Manage the conversation

These commands control the conversation and its context: start again, summarize, go back, or keep a copy.

Context

Command	Aliases	Description
/clear [name]	/reset, /new	Start a new conversation with an empty context. The name labels the old conversation in /resume
/compact [instructions]		Summarize the conversation to free context. The instructions set the focus of the summary
/btw [question]		Ask a side question. The question and the answer do not go into the conversation

Plan and goals

Command	Description
/plan [description]	Enter plan mode. With a description, start the task at once, for example /plan fix the auth bug
/goal [condition\|clear]	Set a goal. Claude continues across turns until the condition is true. clear removes the goal

Sessions

Command	Aliases	Description
/resume [session]	/continue	Resume a conversation by ID or name, or open the session picker
/rename [name]		Rename the session. With no name, Claude Code generates one
/branch [name]		Create a branch of the conversation and move into it. The original stays available in /resume
/fork [prompt]		Copy the conversation into a new background session and continue here
/exit	/quit	Exit the CLI. In an attached background session, it detaches and the session continues

Go back in time

Command	Aliases	Description
/rewind	/checkpoint, /undo	Go back to a previous point in the conversation, the code or both. You can also summarize from a selected message

Get the output

Command	Description
/copy [N]	Copy the last response to the clipboard. N copies the Nth latest response. In the picker, w writes to a file
/export [filename]	Export the conversation as plain text, to a file or to the clipboard

Related CLI flags

To start Claude Code from the shell, use these flags.

claude --continue          # continue the last conversation
claude --resume            # open the session picker
claude --resume <session>  # resume a specific session