Slash reference
Reference for every slash command and keybinding available in the interactive TUI. Type /help in any session for the operator-side version of this catalog.
For attach-mode (core-agent-tui remote client) commands, see Attach mode TUI.
Quick reference
Session control
| Command | Aliases | Effect |
|---|---|---|
/help | Print the command list + keybindings into the scrollback | |
/clear | Clear the local scrollback (session log is untouched) | |
/quit | Leave the TUI cleanly | |
/interrupt | Cancel the in-flight model turn (same as pressing Esc during a turn) | |
/resume | Resume a saved session from <AgentsDir>/sessions/ | |
/reload | Re-walk AGENTS.md, skills, and MCP config on disk. Reports per-surface results inline (Memory: ✓, Skills: ✓, MCP: ✗ with errors listed) so you can confirm an edit parsed cleanly. Live MCP server restart and system-prompt rebuild still require a daemon restart. |
Status + observability
| Command | Aliases | Effect |
|---|---|---|
/stats | Session token totals, cost, duration, per-model breakdown | |
/context | /boundaries | Context-management activity: compactions, checkpoints, summarized chars, subtask cost |
/tools | List the tools the agent has access to (built-ins + MCP + skills) | |
/skills | List loaded skills with their trigger descriptions | |
/mcp | List configured MCP servers and their status | |
/subagents | /sub | List background subagents spawned this session |
/memory | Show the resolved AGENTS.md chain (user-global + project) |
Context management
| Command | Aliases | Effect |
|---|---|---|
/compact [focus] | /summarize | Manually compact the session; optional focus biases what the summary preserves |
/done [note] | /checkpoint | Write a task-boundary checkpoint; optional note becomes part of the handover record |
Both run a summarizer LLM call (5-15s); the next turn picks up from the summary with prior history sliced. See Context management for the design.
Permissions
| Command | Aliases | Effect |
|---|---|---|
/permissions | /perms | Show the current gate mode + active allow/deny patterns |
/allow <pattern> | Add an allow pattern to the live gate (and to .agents/config.json if writable) | |
/deny <pattern> | Add a deny pattern (deny wins over allow) | |
/allow bundle:<name> | Apply a pre-defined allow bundle (e.g., dev_tools) |
Pattern grammar: <tool>:<glob> (e.g., bash:git diff*, read_file:internal/**). See Permissions.
Model + pricing
| Command | Aliases | Effect |
|---|---|---|
/model [id] | /models | With no argument: list candidate models. With an ID: switch to that model for subsequent turns |
/pricing | Show the pricing layer in effect for the current model | |
/pricing refresh | Pull the latest LiteLLM pricing JSON into ~/.core-agent/pricing.json | |
/pricing set <id> <in> <out> | Override pricing for a specific model ID (per-million tokens) |
Side queries + delegation
| Command | Aliases | Effect |
|---|---|---|
/btw <question> | /by-the-way | Ask a one-shot context-grounded question. Answer appears in a dismissible modal; never lands in conversation history |
/subagent <goal> [flags] | /sub | Spawn a background subagent against a goal. Flags: --name, --prompt, --tools, --extras, --max-turns, --max-cost, --max-wallclock, --scheduler |
Theming + display
| Command | Aliases | Effect |
|---|---|---|
/theme | Open the theme picker — arrows preview each theme live, Enter accepts and writes the choice to .agents/config.json (ui.theme), Esc restores the theme that was active when the picker opened | |
/theme <name> | Switch directly to a named theme without opening the picker; persists the same way. /theme with no argument lists choices | |
/mouse | Toggle terminal mouse capture (off = native shell selection + scroll wheel) | |
/keys | Print the keybinding cheat sheet |
Keybindings
| Key | Effect |
|---|---|
| Enter | Submit input (or run slash command). Mid-turn: queue the input for after the current turn finishes |
| Shift+Enter | Insert a newline in the input (multi-line prompts) |
| Esc | Contextual: dismiss a modal if one’s open; otherwise interrupt the in-flight turn |
| Ctrl+C (once) | Cancel the in-flight turn (same as /interrupt) |
| Ctrl+C (twice within 1s) | Quit the TUI |
| Ctrl+D | EOF — quit the TUI |
| PgUp / PgDn | Scroll the scrollback up / down |
| Ctrl+E | Open $EDITOR with the current input buffer (fallback: $VISUAL → vi) |
Behavior notes
Cancellation semantics
Esc and Ctrl+C-once both cancel the current model turn. The turn unwinds cleanly — any tool call in flight runs to completion (you can’t kill it from the operator side), but no new model call fires. The session continues; you can type a follow-up immediately.
Typing while the agent is working
You can keep typing during a turn. Each Enter queues your input to the agent’s inbox. When the current turn finishes, the agent auto-continues with the queued entries prefixed by a ↻ user message; the model decides whether to adapt the current task or capture each note with the todo tool. A soft cap of 10 consecutive auto-continues prevents runaway chains. The queue panel between chat and input mirrors what’s pending; press Esc to dismiss queued entries.
Long-running slashes
/compact, /done, and /btw all fire LLM calls and take 5-15 seconds. The bottom toast (▸ /<name> running…) shows for the duration; an in-chat preamble row (ℹ Capturing checkpoint summary…, etc.) lands immediately so the dead time is visible. The final result message (success or error) appears below the preamble when the work completes.
Slash visibility gating
/done and /checkpoint only appear in /help when WithCheckpointer was wired (default-on; disable with --no-checkpoint). Same for /compact + --no-compact. Operators who disable a mechanism don’t see commands that would only error out.
Where to go next
- Workflows — worked examples (code-reviewer, doc writer)
- Context management —
/compact,/done,/contextin depth - Permissions —
/allow+/denypattern grammar - Configuration — pin the pieces above into
.agents/config.json - Attach mode TUI — operator client for remote (attach-mode) agents has its own slash catalog