--continue
A Claude Code CLI flag, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.138, including the newest one read.
What it is
Load the most recent conversation in the current directory, skipping [background sessions, sessions created with claude -p or the Agent SDK, and sessions whose first prompt was /loop](/docs/en/sessions#resume-a-session). claude -p --continue includes -p, SDK, and /loop sessions. Includes sessions that added this directory with /add-dir
Anthropic's own wording. Read off CLI reference, captured 2026-08-28.
Presence across releases
| Releases | Reading | Declared type | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1.245 – 2.1.250 5 releases | never mined | — | — |
| 2.1.138 – 2.1.243 95 releases | in the build | — | — |
A row reading never mined is a release with no archived bundle behind it. Nothing was read out of it, so nothing here says whether the name was in it. A declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
Changelog entries naming it
-
v2.1.236
--continueand--resumefailures now say what went wrongA failed --continue or --resume now tells you the error and exits instead of quietly carrying on.
named in this entry
-
v2.1.232--session-id now works with --continue/--resume under an SDK URL
--session-id now works with --continue or --resume when an SDK URL is supplied.
named in this entry
-
v2.1.229remote-control --continue is documented as reattaching, not resuming
Remote control's
--continueis documented as reattaching to a session recorded in the last four hours.named in this entry
-
v2.1.221Memory recall index is prewarmed at startup
Claude warms the memory recall index at startup so your first recall is faster.
named in this entry
Documentation pages
- CLI reference reference table Claude Code CLI
- Agent SDK reference - TypeScript mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Best practices for Claude Code mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Claude Code changelog mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Checkpointing mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Common workflows mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Desktop application mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Environment variables mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Error reference mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Keep Claude working toward a goal mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Run Claude Code programmatically mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Hooks reference mentions it Claude Code CLI
- How Claude Code works mentions it Claude Code CLI
A reference table page is one whose own table defines this name, and it is where the description above came from. A page that mentions it carries the name somewhere in its text and may say nothing about it at all. Every page carrying it.
Read out of the published npm bundle release by release, and out of Anthropic's own documentation as this site captured it. Nothing on this page is a description anybody here wrote about what the CLI flag does. All CLI flags.