Side Questions with /btw - Claude Code
Ask quick side questions without derailing the main task.
The /btw command (short for "by the way") lets you ask a tangential question without losing the thread of your main task.
What it does
When you type /btw <question>, Claude answers in a lightweight context that doesn't add to the current task's working memory. It's useful for quick clarifications - "what does this flag do?" or "is there a shorter way to write this?" - without polluting the primary conversation.
When to use it
- You're deep in a task and need a one-off fact before continuing.
- You want to sanity-check something without spending tokens on tool calls.
- You have a follow-up idea but don't want to start a new session.
- You're onboarding and frequently need meta-context.
Gotchas
- Side questions still count against your overall quota and context budget, just more cheaply.
- Don't use
/btwfor anything that needs tool access - it's meant for chat, not editing. - Nested
/btwcalls aren't supported. One side question at a time.
Official docs: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/interactive-mode.md#side-questions-with-btw
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