Commands You'll Use Every Day

You don't need to memorize these. Just know they exist and bookmark this page for reference.

ccx

Start Claude Code. Use this instead of "claude" for the safe, optimized version.

/btw

Quick side question without using tokens from your main task. Ask something fast, get an answer, stay focused.

Escape

Stop Claude in the middle and redirect. If Claude is going the wrong way, press Escape and rephrase.

handoff

Save progress in the middle of a task, when the conversation is getting full. Creates a summary so a fresh session picks up exactly where you left off.

end session

Use it when you're done for the day. Tidies all the project notes, saves a handoff note if work is unfinished, then saves everything to GitHub.

Most of these you'll pick up naturally. The key ones to remember: ccx to start, and handoff to save your work.

Understanding context usage

The status bar at the bottom shows your context usage as a percentage. Think of it as how full your conversation is. As you work, it fills up.

When it reaches around 40%, type handoff. Claude also reminds you once when it gets there. It saves everything to a file so your next session picks up exactly where you left off. Then type /exit and start fresh with ccx.

Do not wait for it to fill up completely. When context gets too full, Claude automatically compresses the conversation to make room. This compression can lose important details about what you were working on, leading to mistakes and repeated work. A clean handoff at 40% preserves everything perfectly.