Sessions & Session Management
Create, manage, and switch between multiple Claude Code sessions in your project.
What Is a Session?
A session is one conversation with Claude Code. Each session runs its own Claude CLI process, maintains its own message history, and tracks its own token usage and cost. You can have multiple sessions open in the same project simultaneously — each with a separate tab.
The Session Sub-Tab Bar
Directly below the title bar, a row of session tabs shows every active session for the current project. Each tab displays:
- A status dot — green when idle, yellow (pulsing) when Claude is working
- A model badge — a small pill showing the active model (e.g. "Sonnet", "Opus", "Haiku")
- The session name — defaults to "Session", editable by double-clicking
- A close button (x) — visible on hover or when the tab is active
On the right side of the sub-tab bar, two special tabs provide project-wide views:
- History (clock icon) — browse and resume closed sessions. See Claude History.
- Project Log (scroll icon) — view aggregated changelog entries. See Project Log.
Creating and Managing Sessions
Create a new session
Press Cmd + N or click the + button in the sub-tab bar. A new Claude Code process starts with a fresh conversation.
Switch between sessions
Click a session tab, or press Cmd + 1 through Cmd + 9 to jump to a session by position. Use Cmd + Shift + [ and Cmd + Shift + ] to navigate to the previous or next session.
Rename a session
Double-click the session name in the tab. An inline text input appears — type the new name and press Enter. Press Escape to cancel.
Close a session
Click the x button on a session tab or press Cmd + W. A confirmation dialog appears showing the session name and a warning that the CLI process will be stopped. Click Close to confirm.
Closed sessions are not lost. They appear in the Claude History tab where you can resume them with full conversation context intact.
When to Use Multiple Sessions
| Scenario | Approach |
|---|---|
| Research vs. implementation | Keep a "research" session for exploring the codebase and a "build" session for making changes |
| Parallel features | Separate sessions for independent features to keep context focused |
| Experimentation | Open a throwaway session to try an approach without cluttering your main conversation |
| Code review | Dedicate a session to reviewing and explaining code while another session builds |
For a detailed walkthrough of multi-session strategies, see Working with Multiple Sessions.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd + N | New session |
| Cmd + W | Close current session |
| Cmd + Shift + W | Close all sessions in the current project |
| Cmd + 1–9 | Switch to session by number |
| Cmd + Shift + [ | Previous session |
| Cmd + Shift + ] | Next session |
| Ctrl + Tab / Ctrl + Shift + Tab | Switch between project tabs |
| Cmd + F | Open the in-chat search bar (when a session is active) |
Tips
- Resume instead of restarting. Claude History preserves your conversation, so you can pick up exactly where you left off without re-explaining context.
- Check the Project Log for a bird's-eye view of everything built, fixed, or refactored — great for writing commit messages or status updates.
- Watch the status dot on session tabs for quick status. Green = idle. Yellow pulsing = Claude is actively working.