diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0992648..a0e1425 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -112,3 +112,6 @@ desktop.ini
 *~
 .idea/
 .vscode/
+
+# Profile cache — written by lib/profile.sh, read by hooks/statusline.sh
+.active-profile
diff --git a/hooks/statusline.sh b/hooks/statusline.sh
index f806a27..793e543 100755
--- a/hooks/statusline.sh
+++ b/hooks/statusline.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,15 @@ else
 fi
 PLAN_UPPER=$(echo "$PLAN" | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]' | head -c1)$(echo "$PLAN" | tail -c+2)
 
+# Active profile (written by lib/profile.sh set|apply|reset to <repo>/.active-profile).
+# Read directly — `profile.sh current` is 12s+ and unusable in a statusline.
+REPO="$(cd -P "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+PROFILE="?"
+if [ -f "$REPO/.active-profile" ]; then
+  PROFILE=$(head -n1 "$REPO/.active-profile" | tr -d '[:space:]')
+  [ -z "$PROFILE" ] && PROFILE="?"
+fi
+
 # Session duration (from total_duration_ms)
 DURATION_MS=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r \
   '.cost.total_duration_ms // 0' | cut -d. -f1)
@@ -68,4 +77,4 @@ fi
 RESET="\033[0m"
 
 # Output: single line
-echo -e "$MODEL | $FOLDER${BRANCH_STR} | $PLAN_UPPER | ${COLOR}${BAR}${RESET} ${PCT}% | ${DURATION}"
+echo -e "$MODEL | $FOLDER${BRANCH_STR} | $PLAN_UPPER | ${PROFILE} | ${COLOR}${BAR}${RESET} ${PCT}% | ${DURATION}"
diff --git a/lib/profile.sh b/lib/profile.sh
index 0163758..3cd4ff3 100755
--- a/lib/profile.sh
+++ b/lib/profile.sh
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ SKILLS_DIR="$REPO/skills"
 DISABLED_DIR="$REPO/skills-disabled"
 PROFILES_DIR="$REPO/lib/profiles"
 TOGGLE_EXTERNAL="$REPO/lib/toggle-external.sh"
+ACTIVE_CACHE="$REPO/.active-profile"  # statusline reads this — keep fast (single-line file, profile name only)
 
 # Plugins that are toggle-managed by `set`. Anything NOT in this list is
 # never auto-disabled — protects always-on plugins (caveman, security-guidance,
@@ -71,6 +72,14 @@ warn() { echo -e "${YELLOW}⚠${NC}  $1"; }
 err()  { echo -e "${RED}✗${NC} $1" >&2; }
 info() { echo -e "${BLUE}ℹ${NC}  $1"; }
 
+# Persist active-profile name for fast statusline lookup (cmd_current is slow
+# — iterates every profile + every entry). Write profile name only; statusline
+# reads the file directly without re-invoking this script.
+write_active() {
+  local name="$1"
+  printf '%s\n' "$name" > "$ACTIVE_CACHE" 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+
 # ── Profile parsing ────────────────────────────────────────
 
 # Read a profile file. Output one line per entry: "<skill>\t<type>"
@@ -351,6 +360,7 @@ cmd_apply() {
   while IFS=$'\t' read -r skill type; do
     enable_skill "$skill" "$type"
   done < <(read_profile "$prof")
+  write_active "$prof"
 }
 
 cmd_set() {
@@ -406,6 +416,7 @@ cmd_reset() {
   fi
   info "Plugin state NOT touched. To re-enable a managed plugin disabled by 'set',"
   info "run: claude plugin enable <name>@<marketplace>  (or: profile apply <profile>)"
+  write_active "none"
 }
 
 cmd_current() {