Claude Code Complete Command Reference: All CLI Flags and Slash Commands

Mar 24, 2026

Purpose

I use Claude Code daily, but sometimes I forget the exact syntax for commands or flags. This post is my complete reference for quick lookup.

All Claude Code commands fall into these categories:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               Claude Code Command Categories                │
├──────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Basic CLI    │ Start, run tasks, continue sessions          │
│ Advanced     │ Flags for performance, debug, permissions    │
│ Session      │ Slash commands inside Claude Code            │
│ MCP          │ Manage Model Context Protocol servers        │
│ Auth         │ Login, logout, check status                  │
│ Config       │ View and modify settings                     │
│ Cache/Logs   │ Manage local data                            │
└──────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Basic CLI Commands

# Start interactive mode
claude

# Execute a single task and exit
claude -p "your task here"

# Continue last conversation (shortcut: -c)
claude --continue
claude -c

# Select from history to resume (shortcut: -r)
claude --resume
claude -r

# Show help (shortcut: -h)
claude --help
claude -h

# Show version (shortcut: -v)
claude --version
claude -v

Advanced CLI Flags

These flags modify Claude Code’s behavior:

# Skip permission confirmations (faster but less safe)
claude --dangerously-skip-permissions

# Specify configuration file
claude --config /path/to/config.json

# Enable debug mode
claude --debug

# Quiet mode (minimal output)
claude --quiet

# Specify working directory
claude --cwd /path/to/project

# Auto-compress context periodically
claude --auto-compact

# MCP debug mode
claude --mcp-debug

# Combine multiple flags
claude --dangerously-skip-permissions --auto-compact --debug

Important flags explained:

Flag	Purpose	When to Use
`--dangerously-skip-permissions`	Skip all confirmations	Trusted tasks only
`--auto-compact`	Auto-compress context	Long sessions
`--debug`	Show detailed logs	Troubleshooting
`--mcp-debug`	MCP-specific logs	MCP issues

Session Slash Commands

Inside Claude Code, use these slash commands:

# Compress conversation (preserves key info)
/compact

# Clear conversation history completely
/clear

# View and select past conversations
/history

# Edit user memory file
/edit

# Edit project memory file (in project directory)
/edit project

# Switch AI model
/model

# Show all available commands
/help

# Exit Claude Code
/exit

# Check MCP server status
/mcp

# View token usage statistics
/stats

Keyboard Shortcuts

ESC             # Interrupt current operation
Ctrl+Z          # Exit Claude mode (return to terminal)
Ctrl+V          # Paste image (screenshot analysis)
Ctrl+C          # Force quit
Tab             # Auto-complete commands and paths

MCP Management Commands

Manage Model Context Protocol servers:

# Add MCP server
claude mcp add <name> [options] -- <command> [args...]

# Example: Add filesystem server
claude mcp add filesystem -s user -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/server-filesystem ~/Documents

# Example: Add GitHub server with environment variable
claude mcp add github -s user -e GITHUB_TOKEN=xxx -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/server-github

# List installed servers
claude mcp list

# Remove server
claude mcp remove <name>

# Test server connection
claude mcp test <name>

# View server logs
claude mcp logs <name>

# Restart MCP services
claude mcp restart [name]

MCP scopes:

Scope	Config Location	Use Case
`-s user`	`~/.claude.json`	Personal tools
`-s project`	`.claude.json` in project	Team shared

Authentication Commands

# Initialize/authentication
claude init

# Login
claude auth login

# Logout
claude auth logout

# Check auth status
claude auth status

# Refresh token
claude auth refresh

# Manual login (if browser doesn't open)
claude auth login --manual

Configuration Commands

# View current config
claude config show

# Set config value
claude config set <key> <value>

# Reset to defaults
claude config reset

# Export configuration
claude config export > config.json

# Import configuration
claude config import config.json

Cache Management

# Clear all caches
claude cache clear

# View cache size
claude cache size

# Cache statistics
claude cache stats

Log Management

# View logs
claude logs show

# Clear logs
claude logs clear

# Set log level
claude logs level debug|info|warn|error

Complete Quick Reference Table

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Claude Code Complete Command Reference                    │
├──────────┬───────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Category │ Command                   │ Purpose                               │
├──────────┼───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Basic    │ claude                    │ Start interactive mode                │
│          │ claude -p "task"          │ Quick task execution                  │
│          │ claude -c                 │ Continue last session                 │
│          │ claude -r                 │ Resume from history                   │
│          │ claude -h                 │ Show help                             │
│          │ claude -v                 │ Show version                          │
├──────────┼───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Advanced │ --dangerously-skip-perms  │ Skip confirmations                    │
│          │ --auto-compact            │ Auto compress context                 │
│          │ --debug                   │ Debug mode                            │
│          │ --mcp-debug               │ MCP debug mode                        │
│          │ --config <path>           │ Use specific config                   │
│          │ --cwd <path>              │ Set working directory                 │
├──────────┼───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Session  │ /compact                  │ Compress conversation                 │
│          │ /clear                    │ Clear history                         │
│          │ /history                  │ View past conversations               │
│          │ /edit                     │ Edit memory file                      │
│          │ /model                    │ Switch AI model                       │
│          │ /mcp                      │ Check MCP status                      │
│          │ /stats                    │ Token usage                           │
├──────────┼───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ MCP      │ mcp add                   │ Add server                            │
│          │ mcp list                  │ List servers                          │
│          │ mcp remove                │ Remove server                         │
│          │ mcp test                  │ Test connection                       │
│          │ mcp logs                  │ View logs                             │
│          │ mcp restart               │ Restart services                      │
├──────────┼───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Auth     │ init                      │ Authenticate                          │
│          │ auth login                │ Login                                 │
│          │ auth logout               │ Logout                                │
│          │ auth status               │ Check status                          │
│          │ auth refresh              │ Refresh token                         │
├──────────┼───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Config   │ config show               │ View config                           │
│          │ config set                │ Set value                             │
│          │ config reset              │ Reset defaults                        │
├──────────┼───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Cache    │ cache clear               │ Clear caches                          │
│          │ cache size                │ View size                             │
│          │ cache stats               │ Statistics                            │
├──────────┼───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Logs     │ logs show                 │ View logs                             │
│          │ logs clear                │ Clear logs                            │
│          │ logs level                │ Set level                             │
└──────────┴───────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────┘

Summary

In this post, I provided a complete reference for all Claude Code commands. The key efficiency boosters are:

--dangerously-skip-permissions for faster execution on trusted tasks
/compact for context management during long sessions
claude mcp commands for server configuration
claude --help or /help for built-in quick reference

Bookmark this page for daily reference.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others share my knowledge and experience. If you want to contact me, you can contact by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

👨‍💻 Claude Code Documentation
👨‍💻 Anthropic API Documentation

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!