Slash commands

Control Claude’s behavior during an interactive session with slash commands.

Built-in slash commands

Command	Purpose
/add-dir	Add additional working directories
/agents	Manage custom AI subagents for specialized tasks
/bashes	List and manage background tasks
/bug	Report bugs (sends conversation to Anthropic)
/clear	Clear conversation history
/compact [instructions]	Compact conversation with optional focus instructions
/config	Open the Settings interface (Config tab)
/context	Visualize current context usage as a colored grid
/cost	Show token usage statistics. See cost tracking guide for subscription-specific details.
/doctor	Checks the health of your Claude Code installation
/exit	Exit the REPL
/export [filename]	Export the current conversation to a file or clipboard
/help	Get usage help
/hooks	Manage hook configurations for tool events
/ide	Manage IDE integrations and show status
/init	Initialize project with CLAUDE.md guide
/install-github-app	Set up Claude GitHub Actions for a repository
/login	Switch Anthropic accounts
/logout	Sign out from your Anthropic account
/mcp	Manage MCP server connections and OAuth authentication
/memory	Edit CLAUDE.md memory files
/model	Select or change the AI model
/output-style [style]	Set the output style directly or from a selection menu
/permissions	View or update permissions
/plugin	Manage Claude Code plugins
/pr-comments	View pull request comments
/privacy-settings	View and update your privacy settings
/release-notes	View release notes
/resume	Resume a conversation
/review	Request code review
/rewind	Rewind the conversation and/or code
/sandbox	Enable sandboxed bash tool with filesystem and network isolation for safer, more autonomous execution
/security-review	Complete a security review of pending changes on the current branch
/stats	Visualize daily usage, session history, streaks, and model preferences
/status	Open the Settings interface (Status tab) showing version, model, account, and connectivity
/statusline	Set up Claude Code’s status line UI
/terminal-setup	Install Shift+Enter key binding for newlines (iTerm2 and VSCode only)
/todos	List current TODO items
/usage	For subscription plans only: show plan usage limits and rate limit status
/vim	Enter vim mode for alternating insert and command modes

Custom slash commands

Custom slash commands allow you to define frequently used prompts as Markdown files that Claude Code can execute. Commands are organized by scope (project-specific or personal) and support namespacing through directory structures.

Syntax

/<command-name> [arguments]

Parameters

Parameter	Description
<command-name>	Name derived from the Markdown filename (without .md extension)
[arguments]	Optional arguments passed to the command

Command types

Project commands

Commands stored in your repository and shared with your team. When listed in /help, these commands show “(project)” after their description.

Location: .claude/commands/

The following example creates the /optimize command:

# Create a project command
mkdir -p .claude/commands
echo "Analyze this code for performance issues and suggest optimizations:" > .claude/commands/optimize.md

Personal commands

Commands available across all your projects. When listed in /help, these commands show “(user)” after their description.

Location: ~/.claude/commands/

The following example creates the /security-review command:

# Create a personal command
mkdir -p ~/.claude/commands
echo "Review this code for security vulnerabilities:" > ~/.claude/commands/security-review.md

Features

Namespacing

Use subdirectories to group related commands. Subdirectories appear in the command description but don’t affect the command name.

For example:

• .claude/commands/frontend/component.md creates /component with description “(project:frontend)”
• ~/.claude/commands/component.md creates /component with description “(user)”

If a project command and user command share the same name, the project command takes precedence and the user command is silently ignored. For example, if both .claude/commands/deploy.md and ~/.claude/commands/deploy.md exist, /deploy runs the project version.

Commands in different subdirectories can share names since the subdirectory appears in the description to distinguish them. For example, .claude/commands/frontend/test.md and .claude/commands/backend/test.md both create /test, but show as “(project:frontend)” and “(project:backend)” respectively.

Arguments

Pass dynamic values to commands using argument placeholders:

All arguments with $ARGUMENTS

The $ARGUMENTS placeholder captures all arguments passed to the command:

# Command definition
echo 'Fix issue #$ARGUMENTS following our coding standards' > .claude/commands/fix-issue.md

# Usage
> /fix-issue 123 high-priority
# $ARGUMENTS becomes: "123 high-priority"

Individual arguments with $1, $2, etc.

Access specific arguments individually using positional parameters (similar to shell scripts):

# Command definition  
echo 'Review PR #$1 with priority $2 and assign to $3' > .claude/commands/review-pr.md

# Usage
> /review-pr 456 high alice
# $1 becomes "456", $2 becomes "high", $3 becomes "alice"

Use positional arguments when you need to:

• Access arguments individually in different parts of your command
• Provide defaults for missing arguments
• Build more structured commands with specific parameter roles

Bash command execution

Execute bash commands before the slash command runs using the ! prefix. The output is included in the command context. You must include allowed-tools with the Bash tool, but you can choose the specific bash commands to allow.

For example:

---
allowed-tools: Bash(git add:*), Bash(git status:*), Bash(git commit:*)
description: Create a git commit
---

## Context

- Current git status: !`git status`
- Current git diff (staged and unstaged changes): !`git diff HEAD`
- Current branch: !`git branch --show-current`
- Recent commits: !`git log --oneline -10`

## Your task

Based on the above changes, create a single git commit.

File references

Include file contents in commands using the @ prefix to reference files.

For example:

# Reference a specific file

Review the implementation in @src/utils/helpers.js

# Reference multiple files

Compare @src/old-version.js with @src/new-version.js

Thinking mode

Slash commands can trigger extended thinking by including extended thinking keywords.

Frontmatter

Command files support frontmatter, useful for specifying metadata about the command:

Frontmatter	Purpose	Default
allowed-tools	List of tools the command can use	Inherits from the conversation
argument-hint	The arguments expected for the slash command. Example: argument-hint: add [tagId] | remove [tagId] | list. This hint is shown to the user when auto-completing the slash command.	None
description	Brief description of the command	Uses the first line from the prompt
model	Specific model string (see Models overview)	Inherits from the conversation
disable-model-invocation	Whether to prevent SlashCommand tool from calling this command	false

For example:

---
allowed-tools: Bash(git add:*), Bash(git status:*), Bash(git commit:*)
argument-hint: [message]
description: Create a git commit
model: claude-3-5-haiku-20241022
---

Create a git commit with message: $ARGUMENTS

Example using positional arguments:

---
argument-hint: [pr-number] [priority] [assignee]
description: Review pull request
---

Review PR #$1 with priority $2 and assign to $3.
Focus on security, performance, and code style.

Plugin commands

Plugins can provide custom slash commands that integrate seamlessly with Claude Code. Plugin commands work exactly like user-defined commands but are distributed through plugin marketplaces.

How plugin commands work

Plugin commands are:

• Namespaced: Commands can use the format /plugin-name:command-name to avoid conflicts (plugin prefix is optional unless there are name collisions)
• Automatically available: Once a plugin is installed and enabled, its commands appear in /help
• Fully integrated: Support all command features (arguments, frontmatter, bash execution, file references)

Plugin command structure

Location: commands/ directory in plugin root

File format: Markdown files with frontmatter

Basic command structure:

---
description: Brief description of what the command does
---

# Command Name

Detailed instructions for Claude on how to execute this command.
Include specific guidance on parameters, expected outcomes, and any special considerations.

Advanced command features:

• Arguments: Use placeholders like {arg1} in command descriptions
• Subdirectories: Organize commands in subdirectories for namespacing
• Bash integration: Commands can execute shell scripts and programs
• File references: Commands can reference and modify project files

Invocation patterns

Direct command (when no conflicts)

/command-name

Plugin-prefixed (when needed for disambiguation)

/plugin-name:command-name

With arguments (if command supports them)

/command-name arg1 arg2

MCP slash commands

MCP servers can expose prompts as slash commands that become available in Claude Code. These commands are dynamically discovered from connected MCP servers.

Command format

MCP commands follow the pattern:

/mcp__<server-name>__<prompt-name> [arguments]

Features

Dynamic discovery

MCP commands are automatically available when:

• An MCP server is connected and active
• The server exposes prompts through the MCP protocol
• The prompts are successfully retrieved during connection

Arguments

MCP prompts can accept arguments defined by the server:

# Without arguments
> /mcp__github__list_prs

# With arguments
> /mcp__github__pr_review 456
> /mcp__jira__create_issue "Bug title" high

Naming conventions

Server and prompt names are normalized:

• Spaces and special characters become underscores
• Names are lowercase for consistency

Managing MCP connections

Use the /mcp command to:

• View all configured MCP servers
• Check connection status
• Authenticate with OAuth-enabled servers
• Clear authentication tokens
• View available tools and prompts from each server

MCP permissions and wildcards

Wildcards aren’t supported in permissions for MCP tools.

To approve all tools from an MCP server, use the server name alone, without wildcards:

• mcp__github (approves all GitHub tools)

To approve specific tools, list each one explicitly:

• mcp__github__get_issue
• mcp__github__list_issues

SlashCommand tool

The SlashCommand tool allows Claude to execute custom slash commands programmatically during a conversation. This gives Claude the ability to invoke custom commands on your behalf when appropriate.

To encourage Claude to use the SlashCommand tool, reference the command by name, including the slash, in your prompts or CLAUDE.md file. For example:

> Run /write-unit-test when you are about to start writing tests.

This tool puts each available custom slash command’s metadata into context up to the character budget limit. You can use /context to monitor token usage and follow the operations below to manage context.

SlashCommand tool supported commands

SlashCommand tool only supports custom slash commands that:

• Are user-defined. Built-in commands like /compact and /init are not supported.
• Have the description frontmatter field populated. The description is used in the context.

For Claude Code versions >= 1.0.124, you can see which custom slash commands SlashCommand tool can invoke by running claude --debug and triggering a query.

Disable SlashCommand tool

To prevent Claude from executing any slash commands via the tool:

/permissions
# Add to deny rules: SlashCommand

This also removes the SlashCommand tool and command descriptions from context.

Disable specific commands only

To prevent a specific slash command from becoming available, add disable-model-invocation: true to the slash command’s frontmatter.

This also removes the command’s metadata from context.

SlashCommand permission rules

The permission rules support:

• Exact match: SlashCommand:/commit (allows only /commit with no arguments)
• Prefix match: SlashCommand:/review-pr:* (allows /review-pr with any arguments)

Character budget limit

The SlashCommand tool includes a character budget to limit the size of command descriptions shown to Claude. This prevents token overflow when many commands are available.

The budget includes each custom slash command’s name, arguments, and description.

• Default limit: 15,000 characters
• Custom limit: Set via SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET environment variable

When the character budget is exceeded, Claude sees only a subset of the available commands. In /context, a warning shows “M of N commands”.

Skills vs slash commands

Slash commands and Agent Skills serve different purposes in Claude Code:

Use slash commands for

Quick, frequently used prompts:

• Simple prompt snippets you use often
• Quick reminders or templates
• Frequently used instructions that fit in one file

Examples:

• /review → “Review this code for bugs and suggest improvements”
• /explain → “Explain this code in simple terms”
• /optimize → “Analyze this code for performance issues”

Use Skills for

Comprehensive capabilities with structure:

• Complex workflows with multiple steps
• Capabilities requiring scripts or utilities
• Knowledge organized across multiple files
• Team workflows you want to standardize

Examples:

• PDF processing Skill with form-filling scripts and validation
• Data analysis Skill with reference docs for different data types
• Documentation Skill with style guides and templates

Key differences

Aspect	Slash Commands	Agent Skills
Complexity	Simple prompts	Complex capabilities
Structure	Single .md file	Directory with SKILL.md + resources
Discovery	Explicit invocation (/command)	Automatic (based on context)
Files	One file only	Multiple files, scripts, templates
Scope	Project or personal	Project or personal
Sharing	Via git	Via git

Example comparison

As a slash command:

# .claude/commands/review.md
Review this code for:
- Security vulnerabilities
- Performance issues
- Code style violations

Usage: /review (manual invocation)

As a Skill:

.claude/skills/code-review/
├── SKILL.md (overview and workflows)
├── SECURITY.md (security checklist)
├── PERFORMANCE.md (performance patterns)
├── STYLE.md (style guide reference)
└── scripts/
    └── run-linters.sh

Usage: “Can you review this code?” (automatic discovery)

The Skill provides richer context, validation scripts, and organized reference material.

When to use each

Use slash commands:

• You invoke the same prompt repeatedly
• The prompt fits in a single file
• You want explicit control over when it runs

Use Skills:

• Claude should discover the capability automatically
• Multiple files or scripts are needed
• Complex workflows with validation steps
• Team needs standardized, detailed guidance

Both slash commands and Skills can coexist. Use the approach that fits your needs.

Learn more about Agent Skills.

See also

• Plugins - Extend Claude Code with custom commands through plugins
• Identity and Access Management - Complete guide to permissions, including MCP tool permissions
• Interactive mode - Shortcuts, input modes, and interactive features
• CLI reference - Command-line flags and options
• Settings - Configuration options
• Memory management - Managing Claude’s memory across sessions