Claude Cache Timer — Communication skill for Claude Code

cache-timer

How long until Claude Code's prompt cache goes cold, in the prompt footer of the terminal and the desktop app.

cache ━━━━━━━━━━ 47 min · 98%

The bar shrinks as the cache ages. The percent is the share of the last request the cache served. With plenty of time left the line is light olive. It turns khaki at 10 minutes left, amber at 5 and terracotta at 2. Once the cache expires the bar empties, the line goes grey and says how many tokens the next turn will write again, with `/compact` from 100k tokens up.

Where it sits:

• Terminal: on the row right under Claude Code's hint line (auto mode on (shift+tab to cycle)), which stays as Claude Code draws it. On a narrow window the percent goes first, then bar cells.
• Desktop app: under the prompt box, left of the model picker, with a shorter bar (5 cells) because the app draws ━ wider than a letter. The desktop has no hint line to sit beside.

This is a Claude Code mod: hooks that run inside Claude Code itself. A one-second clock redraws the line, so the countdown moves while you're idle. It only repaints when the text or colour changes, which is once a minute until the last 5 minutes.

Why it usually says an hour

On a Claude subscription Claude Code asks for the 1-hour cache by itself. API keys, cloud providers and usage credits get 5 minutes. The mod follows Claude Code's documented order (`FORCE_PROMPT_CACHING_5M`, `CLAUDE_CODE_PROMPT_CACHE_TTL`, the `promptCacheTtl` setting, `ENABLE_PROMPT_CACHING_1H`, then the account), notices when a subscription runs out of plan usage and falls back to credits, and checks itself against request timing: a cache hit 20 minutes after the previous request proves the hour.

On a 5-minute cache the colour steps scale down to 50, 25 and 10 seconds.

When the cache is rebuilt early

The countdown assumes the next request reads what the last one cached. Some changes break that before the time runs out, and the line says so.

• Model switch. Eac