diff --git a/cli.py b/cli.py
index 9027b4d70..7f93f0736 100644
--- a/cli.py
+++ b/cli.py
@@ -1921,6 +1921,10 @@ class HermesCLI:
         self.conversation_history: List[Dict[str, Any]] = []
         self.session_start = datetime.now()
         self._resumed = False
+        # Per-prompt elapsed timer — started at the beginning of each chat turn,
+        # frozen when the agent thread completes, displayed in the status bar.
+        self._prompt_start_time: Optional[float] = None  # time.time() when turn started
+        self._prompt_duration: float = 0.0  # frozen duration of last completed turn
         # Initialize SQLite session store early so /title works before first message
         self._session_db = None
         try:
@@ -2019,6 +2023,44 @@ class HermesCLI:
         filled = round((safe_percent / 100) * width)
         return f"[{('█' * filled) + ('░' * max(0, width - filled))}]"
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _format_prompt_elapsed(prompt_start_time: Optional[float], prompt_duration: float, live: bool = False) -> str:
+        """Format per-prompt elapsed time for the status bar.
+
+        Always returns a string — shows 0s on fresh start before first turn.
+        Keeps seconds visible at all scales so it increments smoothly:
+            59s → 1m → 1m 1s → ... → 1m 59s → 2m → 2m 1s → ...
+            59m 59s → 1h → 1h 0m 1s → ...
+            23h 59m 59s → 1d → 1d 0h 1m → ...
+
+        Emoji prefix: ⏱ when turn is live, ⏲ when frozen or fresh start.
+        Uses width-1 (no variation selector) glyphs so the status bar stays
+        aligned in monospace terminals.
+        """
+        if prompt_start_time is None and prompt_duration == 0.0:
+            return "⏲ 0s"
+        elapsed = time.time() - prompt_start_time if prompt_start_time is not None else prompt_duration
+        elapsed = max(0.0, elapsed)
+
+        days = int(elapsed // 86400)
+        remaining = elapsed % 86400
+        hours = int(remaining // 3600)
+        remaining = remaining % 3600
+        minutes = int(remaining // 60)
+        seconds = int(remaining % 60)
+
+        if days > 0:
+            time_str = f"{days}d {hours}h {minutes}m"
+        elif hours > 0:
+            time_str = f"{hours}h {minutes}m {seconds}s" if seconds else f"{hours}h {minutes}m"
+        elif minutes > 0:
+            time_str = f"{minutes}m {seconds}s" if seconds else f"{minutes}m"
+        else:
+            time_str = f"{int(elapsed)}s"
+
+        emoji = "⏱" if live else "⏲"
+        return f"{emoji} {time_str}"
+
     def _get_status_bar_snapshot(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         # Prefer the agent's model name — it updates on fallback.
         # self.model reflects the originally configured model and never
@@ -2037,6 +2079,11 @@ class HermesCLI:
             "model_name": model_name,
             "model_short": model_short,
             "duration": format_duration_compact(elapsed_seconds),
+            "prompt_elapsed": self._format_prompt_elapsed(
+                getattr(self, "_prompt_start_time", None),
+                getattr(self, "_prompt_duration", 0.0),
+                live=getattr(self, "_prompt_start_time", None) is not None,
+            ),
             "context_tokens": 0,
             "context_length": None,
             "context_percent": None,
@@ -2228,6 +2275,9 @@ class HermesCLI:
 
             parts = [f"⚕ {snapshot['model_short']}", context_label, percent_label]
             parts.append(duration_label)
+            prompt_elapsed = snapshot.get("prompt_elapsed")
+            if prompt_elapsed:
+                parts.append(prompt_elapsed)
             return self._trim_status_bar_text(" │ ".join(parts), width)
         except Exception:
             return f"⚕ {self.model if getattr(self, 'model', None) else 'Hermes'}"
@@ -2286,8 +2336,13 @@ class HermesCLI:
                         (bar_style, percent_label),
                         ("class:status-bar-dim", " │ "),
                         ("class:status-bar-dim", duration_label),
-                        ("class:status-bar", " "),
                     ]
+                    # Position 7: per-prompt elapsed timer (live or frozen)
+                    prompt_elapsed = snapshot.get("prompt_elapsed")
+                    if prompt_elapsed:
+                        frags.append(("class:status-bar-dim", " │ "))
+                        frags.append(("class:status-bar-dim", prompt_elapsed))
+                    frags.append(("class:status-bar", " "))
 
             total_width = sum(self._status_bar_display_width(text) for _, text in frags)
             if total_width > width:
@@ -8236,6 +8291,10 @@ class HermesCLI:
             # Start agent in background thread (daemon so it cannot keep the
             # process alive when the user closes the terminal tab — SIGHUP
             # exits the main thread and daemon threads are reaped automatically).
+            # Start per-prompt elapsed timer — frozen after the agent thread
+            # finishes; reset on the next turn.
+            self._prompt_start_time = time.time()
+            self._prompt_duration = 0.0
             agent_thread = threading.Thread(target=run_agent, daemon=True)
             agent_thread.start()
 
@@ -8313,6 +8372,12 @@ class HermesCLI:
                 # but guard against edge cases.
                 agent_thread.join(timeout=30)
 
+            # Freeze per-prompt elapsed timer once the agent thread has
+            # exited (or been abandoned as a daemon after interrupt).
+            if self._prompt_start_time is not None:
+                self._prompt_duration = max(0.0, time.time() - self._prompt_start_time)
+                self._prompt_start_time = None
+
             # Proactively clean up async clients whose event loop is dead.
             # The agent thread may have created AsyncOpenAI clients bound
             # to a per-thread event loop; if that loop is now closed, those