Watching one coding-agent session is easy. Watching six of them through one menu-bar icon is a compression problem.
A process list can tell you that Claude Code or Codex still exists. A file watcher can tell you that bytes changed. Neither tells you which thread needs a reply, which one is still producing output, or whether the completion marker belongs to a child agent.
The monitor has to classify each thread first. Only then can it choose one provider-level status.
Build a stable thread identity
The filesystem is not a session model. Claude Code can keep active and historical transcripts in different locations. Codex can retain both live and archived copies. Claude Desktop may expose the same CLI conversation from more than one project directory.
