20 Claude Code Commands Every Developer Needs to Know

A recent Reddit post on r/ClaudeAI (by user irelatetolevin) compiles 20 Claude Code commands that solve real workflow problems. Here's the breakdown by category.

Stopping, Undoing, Branching

Esc stops the current task without losing conversation history — only the in-flight action dies.
Double-tap Esc or /rewind opens a menu to restore code and conversation, restore conversation only, restore code only, summarize from here, or cancel.
/btw asks a side question without polluting the main thread — e.g., /btw where is the test file again. It reuses the existing prompt cache, so token cost is near zero.
/branch forks the conversation, letting you run two approaches in parallel and keep the one that works.

Managing the Context Window

/compact rewrites long history into a summary that keeps the storyline, technical decisions, and errors plus fixes. Prevents context window bloat.
/clear wipes everything for a fresh topic.
/export saves the conversation as Markdown to ~/projects/XXX/claude-session-YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM.md — useful after an hour of architecture design.
/resume searches old sessions by keyword.
claude -c picks up yesterday's chat where you left off.
claude -r lists every past session and lets you jump back into a specific one.
/remote-control (alias /rc) hands the running session over to your phone — work keeps executing on your machine, you steer from elsewhere.

Working Smarter

/model opusplan runs Opus for planning and Sonnet for execution: slower thinking on design, faster code output.
/simplify spins up three parallel reviewers (architecture/code reuse, code quality, efficiency) and returns one combined report.
/insights generates a local HTML report at ~/.claude/usage-data/report.html showing usage habits, common mistakes, features never touched, and suggestions for your CLAUDE.md.
/loop schedules recurring or one-shot tasks inside the session — e.g., /loop 15m check the deploy. Recurring loops auto-expire after 3–7 days to avoid burning API budget. Override defaults with a .claude/loop.md file — bare /loop runs the instructions inside.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl+V pastes screenshots directly — no saving to disk first.
Ctrl+J (or Option+Enter on Mac) inserts a newline without sending, enabling multi-line prompts safely.
Ctrl+R searches your prompt history — your own personal prompt library.
Ctrl+U clears the entire input line in one keystroke.
/skills [name] loads project-specific skills. Run /skills with no argument to see what's available in the current workspace.

These commands are immediately actionable — especially /compact, /branch, and /remote-control for managing complex sessions.

📖 Read the full source: r/ClaudeAI