Sessions & Context

Managing conversation sessions and context window for sustained productivity.

Context is the single biggest factor in Claude Code’s quality. As the context window fills up, responses get slower and less focused. Managing context well is the difference between a productive two-hour session and one where you restart every twenty minutes.

How context works

Every message you send and every file Claude reads adds to the context window. Claude Code uses a large context window, but it is not infinite. When it fills up:

  • Responses slow down (more tokens to process)
  • Claude loses track of earlier conversation details
  • Quality degrades as important information gets crowded out by noise

Check how full your context is at any time:

/context

This shows a visual grid of your context usage with suggestions for when to compact.

Clearing vs. compacting

These are different tools for different situations.

/clear — start fresh

Wipes the entire conversation. Use it when you are switching to an unrelated task.

# Done reviewing auth code, now moving to billing feature
/clear

When to use:

  • Switching between unrelated tasks (review -> feature work -> debugging)
  • After completing a major piece of work
  • When Claude starts referencing irrelevant earlier context

When not to use:

  • Mid-task when you still need Claude to remember what you have been doing
  • After a long exploration phase you want to build on

/compact [instructions] — compress and continue

Summarizes the conversation so far, keeping key facts while freeing up space. Claude continues with the summary as its memory of what happened.

# Getting long -- compress but keep the important parts
/compact

# Compress with specific guidance on what to remember
/compact focus on the database schema changes and test failures

The optional instructions tell Claude what to prioritize in the summary. This is powerful — it keeps Claude focused on what matters for your next steps.

When to use:

  • /context shows the window is getting full
  • You are mid-task and need to keep going
  • You have done a lot of exploration and want to preserve findings while freeing space

When not to use:

  • When switching to an entirely different task (use /clear instead)
  • When the conversation is already short

Decision tree

Need to free up context?
  |
  +-- Switching to an unrelated task? --> /clear
  |
  +-- Continuing current work?
       |
       +-- Can you summarize what matters? --> /compact [instructions]
       |
       +-- Everything matters equally --> /compact (no instructions)

Session management

Claude Code automatically saves conversations. You can resume, branch, and organize them.

Resume a session

# Resume the most recent session
claude -c
claude --continue

# Resume a specific session by name or ID
claude -r "auth refactor"
claude --resume abc123

Inside an active session:

/resume

This opens a session picker showing your recent conversations.

Name sessions for findability

/rename auth-service-refactor

Named sessions are easier to find later. Name them after the task, not the date.

Branch a conversation

/branch risky-approach

Creates a copy of the current conversation. Use this before trying something you might want to undo — if the approach fails, your original conversation is untouched.

Practical pattern:

# Working on a feature, want to try two approaches
/branch approach-a
# Try approach A here...

# If it doesn't work out, go back and try B
/resume original-session
/branch approach-b

Export a conversation

/export auth-refactor-notes.txt

Saves the full conversation as plain text. Useful for sharing findings with teammates or keeping a record of architectural decisions.

Patterns for long sessions

Phase-compact pattern

For large tasks, compact between phases to preserve findings while freeing space:

Phase 1: Explore the codebase
  → /compact focus on findings about the auth module and its dependencies

Phase 2: Plan the changes
  → /compact focus on the agreed implementation plan and file list

Phase 3: Implement
  → /compact focus on what has been implemented and what remains

Phase 4: Test and review
  → (context is fresh enough to finish)

Multi-session pattern

For work that spans days, use named sessions:

# Day 1: Explore and plan
claude
/rename billing-migration-explore
# ... explore, plan, /compact findings ...

# Day 2: Implement
claude -r "billing-migration-explore"
# Continue with full context of yesterday's findings

Tips

  • Run /context periodically during long sessions. It takes two seconds and prevents surprises.
  • /compact with instructions is almost always better than /compact alone. Tell Claude what matters.
  • /clear between unrelated tasks is free and prevents context bleed — Claude accidentally applying patterns from task A to task B.
  • Name every session that lasts more than fifteen minutes. Future you will thank present you.
  • /branch before risky experiments. It costs nothing and gives you a clean rollback.
  • The Esc Esc shortcut (press Escape twice) opens the rewind interface to restore code and conversation to a previous point.
  • Use /btw for quick side questions without cluttering context. The question and answer are ephemeral — they never enter the conversation history. Works even while Claude is mid-response.
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