Side Channels — /btw, /copy, and Context-Zero Queries
Not every question needs to live in the main conversation thread. Side channels let you get answers, extract results, and inject background context without polluting the session that matters.
Quick Reference
- →/btw: ask a throwaway question as a dismissible overlay — answer does NOT enter conversation history
- →/btw is for syntax lookups, quick clarifications, 'what does this error mean' without context cost
- →/copy: copies the last response to clipboard — extract results without them living in your session
- →/copy N: copy the Nth-latest response
- →Ctrl+O: transcript view — browse full conversation without it affecting live context
- →Context-zero queries: fresh sessions specifically to avoid context pollution from the main session
- →Side channels are not shortcuts — they are a deliberate discipline for context hygiene
/btw — Zero-Cost Interruptions
/btw opens a dismissible overlay for a quick question while Claude processes a longer task. The answer appears in the overlay and, critically, does not get appended to the conversation history. Zero context accumulation from the question or the answer.
/btw answers appear in a floating overlay, not in the main chat. Dismissing it explicitly removes it from view without it ever entering the conversation transcript. This is by design — the information was for your eyes, not for Claude's working context.
- ▸Syntax lookups — 'what's the regex for matching a UUID?'
- ▸Quick error explanations — 'what does ECONNREFUSED mean in Node?'
- ▸Fast fact checks — 'does Array.flat() work in Node 18?'
- ▸Clarifications on something Claude mentioned — 'what did you mean by memoization there?'
/btw is for throwaway questions you will not need again. If you might refer back to the answer in this session, ask it in the main chat. If you will never need to reference it again — just a quick lookup — /btw is the right tool.