statusline.ps1 fails silently on Windows when PowerShell ExecutionPolicy blocks unsigned scripts

[SacrilegeTx]

Description

When following the Manual setup — Windows instructions in the README, the status line fails to appear in Claude Code. The failure is silent — Claude Code does not surface the error, so from the user's perspective nothing happens at all.

Running the documented command manually reveals the real cause:

File C:\Users\<user>\.claude\statusline.ps1 cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system.
For more information, see about_Execution_Policies at https:/go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170.
    + CategoryInfo          : SecurityError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess

Root cause

The README's Windows command is:

"command": "powershell -NoProfile -File \"%USERPROFILE%\.claude\statusline.ps1\""

This does not pass -ExecutionPolicy Bypass. If the machine's PowerShell ExecutionPolicy is set to Restricted, AllSigned, or in some misconfigured states of RemoteSigned, the .ps1 script is refused because it is unsigned. This is a common default — especially in corporate environments where Group Policy enforces Restricted or AllSigned.

Because Claude Code invokes the status line as a background command and does not display its stderr, the user only sees "nothing happens" with no hint as to why.

Additional issue — %USERPROFILE% no longer reliable on Claude Code v2.1.47+

According to recent Claude Code release notes, starting from v2.1.47 Unix-style path parsing is supported on Windows and the ~ symbol is automatically expanded to the user home directory. The note explicitly recommends not using %USERPROFILE% anymore, as it no longer works reliably in v2.1.47+.

The README still shows %USERPROFILE%\.claude\statusline.ps1, which is now a second source of failure on modern Claude Code versions — independent from the ExecutionPolicy issue.

Reproduction

1. Fresh Windows 10/11 install (or any Windows with restrictive ExecutionPolicy).
2. Follow the Manual setup — Windows instructions from the README verbatim.
3. Restart Claude Code.
4. Expected: status line appears. Actual: no status line, no error.

Manually running the same command from a shell surfaces the UnauthorizedAccess / running scripts is disabled error.

Suggested fix

Update the Windows command in the README to:

1. Add -ExecutionPolicy Bypass (process-scoped — does not modify the machine's policy, so it is safe and non-invasive).
2. Replace %USERPROFILE%\.claude\statusline.ps1 with ~/.claude/statusline.ps1 (Unix-style, works on Claude Code v2.1.47+).
3. Prefer pwsh (PowerShell 7+) when available — it is the actively developed cross-platform PowerShell. Fall back to powershell (Windows PowerShell 5.1) for users who have not installed PS7.

Recommended (PowerShell 7+):

"command": "pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ~/.claude/statusline.ps1"

Fallback (Windows PowerShell 5.1):

"command": "powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ~/.claude/statusline.ps1"

This has been tested end-to-end on Windows 11 + PowerShell 7 + Claude Code 2.1.116 and works.

A short troubleshooting note in the README would also help users who hit restrictive corporate policies or who want to understand why -ExecutionPolicy Bypass is required.

Environment

• Windows 11 Enterprise (26100)
• PowerShell 5.1 (default) and PowerShell 7 (optional)
• Claude Code 2.1.116
• statusline.ps1 version 1.3.0

Happy to send a PR with the README update if that is useful.