Claude Sessions and Context

Keyboard

Key	Action
`Ctrl+C`	Interrupt; with nothing running, first press clears the prompt, second exits
`Ctrl+D`	Exit (press twice)
`Ctrl+L`	Redraw the screen (keeps conversation)
`Ctrl+O`	Transcript viewer (detailed tool usage)
`Ctrl+R`	Reverse-search history
`Ctrl+B`	Background running Bash commands and agents
`Ctrl+T`	Toggle Claude's task checklist (`/tasks` for background work)
`Ctrl+G` / `Ctrl+X Ctrl+E`	Edit the prompt in your external editor
`Shift+Tab` (`Alt+M` on some Windows setups)	Cycle permission modes
`Option/Alt+P`	Switch model without clearing the prompt
`Option/Alt+T`	Toggle extended thinking (no effect on Opus/Sonnet/Haiku 5.5 or Fable, which always think)
`Esc`	Interrupt Claude or close a dialog
`Esc Esc`	Clear the typed draft; on an empty prompt opens the rewind menu

Session Commands

Command	Purpose
`/resume [session]`, `claude -r "name"`	Pick up a past session by ID or name
`claude -c`	Continue the latest conversation in this directory
`claude --resume <id> --fork-session`	Branch into a new session ID, original untouched
`/rename [name]`	Name the session (auto-generated if omitted); `claude -n name` at launch
`/rewind` (alias `/checkpoint`)	Restore code and/or conversation to an earlier point
`/clear [name]`	New empty conversation (CLAUDE.md and auto memory stay); the name labels the old one in `/resume`
`/compact [instructions]`	Summarize to free tokens (also automatic)
`/context [all]`	Context usage grid plus optimization hints
`/autocompact [auto\|500k]`	Set how full the window gets before auto-compact
`/usage`	Session cost, plan limits and activity stats. `/stats` and `/cost` are aliases
`/btw question`	Side question without adding to the conversation
`/export [file]`	Conversation as plain text (clipboard or file)
`/voice [hold\|tap\|off]`	Voice dictation (needs a claude.ai account; WSL2 needs PulseAudio)
`/config` → Editor mode	Vim keybindings (`editorMode`). The `/vim` command was removed in v2.1.92
`/cd path`, `/add-dir path`	Move the session / add a working directory
`/tasks`	Background work (subagents, shells, MCP calls); `t` teleports into a cloud session
`/debug`, `claude --debug`	Debug log; `--debug-file <path>` writes it where you choose
`/exit`	Quit

Commands only run at the start of a message; text after them is arguments. A command sent while Claude is working is queued (except /status, /tasks, /usage). Up to six skills can be chained: /skill-a /skill-b do X.

Context Window

Window = input + output tokens. 1M by default on Fable 5.x, Sonnet 5+, Haiku 5.5 and Opus 4.7+; 200K on Opus 4.6 / Sonnet 4.6 unless you use [1m]. Unknown model IDs assume 200K. CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_1M_CONTEXT=1 turns 1M off.
Auto-compact buffer is reserved so there's room to summarize; on 1M models it triggers around 967K. Tune with /autocompact 500k, autoCompactWindow, or CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW (100K–1M).
Switching to a smaller window loses information.
CLAUDE.md fully survives /compact (re-read from disk).

Where Things Live

~/.claude/projects/<folder-path>/   # one project per directory you run claude in
├── <session_id>.jsonl              # one transcript per session
└── memory/                         # auto memory

cleanupPeriodDays (default 30, minimum 1; 0 is rejected) deletes old session transcripts in a background sweep after a session starts, and they then vanish from /resume.
Session types: Local (terminal) and Web (remote); Remote Control sessions can continue locally.

~/.claude.json is legacy; use ~/.claude/settings.json.