Claude Code cheat sheet

Start and resume sessions

claude

Start an interactive session

claude "query"

Start with an initial prompt

claude -c

Continue the most recent conversation in this directory

claude -r "<session>"

Resume by ID or name, or pick one

claude -n "<name>"

Name the session for a later resume

--fork-session

With -c or -r: new session ID

claude -w <name>

Work in an isolated git worktree

--model <alias|name>

Set the model, such as sonnet

--permission-mode <mode>

Start in a given permission mode

claude --bg "<task>"

Start a background session; monitor it with claude agents

Headless and scripting

claude -p "query"

Run once, print the answer, exit

cat file | claude -p "…"

Pipe content in on stdin (10MB cap)

--output-format <format>

text (default), json, stream-json

--json-schema '<schema>'

JSON validated against your schema

--allowedTools "<rule>" …

Tools that run without a prompt, such as "Bash(git diff *)"

--max-turns <n>

Limit the number of agentic turns

--max-budget-usd <n>

Stop at an estimated spend

--bare

Skip hooks, skills, plugins, MCP servers, auto memory and CLAUDE.md

claude -c -p "query"

Continue the last conversation

JSON output carries result, session_id and total_cost_usd. Exit code 0 means success.

Settings files highest precedence first

managed-settings.json

Managed: set by your organization

--settings <file-or-json>

Command line: this session only

.claude/settings.local.json

Project local: only you, kept out of git

.claude/settings.json

Shared project: commit it for the team

~/.claude/settings.json

User: you, in every project

List keys such as permissions.allow merge across files. /status shows which files loaded; claude doctor reports invalid entries.

.mcp.json

Project-scoped MCP servers; manage them with /mcp