cli-doc

CLI Documentation

This skill provides the complete official documentation for the Claude Code command-line interface: launch commands, flags, in-session slash commands, keyboard shortcuts, keybindings customization, terminal configuration, and built-in tools reference.

Quick Reference

Starting and controlling a session

Command	Description
claude	Start interactive session
claude "query"	Start with an initial prompt
claude -p "query"	Non-interactive (print) mode — run query and exit
cat file | claude -p "query"	Pipe content to Claude
claude -c	Resume most recent session in current directory
claude -r "<id-or-name>"	Resume a specific session
claude --bg "task"	Start a background agent session
claude update	Update to latest version
claude install [version]	Install or reinstall the native binary

Key CLI flags

Flag	Description
--print / -p	Non-interactive mode
--model <alias|id>	Set model (sonnet, opus, haiku, fable, or full ID)
--effort <level>	Set effort: low, medium, high, xhigh, max
--permission-mode <mode>	default, acceptEdits, plan, auto, bypassPermissions
--dangerously-skip-permissions	Skip all permission prompts
--continue / -c	Resume most recent session
--resume / -r	Resume session by ID or name (or open picker)
--name / -n <name>	Name this session
--worktree / -w <name>	Start in an isolated git worktree
--bare	Skip hooks, skills, plugins, MCP, memory, CLAUDE.md
--safe-mode	Disable all customizations for troubleshooting
--output-format <fmt>	text, json, or stream-json (print mode)
--verbose	Show full turn-by-turn output
--add-dir <path>	Add additional working directories
--mcp-config <file>	Load MCP servers from a JSON file
--plugin-dir <path>	Load a plugin for this session
--settings <file|json>	Override settings for this session
--agent <name>	Use a specific subagent for the session
--bg	Start as a background agent
--tools <list>	Restrict which built-in tools Claude can use
--allowedTools <list>	Tools that run without prompting
--disallowedTools <list>	Tools to deny or remove
--max-turns <n>	Limit agentic turns (print mode)
--max-budget-usd <n>	Max API spend (print mode)
--debug	Enable debug mode
--safe-mode	Disable all customizations for troubleshooting
--version / -v	Show version

System prompt flags

Flag	Behavior
--system-prompt <text>	Replace entire default system prompt
--system-prompt-file <path>	Replace with file contents
--append-system-prompt <text>	Append to default prompt
--append-system-prompt-file <path>	Append file contents to default prompt

--system-prompt and --system-prompt-file are mutually exclusive. Append flags can combine with either replacement flag.

Background session management commands

Command	Description
claude agents [--json]	Open agent view; --json for JSON list
claude attach <id>	Attach to a background session
claude logs <id>	Print recent output from a background session
claude stop <id>	Stop a background session
claude respawn <id>	Restart a background session
claude rm <id>	Remove a background session from the list
claude daemon status	Check the background supervisor state
claude daemon stop --any	Stop the background supervisor

Auth and utility commands

Command	Description
claude auth login	Sign in (use --console for API key billing, --sso for SSO)
claude auth logout	Sign out
claude auth status	Show auth status as JSON (--text for human-readable)
claude setup-token	Generate a long-lived OAuth token for CI
claude mcp	Configure MCP servers
claude plugin	Manage plugins
claude project purge [path]	Delete all local Claude Code state for a project
claude auto-mode defaults	Print auto mode classifier rules
claude remote-control	Start a Remote Control server session
claude ultrareview [target]	Run ultrareview non-interactively

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In-session slash commands (selected)

Command	Description
/clear [name]	Start fresh; previous conversation stays in /resume. Aliases: /reset, /new
/compact [instructions]	Summarize conversation to free context
/context [all]	Visualize context usage
/model [model]	Switch model
/effort [level]	Set effort level
/plan [description]	Enter plan mode
/diff	Open interactive diff viewer
/resume [session]	Resume a conversation
/branch [name]	Branch the current conversation
/fork <directive>	Spawn a background subagent with the current conversation
/background [prompt]	Detach session to run as a background agent
/bg	Alias for /background
/batch <instruction>	Orchestrate large-scale parallel changes (skill)
/compact [instructions]	Summarize conversation to free context
/code-review [level] [--fix] [--comment]	Review diff for bugs and cleanups (skill)
/simplify [target]	Review and apply cleanup-only fixes (skill, v2.1.154+)
/review [PR]	Review a pull request locally
/security-review	Analyze pending changes for security vulnerabilities
/btw <question>	Side question without adding to conversation history
/add-dir <path>	Add a working directory for file access
/init	Create a starter CLAUDE.md
/memory	Edit CLAUDE.md files and auto-memory
/permissions	Manage allow/ask/deny rules
/hooks	View hook configurations
/mcp	Manage MCP connections
/agents	Manage subagent configurations
/tasks	View background tasks
/rewind	Roll back code and conversation to a checkpoint. Aliases: /checkpoint, /undo
/reload-plugins [--force]	Reload plugins without restarting
/reload-skills	Re-scan skills on disk (v2.1.152+)
/skills	List available skills
/keybindings	Open keybindings config file
/config	Open Settings interface. Alias: /settings
/theme	Change color theme
/usage	Show session cost and usage stats. Aliases: /cost, /stats
/debug [description]	Enable debug logging and troubleshoot (skill)
/doctor	Diagnose Claude Code installation
/feedback	Report a bug or share session
/exit	Exit Claude Code. Alias: /quit

Commands marked (skill) are bundled skills — prompt-based, not built-in commands.

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Keyboard shortcuts (general controls)

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+C	Interrupt, or clear input
Ctrl+D	Exit Claude Code
Esc	Interrupt Claude (stop current response mid-turn)
Esc + Esc	Clear input draft (or open rewind menu when empty)
Shift+Tab	Cycle permission modes
Ctrl+O	Toggle transcript viewer
Ctrl+R	Reverse history search
Ctrl+G / Ctrl+X Ctrl+E	Open prompt in external text editor
Ctrl+L	Redraw screen
Ctrl+B	Background running task (press twice in tmux)
Ctrl+T	Toggle task list
Ctrl+X Ctrl+K	Stop all background subagents (confirm with double press)
Ctrl+V / Cmd+V	Paste image from clipboard
Option+P / Alt+P	Switch model
Option+T / Alt+T	Toggle extended thinking
Option+O / Alt+O	Toggle fast mode

Keyboard shortcuts (text editing)

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+A	Move to start of line
Ctrl+E	Move to end of line
Ctrl+K	Delete to end of line
Ctrl+U	Delete from cursor to line start
Ctrl+W	Delete previous word
Ctrl+Y	Paste deleted text
Alt+B	Move cursor back one word
Alt+F	Move cursor forward one word

Multiline input

Method	Shortcut
Quick escape	\ + Enter (all terminals)
Control sequence	Ctrl+J (all terminals)
Shift+Enter	Native in iTerm2, WezTerm, Ghostty, Kitty, Warp, Apple Terminal, Windows Terminal
VS Code / Cursor / Zed	Run /terminal-setup once

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Keybindings customization

Config file: ~/.claude/keybindings.json (open with /keybindings)

{
  "$schema": "https://www.schemastore.org/claude-code-keybindings.json",
  "bindings": [
    {
      "context": "Chat",
      "bindings": {
        "ctrl+e": "chat:externalEditor",
        "ctrl+u": null
      }
    }
  ]
}

Set an action to null to unbind a shortcut. Changes are hot-reloaded without restart.

Available contexts: Global, Chat, Autocomplete, Settings, Confirmation, Tabs, Help, Transcript, HistorySearch, Task, ThemePicker, Attachments, Footer, MessageSelector, DiffDialog, ModelPicker, Select, Plugin, Scroll, Doctor

Key action examples:

Action	Default	Context
app:interrupt	Ctrl+C	Global
app:exit	Ctrl+D	Global
app:toggleTodos	Ctrl+T	Global
app:toggleTranscript	Ctrl+O	Global
chat:submit	Enter	Chat
chat:newline	Ctrl+J	Chat
chat:cycleMode	Shift+Tab	Chat
chat:modelPicker	Meta+P	Chat
chat:externalEditor	Ctrl+G, Ctrl+X Ctrl+E	Chat
chat:imagePaste	Ctrl+V	Chat
task:background	Ctrl+B	Task
history:search	Ctrl+R	(history)

Reserved shortcuts (cannot rebind): Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+M, Caps Lock

Terminal multiplexer conflicts: Ctrl+B (tmux prefix — press twice), Ctrl+A (GNU screen), Ctrl+Z (suspend)

Keystroke syntax: use + separator for modifiers: ctrl, shift, alt/meta, cmd. Chords are space-separated sequences: ctrl+k ctrl+s.

---

Terminal configuration

Issue	Fix
Shift+Enter submits instead of newline	Run /terminal-setup (VS Code, Cursor, Zed, Alacritty); or use Ctrl+J everywhere
Option-key shortcuts do nothing (macOS)	Enable Option as Meta in terminal settings (see below)
No bell/notification when Claude finishes	Set preferredNotifChannel: "terminal_bell" in settings, or add a Notification hook
Display flickers or scrollback jumps	Run /tui fullscreen or set CLAUDE_CODE_NO_FLICKER=1
Vim keys in prompt	Enable via /config → Editor mode

Option as Meta on macOS:

• iTerm2: Settings → Profiles → Keys → set Left/Right Option key to "Esc+"
• Apple Terminal: Settings → Profiles → Keyboard → "Use Option as Meta Key"
• VS Code: "terminal.integrated.macOptionIsMeta": true

tmux config (~/.tmux.conf):

set -g allow-passthrough on
set -s extended-keys on
set -as terminal-features 'xterm*:extkeys'

Custom themes: stored as JSON in ~/.claude/themes/. Select New custom theme… in /theme. Key fields: name, base (preset to extend), overrides (map of color tokens to values). Claude Code hot-reloads when files change.

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Built-in tools reference

Tool	Permission	Description
Agent	No	Spawn a subagent with its own context window
AskUserQuestion	No	Ask multiple-choice questions
Bash	Yes	Execute shell commands
CronCreate / CronDelete / CronList	No	Schedule recurring or one-shot prompts
Edit	Yes	Exact string replacement in files
EnterPlanMode / ExitPlanMode	No / Yes	Switch to/from plan mode
EnterWorktree / ExitWorktree	No	Create/exit git worktrees
Glob	No	Find files by pattern
Grep	No	Search file contents (ripgrep syntax)
LSP	No	Code intelligence (requires a code-intelligence plugin)
Monitor	Yes	Watch a background process and react to output (v2.1.98+)
NotebookEdit	Yes	Modify Jupyter notebook cells
PowerShell	Yes	Execute PowerShell commands
PushNotification	No	Send desktop or phone push notification
Read	No	Read file contents
RemoteTrigger	No	Create/run Routines on claude.ai
SendMessage	No	Message an agent team teammate or resume a subagent
Skill	Yes	Execute a skill in the main conversation
TaskCreate / TaskGet / TaskList / TaskUpdate / TaskStop	No	Manage task list
ToolSearch	No	Search and load deferred MCP tools
WebFetch	Yes	Fetch and extract content from a URL
WebSearch	Yes	Run a web search query
Workflow	Yes	Run a dynamic workflow
Write	Yes	Create or overwrite files

Permission rule formats:

Rule	Applies to
Bash(npm run *)	Bash, Monitor — command pattern
Read(~/secrets/**)	Read, Grep, Glob, LSP — path pattern
Edit(/src/**)	Edit, Write, NotebookEdit — path pattern
WebFetch(domain:example.com)	WebFetch — domain matching
Agent(Explore)	Agent — subagent type matching
Skill(deploy *)	Skill — skill name matching
WebSearch	WebSearch — no specifier

Bash tool notes: cd within the project directory persists to later Bash calls. Environment variables do not persist across calls. Default timeout: 2 minutes (up to 10 min with timeout param). Default output limit: 30,000 chars.

Edit tool notes: Claude must have read the file in the current conversation before editing, and old_string must match exactly once (or use replace_all: true).

Glob tool notes: Results sorted by modification time, capped at 100. Does not respect .gitignore by default.

Grep tool notes: Uses ripgrep syntax. Respects .gitignore. Three output modes: files_with_matches (default), content, count.

WebFetch tool notes: Converts HTML to Markdown via a small model. Responses cached 15 minutes. Does not follow cross-host redirects automatically.

Full Documentation

For the complete official documentation, see the reference files:

• CLI reference — All CLI commands and flags, system prompt flags
• Commands — Complete in-session slash command reference, MCP prompts
• Interactive mode — Keyboard shortcuts, Vim editor mode, command history, shell mode, prompt suggestions, /btw, task list, session recap, PR review status
• Customize keyboard shortcuts — Keybindings config file, all contexts and actions, keystroke syntax, unbinding, reserved shortcuts, vim mode interaction
• Configure your terminal for Claude Code — Multiline input, Option key setup, notifications, tmux config, fullscreen rendering, custom themes
• Tools reference — All built-in tools, permission rules, per-tool behavior (Bash, Edit, Glob, Grep, Read, Write, WebFetch, WebSearch, NotebookEdit, Monitor, PowerShell, LSP, Agent)

Sources

• CLI reference: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference.md
• Commands: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/commands.md
• Interactive mode: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/interactive-mode.md
• Customize keyboard shortcuts: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/keybindings.md
• Configure your terminal for Claude Code: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/terminal-config.md
• Tools reference: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/tools-reference.md