13 added, 6 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: ticker
- description: Show one Loanword card at a time in the Claude Code status line — the weakest words of the open deck, a new one every few seconds. Use when the user asks for words in the status line, a vocabulary ticker, or to turn it off.
+ description: A vocabulary widget inside Claude Code — one card at a time in the status line under the prompt, the weakest words of the open deck, a new one every few seconds, so a working session teaches you words while you work. Use when the user asks for words in the status line, a vocabulary ticker, or to turn it off.
disable-model-invocation: false
allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Edit
---
# /loanword:ticker — a card in the status line
Claude Code's status line re-runs a command every `refreshInterval` seconds and
prints its first line under the prompt. Loanword has a command that prints one
card from the open deck's snapshot — weakest first, cycling on a fixed clock,
never opening the database:
```bash
- node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/peek.mjs" --line --interval=10
+ node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/peek.mjs" --line
```
+ How long a word stays is the `tickerEvery` setting (seconds, 5…300, default
+ 30), changed in the trainer's Settings or with `ticker_every` in the plugin
+ options. `--interval=N` on the command line overrides it; leave the flag off so
+ the setting rules. The status line cannot redraw faster than its own
+ `refreshInterval`, so keep that at or below `tickerEvery`.
+
It prints `Loanword · front — back · reading · 63%` (or `· new`, `· leech`),
or an empty line when there is nothing to show. `--pick=` narrows it like the
peek setting (`starred,slipping,B2`).
## Turning it on
1. Resolve `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}` to an absolute path now — `settings.json`
does not substitute variables.
2. Read `~/.claude/settings.json` (create `{}` if missing). Ask the user once,
in one line, before writing to it.
3. Merge — never overwrite other keys:
```json
"statusLine": {
"type": "command",
- "command": "node <absolute plugin root>/scripts/peek.mjs --line --interval=10",
+ "command": "node <absolute plugin root>/scripts/peek.mjs --line",
"refreshInterval": 10
}
```
If a `statusLine.command` already exists, offer to chain it instead of
replacing it, and remember the previous command in `statusLine.loanwordPrevious`:
```json
- "command": "<existing command> | tr -d '\n'; printf ' · '; node <absolute plugin root>/scripts/peek.mjs --line --interval=10"
+ "command": "<existing command> | tr -d '\n'; printf ' · '; node <absolute plugin root>/scripts/peek.mjs --line"
```
- `/loanword:ticker 30` uses 30 seconds for both `--interval` and
- `refreshInterval` (the minimum Claude Code accepts is 1).
+ `/loanword:ticker 30` writes 30 into `tickerEvery` (PATCH the trainer's
+ settings, or edit `settings.json` beside the deck) and sets `refreshInterval`
+ to the same number. The minimum Claude Code accepts is 1.
## Turning it off
`/loanword:ticker off` removes the `statusLine` key Loanword added. If
`loanwordPrevious` is present, restore that command instead of removing the
key. Say in one line what was restored.
Nothing here spends a model call: the line comes from the snapshot the trainer
already writes after every commit.