What is simple-claude-widget?

Simple Claude Widget is a small desktop overlay for Windows that shows what Claude Code is doing while it runs, whether that is inside WSL2, natively on Windows, or both at once. It floats on top of every other window, has no visible border, and lets clicks pass through empty space so it never gets in your way. The widget displays three flask shaped meters that fill up as you approach your usage limits: one for the five hour session limit, one for the seven day weekly limit, and one for a separate weekly Fable limit. Below the flasks sit session cards, one per active Claude Code session, each showing the model in use, the effort level, and what that session is currently doing, such as thinking, waiting, running a command, or editing a file with a line count of changes. If Claude needs your approval for something, the whole widget shakes to get your attention. Under the hood, Claude Code writes small state files to a folder under your home directory every time something happens, using hooks and a statusline script. The widget simply polls those files every fraction of a second and merges what it finds from both WSL2 and native Windows locations. There are no servers or network sockets involved, so the setup keeps working even behind a VPN. Installing it means running a setup script inside WSL that backs up your existing Claude Code settings and adds the needed hooks without touching anything you already customized. If you also run Claude Code directly on Windows, a second script wires that side up too. Building the widget itself requires Rust and Node.js, and the first build can take a few minutes, with later builds being much faster. Everything runs locally with no telemetry, and the project is released under the MIT license, meaning you can use, modify, and share it freely as long as you keep the copyright notice.