Claude Code — Cheat Sheet 2026

🤖Current Models — May 2026

Claude Sonnet 4.6 Default

claude-sonnet-4-6

Best speed/quality balance. Default across claude.ai and Claude Code. Improved agentic search.

Context Window

1M ctx (GA)64K–128K out$3/$15 per MTokAug 2025 cutoff

Claude Opus 4.6 Most Capable

claude-opus-4-6

SOTA. Best for complex multi-step planning, architecture, and hard reasoning. Use sparingly.

Context Window

1M ctx (GA)Max/Team/EnterpriseStandard per-MTok

Claude Haiku 4.5 Fast

claude-haiku-4-5

Fastest, cheapest. Near-frontier performance. Use for subagent exploration, simple tasks.

Context Window

200K ctxUltra-fastLowest cost

💡Switch model: /model in session · claude config set model claude-opus-4-6 globally

🧠1M context now GA for Sonnet 4.6 & Opus 4.6 — standard pricing, no beta header required

💰Route Haiku for subagent exploration → Sonnet for implementation → Opus for complex planning only

📦Installation & Setup

Install

$npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

$claudeStart interactive session

$claude --version

$claude --help

Auth & Config

$claude loginAuthenticate via browser

$claude config list

$claude config set model claude-opus-4-6

$claude -p "task"One-shot, non-interactive

$claude --autoFully autonomous mode

$claude --teleportPull remote session to local

$claude -n "session name"Name session at start 🆕

Session

$claude --resumeResume last session

$claude --continueContinue + add message

$claude project purge [path]Delete all project state

🖥️Core Commands

Codebase Tasks

›explain this codebaseArchitecture overview

›find all TODO comments

›fix all lint errors and format

›add error handling to auth.php

›write tests for UserService

›remove all dead code and stubs

›review this code for security issues

Shell & Run

›run the tests and fix failures

›start the dev server

!git status! runs shell directly

2026 Features 🆕

›use subagents to explore in parallel

›schedule a daily dependency audit

›use the reviewer subagent on this

🌿Git & Branch Operations

Commits

›commit my changes with a good message

›commit only src/auth/ with: refactor auth

›amend the last commit message

Branches

›create branch release/v7.4.5 from main

›switch to feature/login

›create branch, clean code, push PR

Pull Requests

›push and open PR with summary

›review this PR for security issues

Checkpoints 🆕

💾Auto-saved before each change. /rewind or Esc Esc to restore.

🛡️Protected branches: PRs only — never force-pushes to main.

📝All commits tagged Co-Authored-By: Claude

🖥️Available Surfaces

⬛

Terminal CLI

Full featured. Direct file access.

Stable

🌐

Web (claude.ai/code)

Full agentic. GitHub connected. Persists.

Stable

💙

VS Code

Extension. Inline diffs. Sidebar panel.

Stable

🟠

JetBrains

IntelliJ, PHPStorm, PyCharm plugin.

Stable

🖥️

Desktop App

Visual diff, multi-session, scheduling.

Stable

📱

iOS / Mobile

Dispatch tasks. Remote Control.

New

⚙️

GitHub Actions

anthropics/claude-code-action

Stable

💬

Slack

Tag @claude in channels.

Beta

⚡Slash Commands

/helpShow all commands

/modelSwitch Opus/Sonnet/Haiku

/clearClear conversation context

/resetReset session state

/memoryView auto memory

/configOpen settings

/permissionsView tool access

/doctorDiagnose setup issues

/scheduleSchedule a routine 🆕

/loopRepeat prompt in session

/rewindRestore to checkpoint 🆕

/focusToggle focus view 🆕

/effortSet model effort level 🆕

/colorSet prompt bar colour 🆕

/renameName this session 🆕

/pluginManage plugins

/mcpMCP server management

/costToken usage breakdown

/initCreate CLAUDE.md

/voiceToggle voice mode

Custom Commands

🔧Project: .claude/commands/name.md → /name · Global: ~/.claude/commands/

⌨️Keyboard Shortcuts

Terminal / CLI

CtrlC

Cancel / interrupt

CtrlD

Exit session

CtrlR

Search prompt history

CtrlG

Open external editor

CtrlO

Toggle verbose transcript

EscEsc

Rewind checkpoint 🆕

Tab

Autocomplete

↑↓

Browse history

Web Interface

Enter

Send message

ShiftEnter

New line

Esc

Cancel streaming

⌘K

Command palette

VS Code Extension

⌘⇧P

Command palette → Claude

⌘I

Inline edit / ask

Tab

Accept suggestion

Esc

Reject suggestion

📋CLAUDE.md · Hooks · Skills · Subagents

CLAUDE.md (auto-read every session)

# Project Instructions ## Stack: PHP 8.2 / MySQL / cPanel ## Standards: PSR-12, camelCase ## Test: ./vendor/bin/phpunit ## Never: commit to main directly ## Never: leave stubs in release builds

Hooks (shell commands on events)

# settings.json "hooks": { "PostToolUse": [{ "matcher": "Write(*.py)", "hooks": [{"type":"command", "command":"python -m black $file"}] }], "PostCompact": [...] // 🆕 }

🆕claude plugin prune removes orphaned plugin dependencies

Skills (model-invoked automatically)

📁Place in .claude/skills/ — Claude loads based on context. Encode domain expertise once, applied everywhere.

🔧Built-in Anthropic skills: PowerPoint, Excel, Word, PDF. Custom via Skills API.

Subagents (delegate to specialised instances)

# .claude/agents/reviewer.md --- name: reviewer model: sonnet # or haiku description: For thorough code reviews --- You are an expert code reviewer. Focus on security and performance.

⚡Subagents get clean contexts — prevents main-context bloat. Use Haiku for read-only exploration.

🔌MCP Integrations

🔗Model Context Protocol — connects Claude to external services and data sources

GitHub MCP

Issues, PRs, repos, branches

Google Drive

Read docs, specs, design files

Gmail / Calendar

Emails, scheduling, context

Jira / Asana

Tickets, tasks, project data

Slack

Pull thread context, post updates

Postgres / MySQL

Query database directly

Sentry / Datadog

Errors, metrics, incidents

Custom MCP

Build with FastMCP / SDK

Setup

$claude mcp add <server-name>

🆕alwaysLoad: true in MCP config — tools always available, skip deferral

🐙GitHub Actions Integration

What Claude Code Can Do

✅Create branches from any base branch

✅Clean, refactor, and rewrite code

✅Commit + push + open PR with summary

✅Review PRs, comment on issues @claude

✅Wait for CI, fix failures, re-push

❌Cannot push to protected branches

Setup

›/install-github-appRun in CLI

Workflow File

# .github/workflows/claude.yml name: Claude Review on: pull_request: issue_comment: types: [created] jobs: claude: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1 with: anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }} github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Trigger via Comments

💬@claude review this PR for security issues

💬@claude fix the bug described in this issue

🔒Permissions

Defaults

Read files in working dir

✓

Edit files in working dir

✓

Run shell commands

✓*

Create git branches

✓

Push to protected branch

✗

Delete files permanently

⚠

Files outside project

✗

settings.json

"permissions": { "allowedTools": ["Read","Write","Bash(git *)"], "deny": ["Read(./.env)","Write(./prod.*)"] }

🔐--auto fully autonomous · --dangerously-skip-permissions bypasses most prompts

🚀Release Branch Workflow + Routines

Single Compound Prompt

Create release branch release/v7.4.5 from main. Audit entire codebase — remove all dead code, stubs, unused variables, redundant comments, incomplete implementations. Zero stubs remain. Run all tests. Fix any failures. Commit: "release: v7.4.5 clean-code audit" Push and open PR into main with full summary.

Step-by-Step

1›create branch release/v7.4.5 from main

2›audit all files for stubs, TODOs, dead code

3›remove all stubs, clean formatting everywhere

4›run tests and fix any failures

5›commit: release: v7.4.5 clean-code prep

6›push and open PR into main

CLI Single-Line Release

claude "create release branch release/v7.4.5 from main, clean up the code, remove dead code and unused variables, run tests, then commit and push"

Routines & Scheduling 🆕

☁️Cloud Routines — run on Anthropic infra even when your computer is off. Trigger: schedule, API, or GitHub event.

🖥️Desktop Routines — run locally with direct file access.

›/schedule "every Monday audit deps"

$claude --teleportPull remote to local

🚨Troubleshooting

🔑Auth failed — Run claude login or check ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

🚫Push denied — Check GitHub App has repo write access in settings

⏱️Stream timeout — Use Routines or web session (more resilient) for long tasks

🔌Private repo not found — Grant access in GitHub App → Repository access

🩺General issues — Run /doctor for automated diagnosis and fixes

🔄Context limit — Conversation auto-compacts. Use /clear to start fresh.

💾Accidental change — Use /rewind or Esc Esc to restore from checkpoint

Debug

$claude --debugVerbose logging

›/costToken usage breakdown

›/doctorAutomated diagnosis

💡Pro Tips

📁Start in project root. Always cd into your repo — context is the whole directory.

🎯Be specific. "Fix login bug in src/Auth.php line 47" beats "fix bug".

🤖Use subagents. Haiku for read-only exploration, Sonnet for writing, Opus for planning.

💾Trust checkpoints. Attempt ambitious refactors — /rewind can always restore.

📝CLAUDE.md discipline. Test command, linter, "never do X" rules = zero drift per session.

🧠Auto memory. Claude learns build commands across sessions — no re-explaining.

🔄Chain tasks. "Now do the same for src/models/" — Claude remembers the pattern.