude starts working, and /pixelband off hides it completely.
Does pixelband work in Claude Desktop?
Yes, in the Code tab. The desktop app has no character grid, so pixelband draws the same pixels as an SVG image and redraws it for each frame.
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