Option to Customize or Disable “Thinking” Quotes in Qwen Code TUI

[anaderix]

What would you like to be added?

Summary

Please add a configuration option to customize or disable the rotating quotes that appear in Qwen Code’s terminal UI during “thinking” / running operations.

Why is this needed?

Motivation

The current default quotes are often very old-style computer/cyber jokes and can feel distracting, unprofessional, or simply not aligned with the developer’s taste or team culture. Since Qwen Code is used in serious professional environments (including live demos, pair programming sessions, and shared terminals), having no control over these messages can be irritating and may discourage adoption of the tool.

Requested Functionality

1. A configuration option (e.g. in settings.json or via CLI flags/env vars) that allows users to:

   • Disable the quotes entirely, or
   • Provide their own list of quotes/messages, or
   • Choose a “minimal” mode where only neutral status messages are shown.

2. Reasonable defaults, for example:

   • ui.quotes.mode: "default" | "minimal" | "off" | "custom"
   • ui.quotes.file: path to a user-provided file with one quote per line (used when mode is "custom").

Benefits

• Makes Qwen Code more suitable for professional and enterprise environments.
• Respects user preference and reduces visual noise in the terminal.
• Provides a simple way for teams to align the tool’s “personality” with their culture (e.g., motivational quotes, company guidelines, or simply silence).

Additional context

I’m happy to help test or iterate on the UX for this feature. Even a first step of “off/minimal” vs “default” would already be a big improvement.

[tanzhenxin]

@anaderix It is a solid feature proposal, we will glad to accept the PR.

As the the display modes, I am thinking of "on" | "off" | "custom", with the default mode as "on". Users can always build their own "minimal" mode by using "custom" mode if they want to.

[Br1an67]

This feature is already available in the current version via two settings:

1. Disable phrases entirely: Set ui.accessibility.enableLoadingPhrases to false in your settings to hide all loading phrases.

2. Custom phrases: Set ui.customWittyPhrases to an array of your own phrases, e.g.:

   {
     "ui": {
       "customWittyPhrases": ["Processing...", "Working on it...", "Almost there..."]
     }
   }

These can be configured in ~/.qwen/settings.json (or via the settings dialog). The customWittyPhrases setting overrides the default witty phrases, while enableLoadingPhrases: false removes them completely.