Slash Commands

Slash Commands

Purpose

Turn a workflow you repeat into a command you invoke. A slash command is an explicit, user-triggered prompt — as distinct from a skill, which the model decides to load on its own.

When to Use

• A prompt you find yourself retyping.
• A multi-step workflow with a fixed shape: review, release, triage, summarize.
• A team workflow that everyone should run the same way.
• Anything you want to invoke deliberately, rather than have the model choose.

Capabilities

• Command authoring with arguments.
• Composing tool calls and shell commands into a workflow.
• Scoping: project-level, personal, or bundled in a plugin.
• Distinguishing command from skill.

Inputs

• The workflow, and the variable parts of it.
• What the user will type, and what they will pass as arguments.

Outputs

• A command file that runs the workflow reliably.
• Clear argument handling with a sensible default.

Workflow

1. Decide: command or skill? — A skill is loaded when the model judges it relevant. A command is invoked when the user decides. If you want control over when it runs, it is a command.
2. Name it for the action — /review, /release, /triage. A verb the user would think of.
3. Handle the arguments — What varies between invocations? A PR number, a file, a version. Provide a default where one is sensible.
4. Write the workflow as instructions — The command file is a prompt. It should say what to do, in order, with what constraints.
5. Front-load the context — A command can run shell commands and include their output before the model reads the instructions. This is what makes a command dramatically more efficient than typing the same request.

Best Practices

• A command that just rephrases a request is not worth the file. The value is in the workflow, the pre-gathered context, and the consistency.
• Gather the context in the command, not in the model's turns. A /review command that includes the diff, the CI status, and the linked issue up front saves the model three tool calls.
• Give arguments a default. /review with no argument should review the current branch, not fail.
• Keep the command focused on one workflow. A command with a mode flag is two commands.
• Commands are the right place for team conventions: everyone running /release runs the same checks in the same order.
• Document what it does at the top. Someone will run it without reading the file.

Examples

A command that pre-gathers its own context:

---
description: Review the current branch's changes against main
argument-hint: "[base-branch]"
allowed-tools: Bash(git:*), Read, Grep
---

## Context

- Base branch: ${1:-main}
- Files changed: !`git diff --stat ${1:-main}...HEAD`
- Full diff: !`git diff ${1:-main}...HEAD`
- Commits: !`git log --oneline ${1:-main}..HEAD`

## Task

Review these changes as a senior engineer would.

Report findings grouped by severity:

- **Blocking** — correctness, security, or data-loss defects.
- **Should fix** — design or performance problems that will cost more later.
- **Consider** — genuinely optional improvements.

For each finding: the file and line, what is wrong, why it matters, and the fix.

Check specifically:
- Every new branch's error path. What happens on empty, null, or hostile input?
- Anything crossing a trust boundary — is it validated?
- Would the new tests fail if the implementation were subtly wrong?

If the change is sound, say so and stop. Do not manufacture findings.

The diff, the commit list, and the file stats are gathered by the shell before the model reads a word. It starts with everything it needs.

Command versus skill:

/release            -> a command. You decide when to cut a release. It must
                       never happen because the model inferred it should.

database-performance -> a skill. The model should load it whenever a query is
                       slow, without being asked. You do not want to have to
                       remember to invoke it.

Notes

• The ! prefix executes a shell command and inlines its output into the prompt before the model sees it. This is the single feature that makes commands worth writing — it eliminates the tool-call round trips.
• Restrict allowed-tools on any command that runs shell commands. A command with unrestricted bash access is a command that can do anything.
• If you find yourself explaining to a colleague how to phrase a request, that request should be a command.