Quick Reference

Commands, shortcuts, and common patterns

Modified

February 25, 2026

Essential Commands

Starting and Stopping

Command Description
claude Start Claude in current directory
claude --help Show help
claude --version Show version
/exit or Ctrl+C Exit Claude
/clear Clear conversation history (CLAUDE.md reloads; stays in terminal)

Session Management

These commands help you manage context, pause/resume work, and keep sessions productive.

In-Session Commands

Command Description When to Use
/context Visual grid showing what’s consuming your context window Check before deciding to clear or compact
/cost Show token usage for the current session Monitor how much context you’ve used
/compact [focus] Compress conversation, keeping key content Mid-task but context is filling up — e.g., /compact focus on the bootstrap function
/clear Wipe conversation history completely Switching tasks — e.g., done planning, ready to implement
/rename <name> Name the current session for later retrieval Before pausing work — e.g., /rename sensitivity-analysis
/rewind Open menu to undo to a specific point in conversation Claude went in the wrong direction — roll back without losing code

CLI Flags (Starting Sessions)

Flag Description Example
claude -c Resume the most recent session Pick up after a break
claude -r "<name>" Resume a specific named session claude -r "sensitivity-analysis"
claude -r Open interactive session picker Browse and select from past sessions
claude --fork-session Resume but branch into a new session ID Try an alternative approach without affecting the original

When to Use What

Situation Command
Context getting heavy, still working on same task /compact
Done planning, ready to implement from a plan file /clear
Stopping for the day, want to continue tomorrow /rename → /exit → later: claude -c
Returning to a specific past session claude -r "session-name"
Claude went off track, want to backtrack /rewind
Want to try two approaches from the same starting point claude --continue --fork-session

Authentication

Command Description
claude login Authenticate with Claude
claude logout Sign out
claude auth status Check authentication

Plugins

Command Description
claude plugins list List installed plugins
claude plugins install <name> Install plugin
claude plugins uninstall <name> Remove plugin

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+C Cancel current operation / Exit
↑ / ↓ Navigate command history
Tab Autocomplete (if supported)
Ctrl+L Clear screen

Common Prompts

Exploration

What is the structure of this project?
Explain the targets pipeline in _targets.R
What functions are in R/analysis.R?
Show me recent git commits

Modification

Add a function to R/utils.R that calculates the median
Update the simulation to use 1000 iterations
Fix the bug in calculate_statistics()
Refactor this function to be more readable

Running Code

Run the targets pipeline
Run tar_outdated() to check what needs updating
Execute the test suite
Run this R script

Git Operations

What's the git status?
Create a new branch called feature/bootstrap
Stage all R files
Commit with message "Add bootstrap CI"
Push to origin

Review and Quality

Review my changes for issues
Check for lab coding standard violations
Are there any hardcoded values that should be in globals.yml?

Skills (Slash Commands)

Built-in Skills

Skill Description
/commit Streamlined commit workflow
/review Code review with priority-ordered checks
/help Show available commands

Lab Skills (if configured)

Skill Description
/validate Check project consistency
/preflight Pre-Slurm submission checks

File Patterns

Configuration Files

File Purpose
~/.claude/CLAUDE.md Global instructions (all projects)
.claude/CLAUDE.md Project-specific instructions
CLAUDE.md Project memory (root level)
.claude/settings.json Permissions and hooks
config/globals.yml Project constants

Project Structure

project/
├── CLAUDE.md              # Project context
├── .claude/
│   ├── settings.json      # Permissions
│   ├── commands/          # Custom skills
│   └── agents/            # Custom agents
├── _targets.R             # Pipeline definition
├── R/                     # Functions
├── config/
│   └── globals.yml        # Constants
├── data/                  # Input data
├── output/                # Results
└── docs/
    ├── plans/             # Design documents
    └── DATA_PROVENANCE.md # Data sources

Pipeline Commands

Targets

Prompt What it does
“Run the pipeline” targets::tar_make()
“Check what’s outdated” targets::tar_outdated()
“Show the dependency graph” targets::tar_visnetwork()
“Load the model_fit target” targets::tar_read(model_fit)
“Check for failures” targets::tar_meta() \|> filter(!is.na(error))

Slurm

Prompt What it does
“Submit this job” sbatch script.sh
“Check my queue” squeue -u $USER
“Cancel job 12345” scancel 12345
“Show job details” scontrol show job 12345

Lab Coding Standards

Use

Category Standard
Data manipulation Base R + data.table
Dependencies DESCRIPTION file
Pipelines {targets}
Configuration globals.yml
Communication Microsoft Teams

Avoid

Category Avoid
Data manipulation tidyverse, dplyr
Dependencies renv.lock
Pipelines Makefiles for R
Configuration Hardcoded values
Communication Slack

Configuration Locations

File Location
Global CLAUDE.md ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
Global settings ~/.claude/settings.json
Project CLAUDE.md .claude/CLAUDE.md or CLAUDE.md
Project settings .claude/settings.json
Project skills .claude/commands/*.md
Project agents .claude/agents/*.md
Lab team roster config/team.yml
Project globals config/globals.yml

Cheatsheet

# Start session
claude

# Resume last session
claude -c

# Resume named session
claude -r "my-session"

# Explore
> What's in this project?
> Explain R/models.R

# Modify
> Add a bootstrap function to R/analysis.R

# Review
> /review

# Commit
> /commit

# Push
> Push to origin

# Check context usage
> /context

# Compress conversation
> /compact focus on the analysis function

# Fresh start (same terminal)
> /clear

# Name session before stopping
> /rename feature-name

# Undo last few messages
> /rewind