diff --git a/packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts b/packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts
index f206200c1..fa771421f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts
@@ -652,6 +652,16 @@ const SETTINGS_SCHEMA = {
         description: 'Custom theme definitions.',
         showInDialog: false,
       },
+      hideBuiltinWorktreeIndicator: {
+        type: 'boolean',
+        label: 'Hide Built-in Worktree Indicator',
+        category: 'UI',
+        requiresRestart: false,
+        default: false,
+        description:
+          'When true, the built-in `⎇ worktree-<branch> (<slug>)` line in the Footer is hidden. The worktree state is still surfaced to custom statusline scripts via the stdin payload (`worktree.{name, path, branch, original_cwd, original_branch}`). Keep at the default `false` unless your custom statusline renders the worktree itself — otherwise an active worktree silently has no UI affordance.',
+        showInDialog: false,
+      },
       hideWindowTitle: {
         type: 'boolean',
         label: 'Hide Window Title',
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx
index 1d7c54504..66f14728c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Footer.tsx
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import { useStatusLine } from '../hooks/useStatusLine.js';
 import { useConfigInitMessage } from '../hooks/useConfigInitMessage.js';
 import { useUIState } from '../contexts/UIStateContext.js';
 import { useConfig } from '../contexts/ConfigContext.js';
+import { useSettings } from '../contexts/SettingsContext.js';
 import { useVimMode } from '../contexts/VimModeContext.js';
 import { ApprovalMode } from '@qwen-code/qwen-code-core';
 import { GeminiSpinner } from './GeminiRespondingSpinner.js';
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ import { t } from '../../i18n/index.js';
 export const Footer: React.FC = () => {
   const uiState = useUIState();
   const config = useConfig();
+  const settings = useSettings();
   const { vimEnabled, vimMode } = useVimMode();
   const { lines: statusLineLines, useThemeColors } = useStatusLine();
   const configInitMessage = useConfigInitMessage(uiState.isConfigInitialized);
@@ -158,12 +160,19 @@ export const Footer: React.FC = () => {
               {line}
             </Text>
           ))}
-        {/* Built-in worktree indicator. Hidden when the user has a custom
-            statusline (their script already gets `worktree` in stdin payload
-            and likely renders it itself). Also hidden during ctrl-quit
-            warnings so they take precedence. */}
+        {/* Built-in worktree indicator. Shown by default whenever a
+            worktree is active so the user always has a UI affordance,
+            even when a custom statusline is configured — their script
+            may not render `payload.worktree` (written before Phase C,
+            ignored by choice, or only rendering some fields), and
+            silently hiding the indicator could let the user operate
+            in the wrong cwd. Users who want the suppression behaviour
+            (e.g. their statusline already renders worktree) can opt
+            in via the `ui.hideBuiltinWorktreeIndicator` setting.
+            Hidden during ctrl-quit warnings so they take precedence.
+            (PR #4174 review #3256241831.) */}
         {uiState.activeWorktree &&
-          statusLineLines.length === 0 &&
+          !settings.merged.ui?.hideBuiltinWorktreeIndicator &&
           !uiState.ctrlCPressedOnce &&
           !uiState.ctrlDPressedOnce && (
             <Text dimColor wrap="truncate">
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useWorktreeSession.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useWorktreeSession.ts
index cc84d20cd..53e95203c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useWorktreeSession.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useWorktreeSession.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,16 @@ import { readWorktreeSession } from '@qwen-code/qwen-code-core';
  * directory rather than the file directly because the file may not exist
  * yet when `enter_worktree` hasn't run. Directory watchers also catch
  * rename/delete events that file watchers miss.
+ *
+ * Known limitation: `fs.watch` holds an inode handle to `chatsDir` at
+ * mount time. If the directory is deleted out-of-band (manual cleanup,
+ * antivirus quarantine, reset scripts) and then recreated, the watcher
+ * does NOT re-attach to the new inode — the Footer indicator stops
+ * responding to sidecar changes until the session restarts. In normal
+ * use `chatsDir` is stable for the session's lifetime; if rotation
+ * becomes a real failure mode, add a polling fallback or listen for
+ * `watcher.on('error')` and re-run `setupWatcher`. (PR #4174 review
+ * #3256239608.)
  */
 export function useWorktreeSession(config: Config): WorktreeSession | null {
   const [session, setSession] = useState<WorktreeSession | null>(null);