Skip to main content

Slash commands reference

Slash commands run synchronously inside ethos chat and do not count as a turn. They start with / as the first character; anything else is sent to the agent.

Source​

The readline mode (ethos chat) handles a subset of commands in apps/ethos/src/commands/chat.ts (handleSlashCommand). The full TUI mode handles the complete set in apps/tui/src/components/App.tsx (handleSlashCommand). Each command below notes which surface implements it.

/help​

Show the slash-command list. Available in both surfaces.

Synopsis: /help

/new​

Start a fresh session. Resets the session cost counter and (in the TUI) clears the visible message history, timeline, and file-activity panes. The session key gets :<timestamp> appended so the same working directory can host multiple parallel histories. /reset is an alias.

Synopsis: /new (alias: /reset)

> /new
[new session started]

/personality​

Show or switch the active personality. /personality prints the current id; /personality list prints built-ins; /personality <id> switches. In the TUI, switching also re-applies the personality's budget cap. The change is session-local — use ethos personality set <id> to persist.

Synopsis: /personality [list | <id>]

> /personality engineer
[personality: engineer]

/model​

In the readline CLI, prints the active model — switching takes effect only on next restart, so edit model: in ~/.ethos/config.yaml or set modelRouting.<personality> to persist. In the TUI, opens the model picker modal.

Synopsis: /model [<name>]

/sessions​

Open the session picker modal. TUI only.

Synopsis: /sessions

/memory​

Print ~/.ethos/MEMORY.md and ~/.ethos/USER.md (markdown mode) or recent chunks (vector mode).

Synopsis: /memory

/usage​

Print token counts and dollar cost for the current session.

Synopsis: /usage

> /usage
Tokens  : 4,213 in · 1,180 out
Cost    : $0.04826

/budget​

Show running spend against budgetCapUsd. reset clears the counter so the next turn can proceed past the cap.

Synopsis: /budget [reset]

/verbose​

Toggle the per-turn timing summary (LLM time, TTFT, tool wall-clock, tokens, cost). Session-local — set verbose: true in ~/.ethos/config.yaml to make it sticky.

Synopsis: /verbose

/readonly​

Toggle readonly mode. When on, write-side tools (write_file, patch_file, destructive terminal commands) are blocked. TUI only.

Synopsis: /readonly

/details​

Set the visibility for the four TUI detail panes (thinking, tools, subagents, activity). Each pane can be hidden, collapsed, or expanded. With no arguments, prints the current state. TUI only.

Synopsis: /details [hidden | collapsed | expanded] [thinking | tools | subagents | activity]

/skin​

List or pick a skin. Built-in names: default, mono, paper. reset clears the user pin and falls back to the engine default. Set skin: in ~/.ethos/config.yaml to persist a pin across sessions.

Synopsis: /skin [list | reset | <name>]

/tools​

List the tools available to the current personality, grouped by toolset. TUI only.

Synopsis: /tools

/skills​

List installed skills. TUI only.

Synopsis: /skills

/allow​

Approve a pending channel sender by pairing code. Readline CLI only — the TUI uses the approval modal.

Synopsis: /allow <code>

/deny​

Revoke an approved channel sender. Recognised platforms: telegram, discord, slack, whatsapp, email. Readline CLI only.

Synopsis: /deny <platform> <senderId>

/communications​

List approved senders and pending pairing codes. /comms is an alias. Readline CLI only.

Synopsis: /communications (alias: /comms)

/exit​

Quit the CLI. /quit is an alias; Ctrl+D does the same.

Synopsis: /exit (alias: /quit)

See also​