Claude Code runs in your terminal, and the first time you open it, it can feel bare: no menus, no sidebar, just a prompt. The good news is that a handful of Claude Code terminal commands cover most of a working day. Here is how to start a session, pick up where you left off, check your setup, and leave cleanly.
Starting a session
Open a terminal, go to your project folder, and type claude. The first time, Claude Code asks you to sign in with your Claude account. After that, it opens straight into a session, ready for your first request.
Where you start matters. Claude Code works in the folder you launch it from: that is where it reads and edits files, and it also keeps your conversations grouped by folder. So start it from the project you want to work on, not from your home directory.
If you already know what you want, pass it along at launch. claude "explain this project" starts the session and sends that request right away.
Picking up where you left off
Closing the terminal does not throw your work away. Claude Code saves your conversations on your computer, and two options bring one back.
claude -c continues the most recent conversation in the current folder. It is the quickest way back to whatever you were doing before lunch, with the full history in place.
claude -r resumes an older conversation. On its own, it opens a list of your past sessions to pick from. Give it a session's name or ID instead, and it jumps straight there.
That list is much easier to use when your sessions have names. Inside a session, type /rename followed by a name, such as /rename Main Session. The name appears on the prompt bar and in the session list. Type /rename on its own, and Claude Code generates a name from the conversation.
You can also name a session as you start it, with claude -n "Main Session". Either way, claude -r "Main Session" later takes you straight back to it.
Checking your setup
Inside a session, commands start with a slash. Three of them are worth knowing from day one.
/status opens the settings on the Status tab, with your Claude Code version, the model, the account you are signed in with, and whether the connection works. It is the first thing to check when something behaves unexpectedly, and it works even while Claude is in the middle of an answer.
/config opens Settings, where you can change the theme, the default model, and other preferences without editing any files.
And /help lists the commands available to you. You can also type a single / to open the command menu, then keep typing to filter it.
Leaving a session
When you are done, type /exit, or its alias /quit. The keyboard works too. Ctrl+C stops Claude if it is working on something; with nothing running, the first press clears what you have typed and a second press exits. Pressing Ctrl+D twice in quick succession also exits.
Leaving does not end the conversation for good. Next time, claude -c or claude -r brings it back.
Conclusion
A few commands carry you through a working day in Claude Code: claude to start, claude -c and claude -r to come back, /rename to keep sessions easy to find, /status and /config to check and adjust your setup, and /exit to leave. Start from the right folder and name the sessions you will want again, and the terminal stops feeling bare quite quickly.
Relevant Training
The Claude Code terminal is the starting point of Claude Code Agents and Automation, the next course in Cybrec's Claude AI training program.
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