Claude Code cheat sheet: commands, flags, shortcuts, and config

Start, stop, resume, and branch

The launch form decides the session history, working directory, isolation, and whether a human interface exists. These are the forms worth memorising.

CLI flags by job

Flags below are grouped by the decision they change. The official reference includes plan-, platform-, and version-specific options beyond this operational set; claude --help also does not list every supported flag.

git diff main...HEAD | claude -p "Report only correctness bugs as JSON." --permission-mode dontAsk --allowedTools "Read" "Grep" "Glob" --output-format json --max-turns 8 --max-budget-usd 2.00

Slash commands that change the session

Type / to filter everything available in your installed version. The menu includes built-ins, bundled skills, your own skills, plugins, and MCP prompts, so the exact list is configuration-dependent.

Keyboard shortcuts

Permission modes and rules

Rules use Tool(specifier). Claude Code evaluates deny, then ask, then allow; a more specific allow never overrides a broad deny.

{
  "permissions": {
    "defaultMode": "plan",
    "allow": [
      "Bash(npm test *)",
      "Bash(npm run lint *)",
      "Bash(git diff *)",
      "Read(src/**)",
      "Edit(src/**)"
    ],
    "ask": ["Bash(git push *)"],
    "deny": [
      "Read(.env)",
      "Read(.env.*)",
      "Read(~/.ssh/**)",
      "Bash(rm -rf *)",
      "Bash(git reset --hard *)"
    ]
  }
}

CLAUDE.md, settings, rules, skills, and auto memory

# Commands

- `pnpm test path/to/file.test.ts` runs one test file.
- `pnpm lint --fix` must pass before handoff.

# Conventions

- Named exports only.
- Store money as integer minor units.
- Never edit `src/generated/`.

# Traps

- Integration tests require `docker compose up -d db`.

Hooks: events and a working formatter hook

Hooks run deterministic code at lifecycle events. Use them for an invariant that must hold regardless of whether the model remembers the instruction.

{
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Edit|Write",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "jq -r .tool_input.file_path | xargs npx prettier --write"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

MCP server commands and scopes

Worktrees, subagents, and parallel work

claude -w feature-auth
claude -w fix-timeout

git worktree list
git worktree remove .claude/worktrees/ci-review
git worktree prune

A worktree shares git history, refs, remotes, and objects with the main checkout. It does not share tracked file contents, untracked files, staged changes, or dependency installs. Put required gitignored setup files in .worktreeinclude; tracked files are never copied by that mechanism.

---
name: reviewer
description: Review the current branch for correctness bugs.
tools: Read, Grep, Glob, Bash
model: sonnet
isolation: worktree
---

Review the diff against the merge base. Report only reproducible correctness or security findings with file and line evidence.

Context, tokens, usage, and cost

Input is not paid once. Each turn includes the conversation, instructions, tools, relevant files, and recent output again, with prompt caching reducing the price of stable prefixes. Large MCP catalogs, verbose memory files, unbounded logs, and long correction chains therefore have a recurring cost.

Questions people ask

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