Name your Claude Code sessions before you run more than one

A developer documented how to keep multiple Claude Code sessions distinguishable using the --name (-n) and --worktree (-w) flags, the /rename and /color commands, and a custom status line script that surfaces session_name, worktree, and context_window data. The writeup notes that worktrees default to branching from the remote default branch rather than current HEAD, and that gitignored files like .env must be listed in a .worktreeinclude file to be copied into fresh worktrees.

you are looking at // Detect dark theme var iframe = document.getElementById 'tweet-2095277618807316566-141' ; if document.body.className.includes 'dark-theme' { iframe.src = "https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?id=2095277618807316566&theme=dark" } The shorthand in that post is missing its arguments. Both flags take a value, so the real command is closer to this: claude --name auth-refactor --worktree auth-refactor Once you run two or three sessions side by side, the thing that breaks first is not context or tokens. It is you, looking at four terminal panes and not knowing which one is editing which branch. --name short form -n sets a display name for the session. It shows up in the session picker, in the /resume list, in the prompt bar, and in the session name field the status line receives. You can set it mid-session with /rename . If two sessions end up with the same name, Claude Code renames one with a two word suffix, so you get something like auth-refactor-graceful-unicorn instead of two identical entries. --worktree short form -w takes a worktree name and runs the session inside a git worktree instead of your main checkout. It creates the worktree if it does not exist. It also accepts a PR reference, which is the form worth remembering: claude -n review-1234 -w ' 1234' claude -n hotfix -w https://github.com/org/repo/pull/1234 Inside a worktree session, Claude Code enforces isolation. Edits to files in the main checkout, git commands that would redirect it, and shell commands that reach outside are blocked. That is the actual reason to use -w rather than just opening a second terminal in the same directory. New worktrees go to .claude/worktrees/<name / at your repository root. The branch is named worktree-<name , unless you branched from a PR, in which case it is pr-<number . The default that catches people: a new worktree branches from the repository default branch on the remote, not from your current HEAD. That is the fresh setting, and it is the documented default. If you want new worktrees to start from the work you have in front of you, change it: { "worktree": { "baseRef": "head" } } The second gotcha is gitignored files. A fresh worktree has no .env , so anything that reads it fails immediately. Add a .worktreeinclude at the project root, next to .git/ , using gitignore syntax. Files are copied only when they both match a pattern and are gitignored: .env .env.local config/secrets.json Clean worktrees are removed when the session exits. Ones with uncommitted work stay, and you remove them yourself with git worktree remove . /color sets the prompt bar color. It accepts red , blue , green , yellow , purple , orange , pink , cyan , or default to reset. With no argument it picks one at random. It is a session-scoped setting. Close the session and the color is gone, so it is a visual tag for the panes open right now, not part of your project config. Run it once after the session starts: /color red The name and the worktree only help if you can see them without switching panes. The status line is where that goes. Point statusLine at a script in any settings file, user, project, or local: { "statusLine": { "type": "command", "command": "~/.claude/statusline.sh", "padding": 0 } } The script gets a JSON object on stdin. The fields that matter here are session name , the worktree object, and context window : bash /usr/bin/env bash input=$ cat name=$ jq -r '.session name // "unnamed"' <<< "$input" tree=$ jq -r '.worktree.name // "main checkout"' <<< "$input" branch=$ jq -r '.worktree.branch // "-"' <<< "$input" pct=$ jq -r '.context window.used percentage // 0' <<< "$input" printf '%s | %s %s | ctx %s%%' "$name" "$tree" "$branch" "$pct" The fallbacks are not defensive padding. The worktree object is present only while the session is actually in a worktree, and session name is absent when the session has neither a custom name nor an AI generated title. Without the defaults you get empty strings in half your panes. The full payload carries more than this: model.display name , workspace.project dir , worktree.original branch , cost , prompt cache , rate limits , vim.mode . If you would rather not write the script by hand, /statusline takes a natural language description and generates one, then writes the settings entry for you. There is an installable version of the one from the video: // Detect dark theme var iframe = document.getElementById 'tweet-2096292257322181033-993' ; if document.body.className.includes 'dark-theme' { iframe.src = "https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?id=2096292257322181033&theme=dark" } worktree.baseRef to head in your settings file if you want worktrees to branch from your current work rather than the remote default. .worktreeinclude at the repo root listing the gitignored files each worktree needs. statusLine , or generate one with /statusline . claude -n <name -w <name , using the same string for both so the pane, the branch, and the directory all match. /color <color once inside each session.