openclaw/docs/tools/slash-commands.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
Slash commands: text vs native, config, and supported commands	Using or configuring chat commands Debugging command routing or permissions	Slash Commands

Slash commands

Commands are handled by the Gateway. Most commands must be sent as a standalone message that starts with /. The host-only bash chat command uses ! <cmd> (with /bash <cmd> as an alias).

There are two related systems:

• Commands: standalone /... messages.
• Directives: /think, /verbose, /reasoning, /elevated, /exec, /model, /queue.
  • Directives are stripped from the message before the model sees it.
  • In normal chat messages (not directive-only), they are treated as “inline hints” and do not persist session settings.
  • In directive-only messages (the message contains only directives), they persist to the session and reply with an acknowledgement.
  • Directives are only applied for authorized senders. If commands.allowFrom is set, it is the only allowlist used; otherwise authorization comes from channel allowlists/pairing plus commands.useAccessGroups. Unauthorized senders see directives treated as plain text.

There are also a few inline shortcuts (allowlisted/authorized senders only): /help, /commands, /status, /whoami (/id). They run immediately, are stripped before the model sees the message, and the remaining text continues through the normal flow.

Config

{
  commands: {
    native: "auto",
    nativeSkills: "auto",
    text: true,
    bash: false,
    bashForegroundMs: 2000,
    config: false,
    debug: false,
    restart: false,
    allowFrom: {
      "*": ["user1"],
      discord: ["user:123"],
    },
    useAccessGroups: true,
  },
}

• commands.text (default true) enables parsing /... in chat messages.
  • On surfaces without native commands (WhatsApp/WebChat/Signal/iMessage/Google Chat/MS Teams), text commands still work even if you set this to false.
• commands.native (default "auto") registers native commands.
  • Auto: on for Discord/Telegram; off for Slack (until you add slash commands); ignored for providers without native support.
  • Set channels.discord.commands.native, channels.telegram.commands.native, or channels.slack.commands.native to override per provider (bool or "auto").
  • false clears previously registered commands on Discord/Telegram at startup. Slack commands are managed in the Slack app and are not removed automatically.
• commands.nativeSkills (default "auto") registers skill commands natively when supported.
  • Auto: on for Discord/Telegram; off for Slack (Slack requires creating a slash command per skill).
  • Set channels.discord.commands.nativeSkills, channels.telegram.commands.nativeSkills, or channels.slack.commands.nativeSkills to override per provider (bool or "auto").
• commands.bash (default false) enables ! <cmd> to run host shell commands (/bash <cmd> is an alias; requires tools.elevated allowlists).
• commands.bashForegroundMs (default 2000) controls how long bash waits before switching to background mode (0 backgrounds immediately).
• commands.config (default false) enables /config (reads/writes openclaw.json).
• commands.debug (default false) enables /debug (runtime-only overrides).
• commands.allowFrom (optional) sets a per-provider allowlist for command authorization. When configured, it is the only authorization source for commands and directives (channel allowlists/pairing and commands.useAccessGroups are ignored). Use "*" for a global default; provider-specific keys override it.
• commands.useAccessGroups (default true) enforces allowlists/policies for commands when commands.allowFrom is not set.

Command list

Text + native (when enabled):

• /help
• /commands
• /skill <name> [input] (run a skill by name)
• /status (show current status; includes provider usage/quota for the current model provider when available)
• /allowlist (list/add/remove allowlist entries)
• /approve <id> allow-once|allow-always|deny (resolve exec approval prompts)
• /context [list|detail|json] (explain “context”; detail shows per-file + per-tool + per-skill + system prompt size)
• /whoami (show your sender id; alias: /id)
• /subagents list|kill|log|info|send|steer (inspect, kill, log, or steer sub-agent runs for the current session)
• /kill <id|#|all> (immediately abort one or all running sub-agents for this session; no confirmation message)
• /steer <id|#> <message> (steer a running sub-agent immediately: in-run when possible, otherwise abort current work and restart on the steer message)
• /tell <id|#> <message> (alias for /steer)
• /config show|get|set|unset (persist config to disk, owner-only; requires commands.config: true)
• /debug show|set|unset|reset (runtime overrides, owner-only; requires commands.debug: true)
• /usage off|tokens|full|cost (per-response usage footer or local cost summary)
• /tts off|always|inbound|tagged|status|provider|limit|summary|audio (control TTS; see /tts)
  • Discord: native command is /voice (Discord reserves /tts); text /tts still works.
• /stop
• /restart
• /dock-telegram (alias: /dock_telegram) (switch replies to Telegram)
• /dock-discord (alias: /dock_discord) (switch replies to Discord)
• /dock-slack (alias: /dock_slack) (switch replies to Slack)
• /activation mention|always (groups only)
• /send on|off|inherit (owner-only)
• /reset or /new [model] (optional model hint; remainder is passed through)
• /think <off|minimal|low|medium|high|xhigh> (dynamic choices by model/provider; aliases: /thinking, /t)
• /verbose on|full|off (alias: /v)
• /reasoning on|off|stream (alias: /reason; when on, sends a separate message prefixed Reasoning:; stream = Telegram draft only)
• /elevated on|off|ask|full (alias: /elev; full skips exec approvals)
• /exec host=<sandbox|gateway|node> security=<deny|allowlist|full> ask=<off|on-miss|always> node=<id> (send /exec to show current)
• /model <name> (alias: /models; or /<alias> from agents.defaults.models.*.alias)
• /queue <mode> (plus options like debounce:2s cap:25 drop:summarize; send /queue to see current settings)
• /bash <command> (host-only; alias for ! <command>; requires commands.bash: true + tools.elevated allowlists)

Text-only:

• /compact [instructions] (see /concepts/compaction)
• ! <command> (host-only; one at a time; use !poll + !stop for long-running jobs)
• !poll (check output / status; accepts optional sessionId; /bash poll also works)
• !stop (stop the running bash job; accepts optional sessionId; /bash stop also works)

Notes:

• Commands accept an optional : between the command and args (e.g. /think: high, /send: on, /help:).
• /new <model> accepts a model alias, provider/model, or a provider name (fuzzy match); if no match, the text is treated as the message body.
• For full provider usage breakdown, use openclaw status --usage.
• /allowlist add|remove requires commands.config=true and honors channel configWrites.
• /usage controls the per-response usage footer; /usage cost prints a local cost summary from OpenClaw session logs.
• /restart is disabled by default; set commands.restart: true to enable it.
• /verbose is meant for debugging and extra visibility; keep it off in normal use.
• /reasoning (and /verbose) are risky in group settings: they may reveal internal reasoning or tool output you did not intend to expose. Prefer leaving them off, especially in group chats.
• Fast path: command-only messages from allowlisted senders are handled immediately (bypass queue + model).
• Group mention gating: command-only messages from allowlisted senders bypass mention requirements.
• Inline shortcuts (allowlisted senders only): certain commands also work when embedded in a normal message and are stripped before the model sees the remaining text.
  • Example: hey /status triggers a status reply, and the remaining text continues through the normal flow.
• Currently: /help, /commands, /status, /whoami (/id).
• Unauthorized command-only messages are silently ignored, and inline /... tokens are treated as plain text.
• Skill commands: user-invocable skills are exposed as slash commands. Names are sanitized to a-z0-9_ (max 32 chars); collisions get numeric suffixes (e.g. _2).
  • /skill <name> [input] runs a skill by name (useful when native command limits prevent per-skill commands).
  • By default, skill commands are forwarded to the model as a normal request.
  • Skills may optionally declare command-dispatch: tool to route the command directly to a tool (deterministic, no model).
  • Example: /prose (OpenProse plugin) — see OpenProse.
• Native command arguments: Discord uses autocomplete for dynamic options (and button menus when you omit required args). Telegram and Slack show a button menu when a command supports choices and you omit the arg.

Usage surfaces (what shows where)

• Provider usage/quota (example: “Claude 80% left”) shows up in /status for the current model provider when usage tracking is enabled.
• Per-response tokens/cost is controlled by /usage off|tokens|full (appended to normal replies).
• /model status is about models/auth/endpoints, not usage.

Model selection (/model)

/model is implemented as a directive.

Examples:

/model
/model list
/model 3
/model openai/gpt-5.2
/model opus@anthropic:default
/model status

Notes:

• /model and /model list show a compact, numbered picker (model family + available providers).
• /model <#> selects from that picker (and prefers the current provider when possible).
• /model status shows the detailed view, including configured provider endpoint (baseUrl) and API mode (api) when available.

Debug overrides

/debug lets you set runtime-only config overrides (memory, not disk). Owner-only. Disabled by default; enable with commands.debug: true.

Examples:

/debug show
/debug set messages.responsePrefix="[openclaw]"
/debug set channels.whatsapp.allowFrom=["+1555","+4477"]
/debug unset messages.responsePrefix
/debug reset

Notes:

• Overrides apply immediately to new config reads, but do not write to openclaw.json.
• Use /debug reset to clear all overrides and return to the on-disk config.

Config updates

/config writes to your on-disk config (openclaw.json). Owner-only. Disabled by default; enable with commands.config: true.

Examples:

/config show
/config show messages.responsePrefix
/config get messages.responsePrefix
/config set messages.responsePrefix="[openclaw]"
/config unset messages.responsePrefix

Notes:

• Config is validated before write; invalid changes are rejected.
• /config updates persist across restarts.

Surface notes

• Text commands run in the normal chat session (DMs share main, groups have their own session).
• Native commands use isolated sessions:
  • Discord: agent:<agentId>:discord:slash:<userId>
  • Slack: agent:<agentId>:slack:slash:<userId> (prefix configurable via channels.slack.slashCommand.sessionPrefix)
  • Telegram: telegram:slash:<userId> (targets the chat session via CommandTargetSessionKey)
• /stop targets the active chat session so it can abort the current run.
• Slack: channels.slack.slashCommand is still supported for a single /openclaw-style command. If you enable commands.native, you must create one Slack slash command per built-in command (same names as /help). Command argument menus for Slack are delivered as ephemeral Block Kit buttons.