Optimized Virtual Code Garden

Interactive garden statusline where plants grow from seeds to trees based on coding activity, with dynamic weather effects.

When to Use This Setting

Apply this setting when you need to:

• Visualize your coding session progress as a growing garden that evolves through five plant stages
• Add a calming, nature-themed element to your development environment that rewards sustained activity
• Track cumulative session interactions through the growth counter with weather variation for visual interest Consider alternatives when:
• You prefer data-driven statusline metrics over visual growth metaphors
• Your sessions are too short for the garden to progress past the seed stage, reducing its motivational value

Quick Start

Configuration

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name: optimized-virtual-code-garden
type: setting
category: statusline

Example Application

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claude setting:apply optimized-virtual-code-garden

Example Output

Setting applied. Changes:
- statusLine.type: command
- statusLine.command: bash code-garden inline
- plant_stages: seed(0-9), sprout(10-19), sapling(20-29), tree(30-39), flower(40+)
- weather_system: rainy(every 7), sunny(every 5), cloudy(default)
- growth_per_interaction: 1 point

Core Concepts

Code Garden Overview

Aspect	Details
Plant Stages	Five stages: seed (0-9), sprout (10-19), sapling (20-29), tree (30-39), flower (40+)
Weather System	Rainy every 7 growth points, sunny every 5, cloudy as default weather state
Growth Counter	Increments by 1 per statusline interaction, persisted in session cache
Garden Level	Derived from growth divided by 10, representing the current plant stage number
Session Persistence	Growth state stored in /tmp keyed by session ID for continuity

Garden Growth Architecture

+-------------------+     +---------------------+     +------------------+
| Session Cache     |---->| Growth Incrementer  |---->| Stage Calculator  |
| /tmp/garden_*     |     | growth + 1          |     | growth / 10      |
| growth counter    |     | per interaction     |     | = stage index    |
+-------------------+     +---------------------+     +------------------+
                                   |                          |
                                   v                          v
                          +---------------------+    +------------------+
                          | Weather Engine      |    | Visual Mapper    |
                          | growth % 7 = rainy  |--->| stage -> plant   |
                          | growth % 5 = sunny  |    | weather -> icon  |
                          +---------------------+    +------------------+

Configuration

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
growth_per_tick	integer	1	Growth points added per statusline refresh interaction
stage_interval	integer	10	Number of growth points per plant stage advancement
rain_interval	integer	7	Growth point interval at which rainy weather occurs
sun_interval	integer	5	Growth point interval at which sunny weather occurs
cache_directory	string	"/tmp"	Directory for storing persistent garden state files

Best Practices

1. Adjust stage intervals for session length - If your typical session is 20 interactions, you would only reach the sprout stage. Lower stage_interval to 4 or 5 so you experience the full garden progression within a realistic session duration.
2. Add seasonal themes - Extend the plant stages to include seasonal variations. Spring could show blossoms, summer shows full foliage, autumn shows falling leaves, and winter shows a dormant tree, cycling based on the current month.
3. Use garden level as a session health indicator - A fully grown garden (flower stage) signals a long, productive session. Use the stage as a passive indicator of how deep into your work session you are.
4. Persist gardens across sessions - Change the cache key from session ID to project directory so your garden persists between Claude Code sessions. This creates a long-term garden that reflects your overall project engagement.
5. Combine multiple gardens for monorepos - If you work across multiple packages in a monorepo, create separate garden caches for each package directory. This visualizes which parts of the codebase receive the most attention.

Common Issues

1. Garden always shows seed - The growth counter is not incrementing. Verify the cache file exists and is writable by checking /tmp/garden_* for your session. The session ID extraction from the input JSON may be failing.
2. Weather never changes from cloudy - The rain and sun intervals check growth % 7 == 0 and growth % 5 == 0. These conditions are true only at exact multiples, so weather changes are brief. This is by design for variety.
3. Cache files persist indefinitely - Garden cache files in /tmp are not automatically cleaned up. On systems without periodic /tmp cleanup, add a cron job or logout hook to remove old garden files.