Slash Commands Reference

Slash Commands Reference

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

Built-in slash commands

Custom slash commands

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

Syntax

/[arguments]

Parameters

Command types

Project commands

• Stored at: .claude/commands/
• Shared with your team (shown as (project) in /help).

Example: Create /optimize command:

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

Personal commands

• Stored at: ~/.claude/commands/
• Available across all projects (shown as (user) in /help).

Example: Create /security-review command:

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

Features

Namespacing

• Organize commands in subdirectories.
• The folder name will show in descriptions, e.g., (project:frontend).
• Base names build the command name; subdirectory is descriptive only.

Conflicts between user and project commands aren't supported, but you can have multiple commands with the same basename in different scopes.

Arguments

• All arguments: $ARGUMENTS Captures all arguments.

  Example:

  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: $1, $2, etc. Positional, for more structured commands.

  Example:

  echo 'Review PR #$1 with priority $2 and assign to $3' > .claude/commands/review-pr.md
  # Usage:
  > /review-pr 456 high alice
  # $1="456", $2="high", $3="alice"
  

Bash command execution

• Prefix with ! to execute bash commands before the slash command.

• Bash tool must be allowed via allowed-tools frontmatter.

  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: ! `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

• Use @ prefix to reference files.

  Review the implementation in @src/utils/helpers.js
  Compare @src/old-version.js with @src/new-version.js
  

Thinking mode

• Trigger extended thinking by including extended thinking keywords.

Frontmatter

Command files support frontmatter for metadata:

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

Plugin commands

Plugins can provide custom slash commands that work just like user-defined ones and are distributed via plugin marketplaces.

How plugin commands work

• Namespaced: Format /plugin-name:command-name
• Available on install: Appear in /help after install
• Fully integrated: Support all features (arguments, frontmatter, bash, file refs)

Structure

• Location: commands/ in plugin root
• File format: Markdown with frontmatter

Example:

---
description: Brief description of what the command does
---
# Command Name
Detailed instructions for Claude

Advanced features: Arguments with {arg1} placeholders, subdirectories for namespacing, bash integration, file references.

Invocation patterns

• Direct command: /command-name
• Plugin prefixed: /plugin-name:command-name
• With arguments: /command-name arg1 arg2

MCP slash commands

MCP servers can expose prompts as slash commands that are dynamically discovered and available in Claude Code.

Command format

/mcp____ [arguments]

Features

Dynamic discovery

MCP commands become available when:

• An MCP server is connected/active
• Server exposes prompts via MCP protocol
• Prompts are retrieved on connection

Arguments

• MCP prompts can accept arguments, e.g.:

  > /mcp__github__list_prs
  > /mcp__github__pr_review 456
  > /mcp__jira__create_issue "Bug title" high
  

Naming conventions

• Names are normalized (spaces→underscores, lowercased)
• No special characters in names

Managing MCP connections

Use /mcp to:

• View/configure MCP servers
• Check status and authenticate
• Clear tokens
• View server tools/prompts

MCP permissions and wildcards

Wildcards are not supported in permissions.

• Correct: mcp__github
• Correct: mcp__github__get_issue
• Incorrect: mcp__github__* (not supported)

SlashCommand tool

The SlashCommand tool allows Claude to execute custom slash commands programmatically, if referenced by name with its slash.

Example:

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

Supported commands:

• Only user-defined commands with the description frontmatter are supported (not built-in).

You can see which custom slash commands the tool can invoke by running claude --debug.

Disable SlashCommand tool

To prevent all slash commands from running via the tool:

/permissions
# Add to deny rules: SlashCommand

Or, to disable just a specific command, set disable-model-invocation: true in frontmatter.

Permission rules

• Exact match: SlashCommand:/commit
• Prefix match: SlashCommand:/review-pr:*

Character budget limit

The tool enforces a limit to avoid overflowing Claude context.

• Default: 15,000 characters
• Custom: Set via SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET env

Skills vs slash commands

When to use

Slash commands:

• For quick, repeatable prompts in one file
• When you want explicit, manual control

Agent Skills:

• For automatic, structured capabilities
• When a workflow needs multiple files/scripts and detailed guidance

Both can coexist; use what matches your need. Learn more about Agent Skills.

See also

• Plugins — extend Claude Code with custom commands
• Identity and Access Management — permissions, MCP tool permissions
• Interactive mode — shortcuts, input modes
• CLI reference — command-line flags and options
• Settings — configuration options
• Memory management — manage memory across sessions