diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx
index 5efc88056..95546fe70 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx
@@ -128,9 +128,9 @@ export const Footer: React.FC = () => {
         </Box>
       </Box>
 
-      {/* Custom status line row */}
+      {/* Custom status line row — match footer's horizontal inset */}
       {statusLineText && (
-        <Box paddingX={statusLinePadding}>
+        <Box marginLeft={2} marginRight={2} paddingX={statusLinePadding}>
           <Text dimColor wrap="truncate">
             {statusLineText}
           </Text>
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useStatusLine.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useStatusLine.ts
index 186aa189e..24cac528e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useStatusLine.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useStatusLine.ts
@@ -166,12 +166,14 @@ export function useStatusLine(): {
 
     const child = exec(
       cmd,
-      { timeout: 5000, maxBuffer: 1024 * 10 },
+      { cwd: cfg.getTargetDir(), timeout: 5000, maxBuffer: 1024 * 10 },
       (error, stdout) => {
         if (gen !== generationRef.current) return; // stale
         activeChildRef.current = undefined;
         if (!error && stdout) {
-          setOutput(stdout.trim().split('\n')[0] || null);
+          // Strip only the trailing newline to preserve intentional whitespace.
+          const line = stdout.replace(/\r?\n$/, '').split(/\r?\n/, 1)[0];
+          setOutput(line || null);
         } else {
           setOutput(null);
         }