Commands Reference

Tags: claude-code commands cli reference terminal

This guide consolidates all CLI commands and options, providing a comprehensive reference for command-line usage.

Installation Commands
CLI Commands
Built-in Commands
Hook Commands
Development Commands
Debugging Commands
Environment Commands

Installation Commands

Global Installation

# Install CLI globally
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
 
# Verify installation
claude-code --version
 
# Update to latest version
npm update -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
 
# Uninstall
npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Project Installation

# Install as project dependency
npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-code
 
# Install with TypeScript types
npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-code
npm install --save-dev @types/node typescript
 
# Using other package managers
yarn add @anthropic-ai/claude-code
pnpm add @anthropic-ai/claude-code

CLI Commands

Basic Usage

# Start interactive session
claude-code
 
# Start with a specific prompt
claude-code "Write a TypeScript hello world function"
 
# Start in a specific directory
claude-code --cwd /path/to/project
 
# Use a specific model
claude-code --model claude-opus-4-20250514

CLI Options

Option	Short	Description	Example
`--help`	`-h`	Show help information	`claude-code --help`
`--version`	`-v`	Show version number	`claude-code --version`
`--model`	`-m`	Specify model to use	`claude-code --model claude-haiku-4-20250514`
`--cwd`	`-d`	Set working directory	`claude-code --cwd ./src`
`--config`	`-c`	Use specific config file	`claude-code --config ./custom-settings.json`
`--permission`	`-p`	Set permission mode	`claude-code --permission relaxed`
`--max-turns`	`-t`	Set maximum turns	`claude-code --max-turns 5`
`--system-prompt`	`-s`	Custom system prompt	`claude-code --system-prompt "You are a Python expert"`

Advanced CLI Usage

# Combine multiple options
claude-code --model claude-opus-4-20250514 --permission strict --max-turns 10
 
# Pipe input to the tool
echo "Explain this code: console.log('Hello')" | claude-code
 
# Save conversation to file
claude-code --output conversation.json
 
# Resume from previous conversation
claude-code --resume conversation.json

Built-in Commands

Within Claude Code Session

These commands are available during an interactive session:

Command	Description	Example
`/help`	Show available commands	`/help`
`/hooks`	Open hooks configuration	`/hooks`
`/settings`	Open settings configuration	`/settings`
`/model`	Switch model	`/model claude-haiku-4-20250514`
`/clear`	Clear conversation history	`/clear`
`/save`	Save conversation	`/save conversation.json`
`/load`	Load conversation	`/load conversation.json`
`/exit`	Exit the session	`/exit`
`/quit`	Exit the session (alias)	`/quit`

File Operation Commands

When running, the tool can execute these file operations:

# View file
<Claude will use the view tool>
 
# Create file
<Claude will use the create tool>
 
# Edit file
<Claude will use the str_replace tool>
 
# Execute bash command
<Claude will use the bash tool>

Hook Commands

Hook Configuration Access

# Open hooks configuration
/hooks
 
# Edit hooks configuration manually
$EDITOR ~/.claude/settings.json
 
# Validate hooks configuration
jq '.' ~/.claude/settings.json

Testing Hooks

# Test hook with sample input
echo '{"tool_name": "Edit", "file_path": "test.js"}' | ./my-hook.sh
 
# Debug hook execution
CLAUDE_DEBUG=true claude-code
 
# Check hook logs
tail -f ~/.claude/hooks.log

Common Hook Commands

# Auto-formatter hook
prettier --write "$CLAUDE_FILE_PATHS"
 
# Linter hook
eslint --fix "$CLAUDE_FILE_PATHS"
 
# Security check hook
[[ "$CLAUDE_FILE_PATHS" =~ \.env ]] && exit 2 || exit 0
 
# Git add hook
git add "$CLAUDE_FILE_PATHS"
 
# Test runner hook
npm test -- "$CLAUDE_FILE_PATHS"

Development Commands

Project Setup

# Initialize new project
mkdir my-claude-project
cd my-claude-project
npm init -y
npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-code
npm install --save-dev typescript @types/node tsx
 
# Create TypeScript configuration
npx tsc --init
 
# Create project structure
mkdir -p src hooks .claude
touch src/index.ts .env .gitignore

TypeScript Development

# Run TypeScript file with tsx
npx tsx src/index.ts
 
# Compile TypeScript
npx tsc
 
# Watch mode
npx tsc --watch
 
# Run compiled JavaScript
node dist/index.js

NPM Scripts

Add to package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "tsx src/index.ts",
    "build": "tsc",
    "start": "node dist/index.js",
    "test": "vitest",
    "lint": "eslint src --ext .ts",
    "format": "prettier --write src/**/*.ts",
    "claude": "claude-code --cwd ."
  }
}

Usage:

npm run dev      # Development mode
npm run build    # Build project
npm start        # Run production
npm test         # Run tests
npm run lint     # Lint code
npm run format   # Format code
npm run claude   # Start the tool

Debugging Commands

Environment Debugging

# Check environment variables
env | grep CLAUDE
env | grep ANTHROPIC
 
# Verify API key
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
 
# Check version
claude-code --version
npm list @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Configuration Debugging

# View current configuration
cat ~/.claude/settings.json
 
# Check for syntax errors
jq '.' ~/.claude/settings.json
 
# View merged configuration (with local overrides)
cat ~/.claude/settings.json ~/.claude/settings.local.json | jq -s '.[0] * .[1]'
 
# Test configuration loading
CLAUDE_DEBUG=true claude-code

Hook Debugging

# Enable hook debugging
export CLAUDE_DEBUG=true
 
# Test hook execution
echo '{"test": "data"}' | ./hooks/my-hook.sh
 
# Check hook permissions
ls -la ./hooks/
 
# Make hooks executable
chmod +x ./hooks/*.sh
 
# View hook output
claude-code 2>&1 | tee debug.log

Process Debugging

# Check if the tool is running
ps aux | grep claude-code
 
# Check port usage (if applicable)
lsof -i :3000
 
# Monitor system resources
top -p $(pgrep claude-code)
 
# Trace system calls
strace -p $(pgrep claude-code)

Environment Commands

Setting Environment Variables

# Temporary (current session)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key"
export CLAUDE_MODEL="claude-haiku-4-20250514"
export CLAUDE_DEBUG=true
 
# Permanent (add to shell profile)
echo 'export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export CLAUDE_MODEL="claude-haiku-4-20250514"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
 
# Using .env file
echo 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-key' > .env
echo 'CLAUDE_MODEL=claude-haiku-4-20250514' >> .env

Node.js Environment

# Development mode
NODE_ENV=development claude-code
 
# Production mode
NODE_ENV=production claude-code
 
# With debug logging
DEBUG=* claude-code
 
# Memory limit
NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096" claude-code

Common Workflows

Quick Code Generation

# Generate a function
claude-code "Write a function to validate email addresses in TypeScript"
 
# Generate a complete file
claude-code "Create a REST API server with Express and TypeScript"
 
# Generate tests
claude-code "Write unit tests for the UserService class"

Project Analysis

# Analyze project structure
claude-code "Analyze the project structure and suggest improvements"
 
# Code review
claude-code "Review the code in src/ for best practices and potential issues"
 
# Documentation generation
claude-code "Generate README documentation for this project"

Refactoring

# Refactor specific file
claude-code "Refactor src/utils.ts to use modern TypeScript features"
 
# Update dependencies
claude-code "Update the package.json dependencies to their latest versions"
 
# Convert to TypeScript
claude-code "Convert index.js to TypeScript with proper types"

Troubleshooting Commands

Common Issues

# Module not found
npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-code
 
# Permission denied
chmod +x ./hooks/*.sh
 
# API key not set
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key"
 
# Clear npm cache
npm cache clean --force
 
# Reinstall dependencies
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

System Information

# Node.js version
node --version
 
# NPM version
npm --version
 
# Operating system
uname -a
 
# Current directory
pwd
 
# User permissions
whoami
id

Best Practices

Command Aliases

Add to your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.):

# Tool aliases
alias cc='claude-code'
alias ccd='claude-code --cwd .'
alias cch='claude-code --model claude-haiku-4-20250514'
alias cco='claude-code --model claude-opus-4-20250514'
alias ccs='claude-code --model claude-sonnet-4-20250514'
 
# Quick commands
alias cc-test='claude-code "Write tests for the current file"'
alias cc-fix='claude-code "Fix linting errors in the current project"'
alias cc-doc='claude-code "Add JSDoc comments to all functions"'

Shell Functions

# Function to start with project context
function claude-project() {
  local project_dir="${1:-.}"
  claude-code --cwd "$project_dir" --config "$project_dir/.claude/settings.json"
}
 
# Function to analyze a file
function claude-analyze() {
  local file="$1"
  claude-code "Analyze and suggest improvements for $file"
}
 
# Function to generate tests
function claude-test() {
  local file="$1"
  claude-code "Generate comprehensive tests for $file"
}

Verifications

This documentation has been verified against:

Official Anthropic Claude Code CLI Reference (https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/cli-reference) - All CLI commands, flags, and options match the official documentation, including the newly introduced commands like claude update and claude mcp.
Claude Code Installation Guide - Confirmed that the global installation command npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code is correct and the package is available on NPM.
Command Line Options - Verified that all flags including --add-dir, --allowedTools, --disallowedTools, --permission-mode, and others are accurately documented with their correct syntax and behavior.

The documentation provides comprehensive coverage of all Claude Code CLI commands and options available as of July 2025.

Claude Code Research

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Commands Reference

Commands Reference

Table of Contents

Installation Commands

Global Installation

Project Installation

CLI Commands

Basic Usage

CLI Options

Advanced CLI Usage

Built-in Commands

Within Claude Code Session

File Operation Commands

Hook Commands

Hook Configuration Access

Testing Hooks

Common Hook Commands

Development Commands

Project Setup

TypeScript Development

NPM Scripts

Debugging Commands

Environment Debugging

Configuration Debugging

Hook Debugging

Process Debugging

Environment Commands

Setting Environment Variables

Node.js Environment

Common Workflows

Quick Code Generation

Project Analysis

Refactoring

Troubleshooting Commands

Common Issues

System Information

Best Practices

Command Aliases

Shell Functions

See Also

Verifications

Graph View

Table of Contents

Backlinks