Claude Code Slash Commands

This skill provides guidance for creating effective custom slash commands in Claude Code.

Quick Reference

Locations:

• Project commands: .claude/commands/ (shared via git)

• Personal commands: ~/.claude/commands/ (user-specific)

File format: Markdown (.md ) with optional YAML frontmatter

Command name: Derived from filename (commit.md → /commit )

Frontmatter Options

See references/frontmatter.md for complete documentation.

Essential fields:

allowed-tools: Bash(git add:), Bash(git commit:) # Tool permissions description: Brief description shown in /help # Required for model invocation argument-hint: "[branch-name] [commit-type]" # Shown in autocomplete model: claude-haiku-4-5 # Override session model disable-model-invocation: true # Prevent auto-invocation

Dynamic Features

Arguments

All arguments: $ARGUMENTS captures everything after the command

Fix issue #$ARGUMENTS following our coding standards

/fix-issue 123 high-priority → "123 high-priority"

Positional: $1 , $2 , $3 ... for specific arguments

Review PR #$1 with priority $2 and assign to $3

/review-pr 456 high alice → $1="456", $2="high", $3="alice"

Bash Context Injection

Use ! prefix to execute bash and inject output as context:

Context

• Current git status: !git status
• Current branch: !git branch --show-current
• Recent commits: !git log --oneline -10

Important: Requires allowed-tools with Bash tool in frontmatter.

File References

Use @ prefix to include file contents:

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

Command Patterns

See references/patterns.md for detailed patterns with full examples.

Pattern 1: Simple Task

For quick, focused operations:

description: Analyze code for performance issues

Analyze this code for performance issues and suggest optimizations. Focus on: time complexity, memory usage, unnecessary operations.

Pattern 2: Git Workflow

For git operations with context:

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

Your task

Based on the above changes, create a single commit with an appropriate message.

Pattern 3: Multi-Agent Orchestration

For complex tasks requiring parallel work:

allowed-tools: Bash(gh:*), TodoWrite description: Find duplicate GitHub issues

Find duplicates for issue $ARGUMENTS.

Follow these steps precisely:

1. Use an agent to view the issue and return a summary
2. Launch 5 parallel agents to search for duplicates using diverse keywords
3. Feed results into another agent to filter false positives
4. Comment on the issue with up to 3 likely duplicates

Notes (tell your agents too):

• Use gh for GitHub interactions
• Do not use other tools beyond gh

Pattern 4: Structured Review

For comprehensive analysis workflows:

description: "Comprehensive code review" argument-hint: "[review-aspects]" allowed-tools: ["Bash", "Glob", "Grep", "Read", "Task"]

Code Review

Review Aspects (optional): "$ARGUMENTS"

Workflow:

1. Determine Scope - Check git status for changed files
2. Run Reviews - Execute applicable review agents
3. Aggregate Results - Summarize findings by severity
4. Provide Action Plan - Organize fixes by priority

Writing Guidelines

• Use imperative language: "Create", "Execute", "Based on..."

• Be explicit about constraints: Include what NOT to do

• Specify output format: Provide templates for structured output

• Enable multi-tool efficiency: Tell Claude it can use multiple tools in one response

• Include a Notes section: For edge cases and important constraints

When to Use Slash Commands vs Skills vs Subagents

See references/decision-guide.md for detailed comparison.

Quick decision framework:

Use Case Best Choice

Quick, repeatable task you trigger manually Slash Command

Complex workflow with scripts/templates Skill

Parallel execution with isolated context Subagent

Team-shared workflow checked into git Slash Command

Domain expertise Claude should auto-discover Skill

Specialized role (security auditor, etc.) Subagent

Key distinctions:

• Commands: User-invoked (/command ), simple prompts, manual trigger

• Skills: Model-invoked (Claude decides), rich context, scripts/assets

• Subagents: Own context window, parallel work, delegated tasks

Templates

Use templates in assets/templates/ as starting points:

• simple-command.md

• Basic single-purpose command

• git-workflow.md

• Git operations with context injection

• multi-agent.md

• Orchestration with parallel agents

• review-command.md

• Comprehensive review workflow

Best Practices from Anthropic

Granular tool permissions: Use wildcards for flexibility

allowed-tools: Bash(git add:), Bash(git commit:)

Context injection: Pre-load relevant state with bash execution

Clear task structure: Use ## Your task or ## Your Task section

Explicit constraints: Include prohibitions

Do not use any other tools or do anything else. Do not send any other text or messages besides these tool calls.

Output format specification: Provide exact templates for structured output

Agent instructions: When using subagents, include notes they should follow

Notes (be sure to tell this to your agents, too):

• Use gh for GitHub interactions
• Make a todo list first