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

CtrlX CtrlK Kill background agents

Esc Esc Rewind / undo

←← Open agents view

{ / } Jump between user prompts (transcript view)

? Show keyboard shortcuts (transcript view)

Mode Switching

Shift Tab Cycle permission modes

Alt P Switch model

Alt T Toggle thinking

Input

\ Enter Newline (quick)

Ctrl J Newline (control seq)

v / V (vim mode) Visual / visual-line mode with selection

/ (vim NORMAL) Reverse history search (like Ctrl+R)

Prefixes

/ Slash command

! Direct bash

@ File mention + autocomplete

Session Picker

↑↓ Navigate

←→ Expand/collapse

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 (⏸ = pending approval)

claude mcp serve CC as MCP server

Elicitation Servers request input mid-task

_meta maxResultSizeChars Override result size up to 500K

alwaysLoad Skip tool-search deferral for server tools

workspace Reserved server name — skipped with warning

${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR} Reference project dir in MCP server commands

⚡ SLASH COMMANDS

Session

/clear Clear conversation

/compact [focus] Compact context

/resume Resume/switch session (includes bg sessions)

/rename [name] Name current session

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

/context Visualize context (grid)

/diff Interactive diff viewer (keyboard-scrollable detail)

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

/recap Context summary when returning to session

/focus Toggle focus view

/export Export conversation

/goal [condition] Set completion condition; Claude works across turns until met

/cd [path] Move session to new working directory without breaking prompt cache

Config

/config Open settings; key=value sets any setting NEW

/model [model] Switch model (←→ effort, s = this session only)

/fast [on|off] Toggle fast mode

/theme Change color theme; Auto matches terminal

/permissions View/update permissions

/effort [level] Set effort; interactive slider (low–max; Faster/Smarter labels)

/keybindings Customize keyboard shortcuts

/terminal-setup Configure terminal keybindings

Tools

/init Create CLAUDE.md

/memory Edit CLAUDE.md files

/mcp Manage MCP servers

/hooks Manage hooks

/skills List available skills

/agents Manage agents

/reload-plugins Hot-reload plugins

/reload-skills Re-scan skill directories without restarting

/add-dir <path> Add working directory

/chrome Select connected browser for Chrome integration

/plugin [name] Browse, install, enable/disable plugins and marketplaces

/plugin list [--enabled|--disabled] List installed plugins with status filters

/ide Connect to IDE for diagnostics and editor integration

Special

/btw <question> Side question (no context)

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

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

/bg [prompt] Fork current turn into an attachable background session

/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 Usage stats with per-category breakdown, cost, and rate status

/schedule Cloud scheduled tasks

/security-review Security analysis of changes

/usage-credits View usage credits (renamed from /extra-usage)

/feedback Submit feedback; include recent sessions (alias: /bug)

/powerup Interactive lessons + animated demos

/workflows View dynamic workflow runs

/logout Sign out (in agents view)

📁 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; Bedrock/Vertex/Foundry via CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_AUTO_MODE

Thinking & Effort

Alt T Toggle thinking on/off

"ultrathink" Max effort for turn

Ctrl O Toggle verbose transcript

/effort ○ low · ◐ med · ◑ xhigh · ● high/max (Faster↔Smarter)

Git Worktrees

--worktree name Isolated branch per feature

isolation: worktree Agent in own worktree

sparsePaths Checkout only needed dirs

/batch Auto-creates worktrees

EnterWorktree (switch) Switch between Claude-managed worktrees mid-session

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

Summarize up to here Rewind menu option — compress earlier context, keep recent turns

1M context Opus 4.8 (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

Push notifications Mobile push via Remote Control

API key → no cloud API key disables Remote Control, /schedule, claude.ai MCP, notifications

Dynamic workflows Orchestrates tens–hundreds of agents; triggers on 'run a workflow', 'workflow:' NEW

🖥️ 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

claude plugin tag Create release git tag for plugin

claude plugin prune Remove orphaned auto-installed plugins

claude ultrareview [target] Run /ultrareview non-interactively; --json for raw

claude plugin init <name> Scaffold a new plugin in .claude/skills

claude agents Agent dashboard; --cwd, --add-dir, --settings, --mcp-config, --model, --effort, --json

claude agents --json List live sessions as JSON; --all includes completed; id/state fields

claude plugin details <name> Show plugin components, LSP servers, and projected token cost

claude --bg --exec '<cmd>' Run shell command as attachable background session

claude plugin enable <name> Enable a plugin; force-enables its dependencies

claude plugin disable <name> Disable a plugin; refuses if a dependent is enabled

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

--verbose Verbose

--bare Minimal headless (no hooks/LSP)

--remote Web session

--from-pr Load PR/MR from GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket/GHE

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

--permission-mode plan/default/…

--dangerously-skip-permissions Skip all prompts; catastrophic rm still prompts ⚠️

--chrome Chrome

--fallback-model Fallback when primary unavailable (interactive + headless)

--thinking disabled turns off thinking on default-thinking models

--plugin-dir Load plugin from directory or .zip archive

--plugin-url Fetch plugin .zip archive from URL for session

--console Auth via Anthropic Console

--safe-mode Start with all customizations disabled for troubleshooting

🤖 SKILLS & AGENTS

Built-in Skills

/code-review [effort] Code review with effort; --comment for inline PR comments, --fix to apply findings

/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

/simplify Cleanup-only review (reuse, simplify, efficiency, altitude) and apply fixes

Custom Skill Locations

.claude/skills/<name>/ Project skills (auto-loaded as plugins)

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

Nested .claude/skills Nested skill dirs load; clashes show as <dir>:<name> NEW

Nested .claude/ priority Agent/workflow/output-style closest to cwd wins on collision NEW

Skill Frontmatter

description Auto-invocation trigger

allowed-tools Skip permission prompts

disallowed-tools Remove tools from model while skill is active

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

\$ Escape literal $ before digit in command bodies

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

${CLAUDE_EFFORT} Current effort level (skills, hooks, Bash tool)

root SKILL.md Plugin skill without skills/ subdirectory

Built-in Agents

Explore Fast read-only (Haiku)

Plan Research for plan mode

General Full tools, complex tasks

Bash Terminal separate context

Workflow Dynamic multi-agent orchestration (opt-in); /workflows to view runs

Nesting depth Sub-agents can spawn their own sub-agents up to 5 levels deep

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

mcpServers Load MCP servers for agent session

⚙️ 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

worktree.sparsePaths Sparse checkout dirs

autoMode.$defaults Extend built-in auto mode rules instead of replacing

skillOverrides Control skill visibility: off/user-invocable-only/name-only

autoMode.hard_deny Block unconditionally regardless of user intent or allow exceptions

workflowKeywordTrigger Explicit phrases only ('run a workflow', 'workflow:'); purple shimmer NEW

disableAllHooks Disable all hooks via settings.json / managed settings

allowManagedHooksOnly Restrict hook execution to managed (org) hooks only

requiredMinimumVersion / requiredMaximumVersion Managed settings; refuses start if version outside allowed range

fallbackModel Up to 3 fallback models tried in order when primary is overloaded

deny: tool-name glob * denies all; Tool(param:value) matches input params; allow rejects non-MCP NEW

disableBundledSkills Hide bundled skills, workflows, and built-in slash commands from model

enforceAvailableModels Managed setting; availableModels constrains Default model, prevents widening

language Pin session title language (overrides auto-detection) NEW

footerLinksRegexes Regex-matched link badges in footer row (user or managed) NEW

sandbox.allowAppleEvents Opt-in: let sandboxed commands send Apple Events on macOS NEW

Key Env Vars

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY API key

ANTHROPIC_MODEL Default model

CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL low/med/high

MAX_THINKING_TOKENS 0=off; disables thinking on models that think by default

CLAUDE_EFFORT Current effort level in hooks and Bash tool

CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR Project dir passed to MCP stdio servers and hooks env

CLAUDE_CODE_WORKFLOWS Enable Workflow tool for multi-agent orchestration

CLAUDE_CODE_SESSION_ID Session ID passed to stdio MCP server subprocesses (also on --resume)

CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_AUTO_MODE Enable auto mode on Bedrock/Vertex/Foundry for Opus 4.7/4.8

CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL Set model for subagents and agent-team teammates

MCP_TOOL_TIMEOUT Raise per-request MCP tool timeout above 60s default

CLAUDE_CODE_SAFE_MODE Env var equivalent of --safe-mode flag

CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_BUNDLED_SKILLS Env var equivalent of disableBundledSkills setting

CLAUDE_CLIENT_PRESENCE_FILE Marker file to suppress push notifications while at the machine NEW

Hooks

PreToolUse Before tool executes

PostToolUse After tool executes (duration_ms; can replace output)

Notification When Claude sends notification

Stop When Claude finishes response (background_tasks, session_crons)

SubagentStop When subagent finishes (background_tasks, session_crons)

mcp_tool type Invoke MCP tool directly from hook

args: string[] Hook exec form — spawn directly without shell

continueOnBlock PostToolUse: feed rejection reason back, continue turn

hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext Stop/SubagentStop: give Claude feedback, continue turn

SessionStart Run on session start/resume; set title, reload skills

ConfigChange Fire when settings files change (hot-reload)