/resume vs claude --continue
/continue is an alias of /resume inside a session. From the shell, claude --continue reopens the most recent conversation in this directory with no picker.
Resumes a conversation using its ID or name. Alternatively, it can open the session picker to select a conversation. Background sessions are marked, but running ones cannot be resumed directly.
Use it when
You want a specific older conversation: pass its ID or name, or open the session picker to choose.
Load the most recent conversation in the current directory.
Use it when
You just closed the terminal and want the last conversation in this folder back. claude -c is the short form.
Inside Claude Code, typing /continue runs /resume. The difference is only between the slash command and the CLI flag.
More comparisons
Never mix them up again
/cards has a scenario quiz that asks which command fits the situation.