Claude Code Cheat Sheet

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

General Controls

CtrlC Cancel input/generation

CtrlD Exit session

CtrlL Redraw screen

CtrlO Toggle verbose/transcript

CtrlR Reverse search history

CtrlG Open prompt in editor

CtrlX CtrlE Open in editor (alias)

CtrlB Background running task

CtrlT Toggle task list

CtrlV Paste image ([Image #N] chip)

CtrlX CtrlK Kill background agents

EscEsc Rewind or summarize

Mode Switching

ShiftTab Cycle permission modes

AltP Switch model

AltT Toggle thinking

AltO Toggle fast modeNEW

Input

\Enter Newline (quick)

CtrlJ Newline (control seq)

Prefixes

/ Slash command

! Direct bash

@ File mention + autocomplete

Session Picker

↑↓ Navigate

←→ Expand/collapse

P Preview

R Rename

/ Search

A All projects

B Current branch

Transcript Mode (Ctrl+O)

CtrlE Toggle show all

Q / Esc Exit transcript

🔌 MCP Servers

Add Servers

--transport http Remote HTTP (recommended)

--transport stdio Local process

--transport sse Remote SSE

Scopes

Local ~/.claude.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

2KB cap Tool desc + server instructions limit

maxResultSizeChars _meta annotation override (up to 500K)NEW

⚡ 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 (per-model + cache breakdown)NEW

/context Visualize context (grid)

/diff Interactive diff viewer

/copy [N] Copy last (or Nth) response

/rewind Rewind conv / code checkpoint

/export Export conversation

Config

/config Open settings

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

/fast [on|off] Toggle fast mode

/theme Change color theme

/permissions View/update permissions

/effort [level] Set effort (low/medium/high/max/auto)

/color [color] Set prompt-bar color

/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

/chrome Chrome integration

/reload-plugins Hot-reload plugins

/add-dir <path> Add working directory

Special

/powerup Interactive feature lessonsNEW

/btw <question> Side question (no context)

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

/loop [interval] Schedule recurring task

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

/doctor Diagnose installation

/stats Usage streaks & prefs

/insights Analyze sessions report

/desktop Continue in Desktop app

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

/usage Plan limits & rate status

/schedule Cloud scheduled tasks

/security-review Security analysis of changes

/help Show help + commands

/feedback Submit feedback (alias: /bug)

/release-notes Interactive version changelogNEW

/stickers Order stickers! 🎉

📁 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/

MEMORY.md + topic files, auto-loaded (25KB/200 lines max)

🧠 Workflows & Tips

Plan Mode

ShiftTab Normal → Auto-Accept → Plan

--permission-mode plan Start in plan mode

Thinking & Effort

AltT Toggle thinking on/off

"ultrathink" Max effort for turn

CtrlO See thinking (verbose)

/effort ○ low · ◐ medium · ● high · ★ max

Auto Mode Denied

/permissions → Recent Retry denied with RNEW

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 (thrash detection: 3x)NEW

1M context Opus 4.6 (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

/rc Remote control (hostname prefix default)NEW

--remote Web session on claude.ai

⚙️ 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

managed-settings.d/ Drop-in policy fragments

Key Settings

modelOverrides Map model picker → custom IDs

autoMemoryDirectory Custom memory dir

worktree.sparsePaths Sparse checkout dirs

sandbox.failIfUnavailable Exit if sandbox fails

hooks: if Conditional hooks (permission rule syntax)

PermissionDenied Hook: auto-mode denialNEW

showThinkingSummaries Opt-in (off by default now)NEW

allowedChannelPlugins Admin channel plugin allowlist

hooks: "defer" Pause headless → resume later

disableSkillShellExec Block !`cmd` in skills/pluginsNEW

forceRemoteSettingsRefresh Fail-closed: block startup until freshNEW

Key Env Vars

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

ANTHROPIC_MODEL

CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL low/medium/high/max/auto

MAX_THINKING_TOKENS 0=off

ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_MODEL_OPTION Custom /model entry

CLAUDE_CODE_SUBPROCESS_ENV_SCRUB Strip creds from subprocs

CLAUDE_STREAM_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS Streaming watchdog (def 90s)

CLAUDE_CODE_NO_FLICKER Alt-screen rendering (=1)NEW

MCP_CONNECTION_NONBLOCKING Skip MCP wait in -pNEW

CLAUDECODE Detect CC shell (=1)

🔧 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 scheduled task

/claude-api Load API + SDK reference

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

paths: [globs] Path-specific (YAML list)NEW

context: fork Run in subagent

$ARGUMENTS User input placeholder

${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR} Skill's own directory

!`cmd` Dynamic context injection

plugin bin/ Ship executables for Bash toolNEW

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/bypassPermissions

isolation: worktree Run in git worktree

memory: user|project|local Persistent memory

background: true Background task

maxTurns Limit agentic turns

initialPrompt Auto-submit first turn

SendMessage Resume agents (replaces resume)

@agent-name Mention named subagentsNEW

🖥️ 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

Bedrock wizard Interactive AWS setup on loginNEW

--verbose Verbose

--bare Minimal headless (no hooks/LSP)

--channels Permission relay / MCP push

--remote Web session

--effort low/medium/high/max

--permission-mode plan/default/…

--dangerously-skip-permissions Skip all prompts ⚠️

--chrome Chrome

PowerShell tool Windows opt-in previewNEW