diff --git a/src/config.zig b/src/config.zig
index 13cc4e4..af6f055 100644
--- a/src/config.zig
+++ b/src/config.zig
@@ -3,10 +3,6 @@ const builtin = @import("builtin");
 frame_rate: usize = 60,
 theme: []const u8 = "default",
 input_mode: []const u8 = "flow",
-modestate_show: bool = true,
-selectionstate_show: bool = true,
-modstate_show: bool = false,
-keystate_show: bool = false,
 gutter_line_numbers: bool = true,
 gutter_line_numbers_relative: bool = false,
 vim_normal_gutter_line_numbers_relative: bool = true,
@@ -19,3 +15,6 @@ highlight_current_line_gutter: bool = true,
 show_whitespace: bool = false,
 animation_min_lag: usize = 0, //milliseconds
 animation_max_lag: usize = 150, //milliseconds
+
+top_bar: []const u8 = "",
+bottom_bar: []const u8 = "mode file log selection diagnostics linenumber",
diff --git a/src/tui/mainview.zig b/src/tui/mainview.zig
index 109b02e..24a047e 100644
--- a/src/tui/mainview.zig
+++ b/src/tui/mainview.zig
@@ -34,8 +34,10 @@ widgets: *WidgetList,
 widgets_widget: Widget,
 floating_views: WidgetStack,
 commands: Commands = undefined,
-statusbar: *Widget,
+top_bar: ?*Widget = null,
+bottom_bar: ?*Widget = null,
 editor: ?*ed.Editor = null,
+view_widget_idx: usize,
 panels: ?*WidgetList = null,
 last_match_text: ?[]const u8 = null,
 location_history: location_history,
@@ -67,17 +69,23 @@ pub fn create(a: std.mem.Allocator) !Widget {
         .widgets = undefined,
         .widgets_widget = undefined,
         .floating_views = WidgetStack.init(a),
-        .statusbar = undefined,
         .location_history = try location_history.create(),
         .file_stack = std.ArrayList([]const u8).init(a),
+        .view_widget_idx = 0,
     };
     try self.commands.init(self);
     const w = Widget.to(self);
     const widgets = try WidgetList.createV(a, w, @typeName(Self), .dynamic);
     self.widgets = widgets;
     self.widgets_widget = widgets.widget();
+    if (tui.current().config.top_bar.len > 0) {
+        self.top_bar = try widgets.addP(try @import("status/bar.zig").create(a, w, tui.current().config.top_bar, .none, null));
+        self.view_widget_idx += 1;
+    }
     try widgets.add(try Widget.empty(a, self.widgets_widget.plane.*, .dynamic));
-    self.statusbar = try widgets.addP(try @import("status/statusbar.zig").create(a, w, EventHandler.bind(self, handle_statusbar_event)));
+    if (tui.current().config.bottom_bar.len > 0) {
+        self.bottom_bar = try widgets.addP(try @import("status/bar.zig").create(a, w, tui.current().config.bottom_bar, .grip, EventHandler.bind(self, handle_bottom_bar_event)));
+    }
     if (tp.env.get().is("show-input"))
         self.toggle_inputview_async();
     if (tp.env.get().is("show-log"))
@@ -145,13 +153,13 @@ pub fn box(self: *const Self) Box {
     return Box.from(self.plane);
 }
 
-pub fn handle_statusbar_event(self: *Self, _: tp.pid_ref, m: tp.message) tp.result {
+fn handle_bottom_bar_event(self: *Self, _: tp.pid_ref, m: tp.message) tp.result {
     var y: usize = undefined;
     if (try m.match(.{ "D", event_type.PRESS, key.BUTTON1, tp.any, tp.any, tp.extract(&y), tp.any, tp.any }))
-        return self.statusbar_primary_drag(y);
+        return self.bottom_bar_primary_drag(y);
 }
 
-fn statusbar_primary_drag(self: *Self, y: usize) tp.result {
+fn bottom_bar_primary_drag(self: *Self, y: usize) tp.result {
     const panels = self.panels orelse blk: {
         cmds.toggle_panel(self, .{}) catch return;
         break :blk self.panels.?;
@@ -225,7 +233,8 @@ const cmds = struct {
 
     pub fn open_project_cwd(self: *Self, _: Ctx) Result {
         try project_manager.open(".");
-        _ = try self.statusbar.msg(.{ "PRJ", "open" });
+        if (self.top_bar) |bar| _ = try bar.msg(.{ "PRJ", "open" });
+        if (self.bottom_bar) |bar| _ = try bar.msg(.{ "PRJ", "open" });
     }
 
     pub fn open_project_dir(self: *Self, ctx: Ctx) Result {
@@ -235,7 +244,8 @@ const cmds = struct {
         try project_manager.open(project_dir);
         const project = tp.env.get().str("project");
         tui.current().rdr.set_terminal_working_directory(project);
-        _ = try self.statusbar.msg(.{ "PRJ", "open" });
+        if (self.top_bar) |bar| _ = try bar.msg(.{ "PRJ", "open" });
+        if (self.bottom_bar) |bar| _ = try bar.msg(.{ "PRJ", "open" });
     }
 
     pub fn change_project(self: *Self, ctx: Ctx) Result {
@@ -257,7 +267,8 @@ const cmds = struct {
         try project_manager.open(project_dir);
         const project = tp.env.get().str("project");
         tui.current().rdr.set_terminal_working_directory(project);
-        _ = try self.statusbar.msg(.{ "PRJ", "open" });
+        if (self.top_bar) |bar| _ = try bar.msg(.{ "PRJ", "open" });
+        if (self.bottom_bar) |bar| _ = try bar.msg(.{ "PRJ", "open" });
         if (try project_manager.request_most_recent_file(self.a)) |file_path| {
             defer self.a.free(file_path);
             try tp.self_pid().send(.{ "cmd", "navigate", .{ .file = file_path } });
@@ -603,16 +614,17 @@ pub fn walk(self: *Self, ctx: *anyopaque, f: Widget.WalkFn, w: *Widget) bool {
 
 fn create_editor(self: *Self) !void {
     if (self.editor) |editor| if (editor.file_path) |file_path| self.push_file_stack(file_path) catch {};
-    self.widgets.replace(0, try Widget.empty(self.a, self.plane, .dynamic));
+    self.widgets.replace(self.view_widget_idx, try Widget.empty(self.a, self.plane, .dynamic));
     command.executeName("enter_mode_default", .{}) catch {};
     var editor_widget = try ed.create(self.a, Widget.to(self));
     errdefer editor_widget.deinit(self.a);
     if (editor_widget.get("editor")) |editor| {
-        editor.subscribe(EventHandler.to_unowned(self.statusbar)) catch @panic("subscribe unsupported");
+        if (self.top_bar) |bar| editor.subscribe(EventHandler.to_unowned(bar)) catch @panic("subscribe unsupported");
+        if (self.bottom_bar) |bar| editor.subscribe(EventHandler.to_unowned(bar)) catch @panic("subscribe unsupported");
         editor.subscribe(EventHandler.bind(self, handle_editor_event)) catch @panic("subscribe unsupported");
         self.editor = if (editor.dynamic_cast(ed.EditorWidget)) |p| &p.editor else null;
     } else @panic("mainview editor not found");
-    self.widgets.replace(0, editor_widget);
+    self.widgets.replace(self.view_widget_idx, editor_widget);
     tui.current().resize();
 }
 
@@ -637,7 +649,7 @@ fn create_home(self: *Self) !void {
     if (self.editor) |_| return;
     var home_widget = try home.create(self.a, Widget.to(self));
     errdefer home_widget.deinit(self.a);
-    self.widgets.replace(0, home_widget);
+    self.widgets.replace(self.view_widget_idx, home_widget);
     tui.current().resize();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/tui/status/bar.zig b/src/tui/status/bar.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a79dd2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tui/status/bar.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+
+const status_widget = @import("widget.zig");
+const Widget = @import("../Widget.zig");
+const WidgetList = @import("../WidgetList.zig");
+const tui = @import("../tui.zig");
+
+const Self = @This();
+
+pub const Style = enum { none, grip };
+
+pub fn create(a: std.mem.Allocator, parent: Widget, config: []const u8, style: Style, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) !Widget {
+    var w = try WidgetList.createH(a, parent, "statusbar", .{ .static = 1 });
+    if (style == .grip) w.after_render = render_grip;
+    w.ctx = w;
+    var it = std.mem.splitScalar(u8, config, ' ');
+    while (it.next()) |widget_name|
+        try w.add(try status_widget.create(widget_name, a, w.plane, event_handler) orelse continue);
+    return w.widget();
+}
+
+fn render_grip(ctx: ?*anyopaque, theme: *const Widget.Theme) void {
+    const w: *WidgetList = @ptrCast(@alignCast(ctx.?));
+    if (w.hover()) {
+        w.plane.set_style(theme.statusbar_hover);
+        w.plane.cursor_move_yx(0, 0) catch {};
+        _ = w.plane.putstr("  ") catch {};
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/tui/status/diagstate.zig b/src/tui/status/diagstate.zig
index e7bee3e..ae51bfd 100644
--- a/src/tui/status/diagstate.zig
+++ b/src/tui/status/diagstate.zig
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ rendered: [:0]const u8 = "",
 
 const Self = @This();
 
-pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) !Widget {
+pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) @import("widget.zig").CreateError!Widget {
     return Button.create_widget(Self, a, parent, .{
         .ctx = .{},
         .label = "",
diff --git a/src/tui/status/expander.zig b/src/tui/status/expander.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c744a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tui/status/expander.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const tp = @import("thespian");
+const Plane = @import("renderer").Plane;
+
+const Widget = @import("../Widget.zig");
+
+plane: Plane,
+on_event: ?Widget.EventHandler,
+
+const Self = @This();
+
+pub fn create(a: std.mem.Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) @import("widget.zig").CreateError!Widget {
+    const self: *Self = try a.create(Self);
+    self.* = .{
+        .plane = try Plane.init(&(Widget.Box{}).opts(@typeName(Self)), parent),
+        .on_event = event_handler,
+    };
+    return Widget.to(self);
+}
+
+pub fn deinit(self: *Self, a: std.mem.Allocator) void {
+    self.plane.deinit();
+    a.destroy(self);
+}
+
+pub fn layout(_: *Self) Widget.Layout {
+    return .dynamic;
+}
+
+pub fn render(self: *Self, theme: *const Widget.Theme) bool {
+    self.plane.set_base_style(" ", theme.statusbar);
+    self.plane.erase();
+    return false;
+}
+
+pub fn receive(self: *Self, from: tp.pid_ref, m: tp.message) error{Exit}!bool {
+    var btn: u32 = 0;
+    if (try m.match(.{ "D", tp.any, tp.extract(&btn), tp.more })) {
+        if (self.on_event) |h| h.send(from, m) catch {};
+        return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
diff --git a/src/tui/status/filestate.zig b/src/tui/status/filestate.zig
index 221174e..b395cd7 100644
--- a/src/tui/status/filestate.zig
+++ b/src/tui/status/filestate.zig
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ file: bool = false,
 const project_icon = "";
 const Self = @This();
 
-pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) !Widget {
+pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) @import("widget.zig").CreateError!Widget {
     const btn = try Button.create(Self, a, parent, .{
         .ctx = .{
             .a = a,
diff --git a/src/tui/status/keystate.zig b/src/tui/status/keystate.zig
index 599044b..15ea117 100644
--- a/src/tui/status/keystate.zig
+++ b/src/tui/status/keystate.zig
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ const Self = @This();
 const idle_msg = "🐶";
 pub const width = idle_msg.len + 20;
 
-pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane) !Widget {
+pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, _: ?Widget.EventHandler) @import("widget.zig").CreateError!Widget {
     var frame_rate = tp.env.get().num("frame-rate");
     if (frame_rate == 0) frame_rate = 60;
     const self: *Self = try a.create(Self);
diff --git a/src/tui/status/linenumstate.zig b/src/tui/status/linenumstate.zig
index 775f269..46fefa6 100644
--- a/src/tui/status/linenumstate.zig
+++ b/src/tui/status/linenumstate.zig
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ rendered: [:0]const u8 = "",
 
 const Self = @This();
 
-pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) !Widget {
+pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) @import("widget.zig").CreateError!Widget {
     return Button.create_widget(Self, a, parent, .{
         .ctx = .{},
         .label = "",
diff --git a/src/tui/status/minilog.zig b/src/tui/status/minilog.zig
index c657c33..85220a4 100644
--- a/src/tui/status/minilog.zig
+++ b/src/tui/status/minilog.zig
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ const Level = enum {
     err,
 };
 
-pub fn create(a: std.mem.Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) !Widget {
+pub fn create(a: std.mem.Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) @import("widget.zig").CreateError!Widget {
     const self: *Self = try a.create(Self);
     self.* = .{
         .plane = try Plane.init(&(Widget.Box{}).opts(@typeName(Self)), parent),
diff --git a/src/tui/status/modestate.zig b/src/tui/status/modestate.zig
index 773fda4..4241a65 100644
--- a/src/tui/status/modestate.zig
+++ b/src/tui/status/modestate.zig
@@ -13,8 +13,9 @@ const Button = @import("../Button.zig");
 const command = @import("../command.zig");
 const ed = @import("../editor.zig");
 const tui = @import("../tui.zig");
+const CreateError = @import("widget.zig").CreateError;
 
-pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) !Widget {
+pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) CreateError!Widget {
     return Button.create_widget(void, a, parent, .{
         .ctx = {},
         .label = tui.get_mode(),
diff --git a/src/tui/status/modstate.zig b/src/tui/status/modstate.zig
index c34a799..fde44ec 100644
--- a/src/tui/status/modstate.zig
+++ b/src/tui/status/modstate.zig
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ const Self = @This();
 
 pub const width = 5;
 
-pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane) !Widget {
+pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, _: ?Widget.EventHandler) @import("widget.zig").CreateError!Widget {
     const self: *Self = try a.create(Self);
     self.* = .{
         .plane = try Plane.init(&(Widget.Box{}).opts(@typeName(Self)), parent),
diff --git a/src/tui/status/selectionstate.zig b/src/tui/status/selectionstate.zig
index 0d46cbc..9e5d5b4 100644
--- a/src/tui/status/selectionstate.zig
+++ b/src/tui/status/selectionstate.zig
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ on_event: ?Widget.EventHandler,
 
 const Self = @This();
 
-pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) !Widget {
+pub fn create(a: Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) @import("widget.zig").CreateError!Widget {
     const self: *Self = try a.create(Self);
     self.* = .{
         .plane = try Plane.init(&(Widget.Box{}).opts(@typeName(Self)), parent),
diff --git a/src/tui/status/statusbar.zig b/src/tui/status/statusbar.zig
deleted file mode 100644
index 6c41bdf..0000000
--- a/src/tui/status/statusbar.zig
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-const std = @import("std");
-
-const Widget = @import("../Widget.zig");
-const WidgetList = @import("../WidgetList.zig");
-const tui = @import("../tui.zig");
-
-const Self = @This();
-
-pub fn create(a: std.mem.Allocator, parent: Widget, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) !Widget {
-    var w = try WidgetList.createH(a, parent, "statusbar", .{ .static = 1 });
-    w.after_render = render_grip;
-    w.ctx = w;
-    if (tui.current().config.modestate_show) try w.add(try @import("modestate.zig").create(a, w.plane, event_handler));
-    try w.add(try @import("filestate.zig").create(a, w.plane, event_handler));
-    try w.add(try @import("minilog.zig").create(a, w.plane, event_handler));
-    if (tui.current().config.selectionstate_show) try w.add(try @import("selectionstate.zig").create(a, w.plane, event_handler));
-    try w.add(try @import("diagstate.zig").create(a, w.plane, event_handler));
-    try w.add(try @import("linenumstate.zig").create(a, w.plane, event_handler));
-    if (tui.current().config.modstate_show) try w.add(try @import("modstate.zig").create(a, w.plane));
-    if (tui.current().config.keystate_show) try w.add(try @import("keystate.zig").create(a, w.plane));
-    return w.widget();
-}
-
-fn render_grip(ctx: ?*anyopaque, theme: *const Widget.Theme) void {
-    const w: *WidgetList = @ptrCast(@alignCast(ctx.?));
-    if (w.hover()) {
-        const w0 = &w.widgets.items[0].widget;
-        const style = if (tui.current().config.modestate_show)
-            if (w0.hover())
-                theme.editor_selection
-            else
-                theme.statusbar_hover
-        else
-            theme.statusbar_hover;
-        w.plane.set_style(style);
-        w.plane.cursor_move_yx(0, 0) catch {};
-        _ = w.plane.putstr("  ") catch {};
-    }
-}
diff --git a/src/tui/status/widget.zig b/src/tui/status/widget.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6320c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tui/status/widget.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const Widget = @import("../Widget.zig");
+const Plane = @import("renderer").Plane;
+
+const widgets = std.static_string_map.StaticStringMap(create_fn).initComptime(.{
+    .{ "mode", @import("modestate.zig").create },
+    .{ "file", @import("filestate.zig").create },
+    .{ "log", @import("minilog.zig").create },
+    .{ "selection", @import("selectionstate.zig").create },
+    .{ "diagnostics", @import("diagstate.zig").create },
+    .{ "linenumber", @import("linenumstate.zig").create },
+    .{ "modifiers", @import("modstate.zig").create },
+    .{ "keystate", @import("keystate.zig").create },
+    .{ "expander", @import("expander.zig").create },
+});
+pub const CreateError = error{ OutOfMemory, Exit };
+const create_fn = *const fn (a: std.mem.Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) CreateError!Widget;
+
+pub fn create(name: []const u8, a: std.mem.Allocator, parent: Plane, event_handler: ?Widget.EventHandler) CreateError!?Widget {
+    const create_ = widgets.get(name) orelse return null;
+    return try create_(a, parent, event_handler);
+}