Claude Code Cheat Sheet

⌨️ KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

General Controls

Ctrl C Cancel input/generation

Ctrl D Exit session

Ctrl L Clear screen + force full redraw

Ctrl O Toggle verbose transcript

Ctrl R Reverse search history

Ctrl G Open prompt in editor

Ctrl B Background running task

Ctrl T Toggle task list

Ctrl V Paste image

CtrlX CtrlK Kill background agents

Esc Esc Rewind / undo

Mode Switching

Shift Tab Cycle permission modes

Alt P Switch model

Alt T Toggle thinking

Input

\ Enter Newline (quick)

Ctrl J Newline (control seq)

CtrlU Clear input buffer (Ctrl+Y to restore)

CtrlE Move to end of line (multiline)

Prefixes

/ Slash command

! Direct bash

@ File mention + autocomplete

Session Picker

↑↓ Navigate

←→ Expand/collapse

P Preview

R Rename

/ Search

CtrlA Show all projects (in /resume)

🔌 MCP SERVERS

Add Servers

--transport http Remote HTTP (recommended)

--transport stdio Local process

--transport sse Remote SSE

Scopes

Local settings.local.json (you only)

Project .mcp.json (shared/VCS)

User ~/.claude.json (global)

Manage

/mcp Interactive UI

claude mcp list List all servers

claude mcp serve CC as MCP server

Elicitation Servers request input mid-task

_meta maxResultSizeChars Override result size up to 500K

⚡ SLASH COMMANDS

Session

/clear Clear conversation

/compact [focus] Compact context

/resume Resume/switch session

/rename [name] Name current session

/branch [name] Branch conversation (/fork alias)

/cost Token usage stats

/context Visualize context (grid)

/diff Interactive diff viewer

/rewind Rewind conv / code checkpoint (/undo alias)

/recap Context summary when returning to session

/focus Toggle focus view

/export Export conversation

Config

/config Open settings

/model [model] Switch model (←→ effort)

/fast [on|off] Toggle fast mode

/theme Change color theme; Auto matches terminal

/permissions View/update permissions

/effort [level] Set effort; interactive slider (low/med/xhigh/high/max/auto)

/color [color] Set prompt-bar color

/keybindings Customize keyboard shortcuts

/terminal-setup Configure terminal keybindings

/tui [fullscreen] Switch to flicker-free TUI rendering

Tools

/init Create CLAUDE.md

/memory Edit CLAUDE.md files

/mcp Manage MCP servers

/hooks Manage hooks

/skills List available skills

/agents Manage agents

/chrome Chrome integration

/reload-plugins Hot-reload plugins

/add-dir <path> Add working directory

Special

/btw <question> Side question (no context)

/plan [desc] Plan mode (+ auto-start)

/loop [interval] Recurring task (/proactive alias)

/voice Push-to-talk voice (20 langs)

/doctor Diagnose installation

/pr-comments [PR] Fetch GitHub PR comments

/remote-control Bridge to claude.ai/code (/rc)

/usage Plan limits & rate status

/schedule Cloud scheduled tasks

/security-review Security analysis of changes

/release-notes Interactive version picker

/feedback Submit feedback (alias: /bug)

/powerup Interactive lessons + animated demos

/team-onboarding Generate teammate ramp-up guide

📁 MEMORY & FILES

CLAUDE.md Locations

./CLAUDE.md Project (team-shared)

~/.claude/CLAUDE.md Personal (all projects)

/etc/claude-code/ Managed (org-wide)

Rules & Import

.claude/rules/*.md Project rules

~/.claude/rules/*.md User rules

paths: frontmatter Path-specific rules

@path/to/file Import in CLAUDE.md

Auto Memory

~/.claude/projects/<proj>/memory/ Auto-loaded per project

MEMORY.md Memory index + topic files

💡 WORKFLOWS & TIPS

Plan Mode

Shift Tab Normal → Auto-Accept → Plan

--permission-mode plan Start in plan mode

Auto mode Built-in for Max subscribers

Thinking & Effort

Alt T Toggle thinking on/off

"ultrathink" Max effort for turn

Ctrl O Toggle verbose transcript

/effort ○ low · ◐ med · ◑ xhigh · ● high/max

Git Worktrees

--worktree name Isolated branch per feature

isolation: worktree Agent in own worktree

sparsePaths Checkout only needed dirs

/batch Auto-creates worktrees

Voice Mode

/voice Enable push-to-talk

Space (hold) Record, release to send

20 languages EN, ES, FR, DE, CZ, PL…

Context Management

/context Usage + optimization tips

/compact [focus] Compress with focus

Auto-compact ~95% capacity

1M context Opus 4.7 (Max/Team/Ent)

CLAUDE.md Survives compaction!

Session Power Moves

claude -c Continue last conv

claude -r "name" Resume by name

/btw question Side Q, no context cost

SDK / Headless

claude -p "query" Non-interactive

--output-format json Structured output

--max-budget-usd 5 Cost cap

cat file | claude -p Pipe input

Scheduling & Remote

/loop 5m msg Recurring task (/proactive)

/rc Remote Control

--remote Web session on claude.ai

Push notifications Mobile push via Remote Control

🖥️ CLI & FLAGS

Core Commands

claude Interactive

claude "q" With prompt

claude -p "q" Headless

claude -c Continue last

claude -r "n" Resume

claude update Update

Key Flags

--model Set model

-w Git worktree

-n / --name Session name

--add-dir Add dir

--agent Use agent

--allowedTools Pre-approve

--output-format json/stream

--json-schema Structured

--max-turns Limit turns

--max-budget-usd Cost cap

--console Auth via Anthropic Console

--verbose Verbose

--bare Minimal headless (no hooks/LSP)

--channels Permission relay / MCP push

--remote Web session

--effort low/med/xhigh/high/max

--permission-mode plan/default/…

--dangerously-skip-permissions Skip all prompts ⚠️

--chrome Chrome

--exclude-dynamic-system-prompt-sections Print mode cross-user prompt caching

🤖 SKILLS & AGENTS

Built-in Skills

/simplify Code review (3 parallel agents)

/batch Large parallel changes (5-30 worktrees)

/debug [desc] Troubleshoot from debug log

/loop [interval] Recurring task (/proactive alias)

/claude-api Load API + SDK reference

/ultrareview [PR#] Cloud code review (parallel multi-agent)

/less-permission-prompts Scan transcripts for allowlist proposals

Custom Skill Locations

.claude/skills/<name>/ Project skills

~/.claude/skills/<name>/ Personal skills

Skill Frontmatter

description Auto-invocation trigger

allowed-tools Skip permission prompts

model Override model for skill

effort Override effort level

context: fork Run in subagent

$ARGUMENTS User input placeholder

${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR} Skill's own directory

!`cmd` Dynamic context injection

bin/ Plugin ships executables

keep-coding-instructions Frontmatter for plugin output styles

monitors Plugin background monitors (auto-arm on session/skill)

slash commands (Skill) Model discovers/invokes built-in commands

Built-in Agents

Explore Fast read-only (Haiku)

Plan Research for plan mode

General Full tools, complex tasks

Bash Terminal separate context

Agent Frontmatter

permissionMode default/acceptEdits/plan/dontAsk/bypass

isolation: worktree Run in git worktree

memory: user|project Persistent memory

background: true Background task

maxTurns Limit agentic turns

SendMessage Resume agents (replaces resume)

initialPrompt Auto-submit first turn

⚙️ CONFIG & ENV

Config Files

~/.claude/settings.json User settings

.claude/settings.json Project (shared)

.claude/settings.local.json Local only

~/.claude.json OAuth, MCP, state

.mcp.json Project MCP servers

Key Settings

modelOverrides Map model picker → custom IDs

autoMemoryDirectory Custom memory dir

worktree.sparsePaths Sparse checkout dirs

disableSkillShellExecution Disable shell exec in skills/commands

showThinkingSummaries Restore thinking summaries in sessions

forceRemoteSettingsRefresh Fail-closed remote settings fetch

refreshInterval Auto-refresh status line every N seconds

sandbox.network.deniedDomains Block domains even when allowedDomains wildcard permits

Key Env Vars

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY API key

ANTHROPIC_MODEL Default model

CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL low/med/high

MAX_THINKING_TOKENS 0=off

CLAUDE_CODE_NO_FLICKER Flicker-free alt-screen rendering

MCP_CONNECTION_NONBLOCKING Skip MCP wait in -p mode

CLAUDE_CODE_USE_MANTLE Enable Amazon Bedrock via Mantle

CLAUDE_CODE_PERFORCE_MODE Fail read-only files with p4 edit hint

ENABLE_PROMPT_CACHING_1H Opt into 1-hour prompt cache TTL

CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_AWAY_SUMMARY Opt out of auto-recap (set to 0)

CLAUDE_CODE_USE_POWERSHELL_TOOL Opt in/out of PowerShell tool on Windows

Hooks

PreToolUse Before tool executes

PostToolUse After tool executes

Notification When Claude sends notification

Stop When Claude finishes response

SubagentStop When subagent finishes

CwdChanged Working directory changed

FileChanged File changed on disk

PermissionDenied After auto mode denials

TaskCreated When task created via TaskCreate

"defer" decision Pause tool, resume with -p --resume

hookSpecificOutput.sessionTitle Set session title in UserPromptSubmit hooks

PreCompact Block compaction (exit 2 or decision:block)