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 โ€œinline hintsโ€ 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 (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,
    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.useAccessGroups (default true) enforces allowlists/policies for commands.

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 โ€œcontextโ€; detail shows per-file + per-tool + per-skill + system prompt size)
  • /whoami (show your sender id; alias: /id)
  • /subagents list|stop|log|info|send (inspect, stop, log, or message sub-agent runs for the current session)
  • /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) โ€” 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: โ€œClaude 80% leftโ€) 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.
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