diff --git a/ui-tui/src/app/useMainApp.ts b/ui-tui/src/app/useMainApp.ts
index 43e8a2ed6..6915c4c5f 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/app/useMainApp.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/app/useMainApp.ts
@@ -1035,7 +1035,10 @@ export function useMainApp(gw: GatewayClient) {
 
   const appStatus = useMemo(
     () => ({
-      cwdLabel: fmtCwdBranch(cwd, gitBranch),
+      // Cap the status-bar cwd/branch label tighter than the shared default so
+      // it doesn't dominate the bar; the status rule reserves the left-side
+      // essentials and truncates this further on narrow terminals.
+      cwdLabel: fmtCwdBranch(cwd, gitBranch, 28),
       goodVibesTick,
       sessionStartedAt: ui.sid ? sessionStartedAt : null,
       showStickyPrompt: !!stickyPrompt,
diff --git a/ui-tui/src/domain/paths.ts b/ui-tui/src/domain/paths.ts
index 90483451c..43c023b6b 100644
--- a/ui-tui/src/domain/paths.ts
+++ b/ui-tui/src/domain/paths.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ export const shortCwd = (cwd: string, max = 28) => {
   return p.length <= max ? p : `…${p.slice(-(max - 1))}`
 }
 
-export const fmtCwdBranch = (cwd: string, branch: null | string, max = 28) => {
+export const fmtCwdBranch = (cwd: string, branch: null | string, max = 40) => {
   if (!branch) {
     return shortCwd(cwd, max)
   }