diff --git a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 5146cc8..954667e 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -15,5 +15,6 @@
   "hooks": {
     "Stop": "hooks/session-end.sh",
     "PreToolUse": "hooks/session-start.sh"
-  }
+  },
+  "statusline": "statusline/zerodb-status.sh"
 }
diff --git a/hooks/session-end.sh b/hooks/session-end.sh
index 7996ea5..7cd8526 100755
--- a/hooks/session-end.sh
+++ b/hooks/session-end.sh
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ fi
 # Read hook input (Claude Code passes event context via stdin)
 INPUT=$(cat 2>/dev/null || echo "{}")
 
+# Update status cache — mark as saving while persist runs
+CACHE_DIR="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/zerodb-status"
+mkdir -p "$CACHE_DIR"
+echo '{"count": null, "state": "saving", "last_updated": "'"$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"'"}' > "${CACHE_DIR}/status.json"
+
 # Output the trigger payload for Claude to act on.
 # Claude Code's Stop hook output is surfaced to Claude, which will then
 # use the zerodb-memory-guide skill to run the actual memory extraction
diff --git a/hooks/session-start.sh b/hooks/session-start.sh
index 885fb45..29473a7 100755
--- a/hooks/session-start.sh
+++ b/hooks/session-start.sh
@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ if git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1; then
   fi
 fi
 
+# Update status cache — mark as synced after recall completes
+CACHE_DIR="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/zerodb-status"
+mkdir -p "$CACHE_DIR"
+echo '{"count": null, "state": "synced", "last_updated": "'"$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"'"}' > "${CACHE_DIR}/status.json"
+
 # Output trigger payload. Claude will call zerodb_get_context and
 # zerodb_semantic_search via MCP, then inject memories as context.
 cat <<EOF
diff --git a/statusline/zerodb-status.sh b/statusline/zerodb-status.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..d301c10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/statusline/zerodb-status.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# statusline/zerodb-status.sh — ZeroDB memory status bar widget
+# Called periodically by Claude Code to update the status bar.
+# Reads from a local cache file to avoid hitting the API on every poll.
+# Refs #11
+
+CACHE_DIR="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/zerodb-status"
+CACHE_FILE="${CACHE_DIR}/status.json"
+
+# If no API key configured, show nothing (don't pollute status bar)
+if [ -z "${ZERODB_API_KEY:-}" ]; then
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# Read from cache (written by hooks after each session operation)
+if [ -f "$CACHE_FILE" ]; then
+  COUNT=$(python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(open('$CACHE_FILE')); print(d.get('count', '?'))" 2>/dev/null || echo "?")
+  STATE=$(python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(open('$CACHE_FILE')); print(d.get('state', 'synced'))" 2>/dev/null || echo "synced")
+
+  case "$STATE" in
+    saving)
+      echo "ZeroDB: saving..."
+      ;;
+    synced)
+      if [ "$COUNT" = "0" ] || [ "$COUNT" = "None" ]; then
+        echo "ZeroDB: 0 memories"
+      else
+        echo "ZeroDB: $COUNT memories ✓"
+      fi
+      ;;
+    error)
+      echo "ZeroDB: offline"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "ZeroDB: $COUNT memories"
+      ;;
+  esac
+else
+  # No cache yet — first session, show ready state
+  echo "ZeroDB: ready"
+fi