Slash commands in Codex CLI

Source URL: https://developers.openai.com/codex/cli/slash-commands

Slash commands in Codex CLI

Slash commands give you fast, keyboard-first control over Codex. Type / in the composer to open the slash popup, choose a command, and Codex will perform actions such as switching models, adjusting permissions, or summarizing long conversations without leaving the terminal.

This guide shows you how to:

• Find the right built-in slash command for a task
• Steer an active session with commands like /model, /personality, /permissions, /experimental, /agent, and /status

Built-in slash commands

Codex ships with the following commands. Open the slash popup and start typing the command name to filter the list.

Command	Purpose	When to use it
/permissions	Set what Codex can do without asking first.	Relax or tighten approval requirements mid-session, such as switching between Auto and Read Only.
/sandbox-add-read-dir	Grant sandbox read access to an extra directory (Windows only).	Unblock commands that need to read an absolute directory path outside the current readable roots.
/agent	Switch the active agent thread.	Inspect or continue work in a spawned sub-agent thread.
/apps	Browse apps (connectors) and insert them into your prompt.	Attach an app as $app-slug before asking Codex to use it.
/compact	Summarize the visible conversation to free tokens.	Use after long runs so Codex retains key points without blowing the context window.
/diff	Show the Git diff, including files Git isn’t tracking yet.	Review Codex’s edits before you commit or run tests.
/exit	Exit the CLI (same as /quit).	Alternative spelling; both commands exit the session.
/experimental	Toggle experimental features.	Enable optional features such as sub-agents from the CLI.
/feedback	Send logs to the Codex maintainers.	Report issues or share diagnostics with support.
/init	Generate an AGENTS.md scaffold in the current directory.	Capture persistent instructions for the repository or subdirectory you’re working in.
/logout	Sign out of Codex.	Clear local credentials when using a shared machine.
/mcp	List configured Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools.	Check which external tools Codex can call during the session.
/mention	Attach a file to the conversation.	Point Codex at specific files or folders you want it to inspect next.
/model	Choose the active model (and reasoning effort, when available).	Switch between general-purpose models (gpt-4.1-mini) and deeper reasoning models before running a task.
/plan	Switch to plan mode and optionally send a prompt.	Ask Codex to propose an execution plan before implementation work starts.
/personality	Choose a communication style for responses.	Make Codex more concise, more explanatory, or more collaborative without changing your instructions.
/ps	Show experimental background terminals and their recent output.	Check long-running commands without leaving the main transcript.
/fork	Fork the current conversation into a new thread.	Branch the active session to explore a new approach without losing the current transcript.
/resume	Resume a saved conversation from your session list.	Continue work from a previous CLI session without starting over.
/new	Start a new conversation inside the same CLI session.	Reset the chat context without leaving the CLI when you want a fresh prompt in the same repo.
/quit	Exit the CLI.	Leave the session immediately.
/review	Ask Codex to review your working tree.	Run after Codex completes work or when you want a second set of eyes on local changes.
/status	Display session configuration and token usage.	Confirm the active model, approval policy, writable roots, and remaining context capacity.
/debug-config	Print config layer and requirements diagnostics.	Debug precedence and policy requirements, including experimental network constraints.
/statusline	Configure TUI status-line fields interactively.	Pick and reorder footer items (model/context/limits/git/tokens/session) and persist in config.toml.

/quit and /exit both exit the CLI. Use them only after you have saved or committed any important work.

The /approvals command still works as an alias, but it no longer appears in the slash popup list.

Control your session with slash commands

The following workflows keep your session on track without restarting Codex.

Set the active model with /model

1. Start Codex and open the composer.
2. Type /model and press Enter.
3. Choose a model such as gpt-4.1-mini or gpt-4.1 from the popup.

Expected: Codex confirms the new model in the transcript. Run /status to verify the change.

Set a communication style with /personality

Use /personality to change how Codex communicates without rewriting your prompt.

1. In an active conversation, type /personality and press Enter.
2. Choose a style from the popup.

Expected: Codex confirms the new style in the transcript and uses it for later responses in the thread.

Codex supports friendly, pragmatic, and none personalities. Use none to disable personality instructions.

If the active model doesn’t support personality-specific instructions, Codex hides this command.

Switch to plan mode with /plan

1. Type /plan and press Enter to switch the active conversation into plan mode.
2. Optional: provide inline prompt text (for example, /plan Propose a migration plan for this service).
3. You can paste content or attach images while using inline /plan arguments.

Expected: Codex enters plan mode and uses your optional inline prompt as the first planning request.

While a task is already running, /plan is temporarily unavailable.

Toggle experimental features with /experimental

1. Type /experimental and press Enter.
2. Toggle the features you want (for example, Multi-agents), then restart Codex.

Expected: Codex saves your feature choices to config and applies them on restart.

Update permissions with /permissions

1. Type /permissions and press Enter.
2. Select the approval preset that matches your comfort level, for example Auto for hands-off runs or Read Only to review edits.

Expected: Codex announces the updated policy. Future actions respect the new approval mode until you change it again.

Grant sandbox read access with /sandbox-add-read-dir

This command is available only when running the CLI natively on Windows.

1. Type /sandbox-add-read-dir C:\absolute\directory\path and press Enter.
2. Confirm the path is an existing absolute directory.

Expected: Codex refreshes the Windows sandbox policy and grants read access to that directory for later commands that run in the sandbox.

Inspect the session with /status

1. In any conversation, type /status.
2. Review the output for the active model, approval policy, writable roots, and current token usage.

Expected: You see a summary like what codex status prints in the shell, confirming Codex is operating where you expect.

Inspect config layers with /debug-config

1. Type /debug-config.
2. Review the output for config layer order (lowest precedence first), on/off state, and policy sources.

Expected: Codex prints layer diagnostics plus policy details such as allowed_approval_policies, allowed_sandbox_modes, mcp_servers, rules, enforce_residency, and experimental_network when configured.

Use this output to debug why an effective setting differs from config.toml.

Configure footer items with /statusline

1. Type /statusline.
2. Use the picker to toggle and reorder items, then confirm.

Expected: The footer status line updates immediately and persists to tui.status_line in config.toml.

Available status-line items include model, model+reasoning, context stats, rate limits, git branch, token counters, session id, current directory/project root, and Codex version.

Check background terminals with /ps

1. Type /ps.
2. Review the list of background terminals and their status.

Expected: Codex shows each background terminal’s command plus up to three recent, non-empty output lines so you can gauge progress at a glance.

Background terminals appear when unified_exec is in use; otherwise, the list may be empty.

Keep transcripts lean with /compact

1. After a long exchange, type /compact.
2. Confirm when Codex offers to summarize the conversation so far.

Expected: Codex replaces earlier turns with a concise summary, freeing context while keeping critical details.

Review changes with /diff

1. Type /diff to inspect the Git diff.
2. Scroll through the output inside the CLI to review edits and added files.

Expected: Codex shows changes you’ve staged, changes you haven’t staged yet, and files Git hasn’t started tracking, so you can decide what to keep.

Highlight files with /mention

1. Type /mention followed by a path, for example /mention src/lib/api.ts.
2. Select the matching result from the popup.

Expected: Codex adds the file to the conversation, ensuring follow-up turns reference it directly.

Start a new conversation with /new

1. Type /new and press Enter.

Expected: Codex starts a fresh conversation in the same CLI session, so you can switch tasks without leaving your terminal.

Resume a saved conversation with /resume

1. Type /resume and press Enter.
2. Choose the session you want from the saved-session picker.

Expected: Codex reloads the selected conversation’s transcript so you can pick up where you left off, keeping the original history intact.

Fork the current conversation with /fork

1. Type /fork and press Enter.

Expected: Codex clones the current conversation into a new thread with a fresh ID, leaving the original transcript untouched so you can explore an alternative approach in parallel.

If you need to fork a saved session instead of the current one, run codex fork in your terminal to open the session picker.

Generate AGENTS.md with /init

1. Run /init in the directory where you want Codex to look for persistent instructions.
2. Review the generated AGENTS.md, then edit it to match your repository conventions.

Expected: Codex creates an AGENTS.md scaffold you can refine and commit for future sessions.

Ask for a working tree review with /review

1. Type /review.
2. Follow up with /diff if you want to inspect the exact file changes.

Expected: Codex summarizes issues it finds in your working tree, focusing on behavior changes and missing tests. It uses the current session model unless you set review_model in config.toml.

List MCP tools with /mcp

1. Type /mcp.
2. Review the list to confirm which MCP servers and tools are available.

Expected: You see the configured Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools Codex can call in this session.

Browse apps with /apps

1. Type /apps.
2. Pick an app from the list.

Expected: Codex inserts the app mention into the composer as $app-slug, so you can immediately ask Codex to use it.

Switch agent threads with /agent

1. Type /agent and press Enter.
2. Select the thread you want from the picker.

Expected: Codex switches the active thread so you can inspect or continue that agent’s work.

Send feedback with /feedback

1. Type /feedback and press Enter.
2. Follow the prompts to include logs or diagnostics.

Expected: Codex collects the requested diagnostics and submits them to the maintainers.

Sign out with /logout

1. Type /logout and press Enter.

Expected: Codex clears local credentials for the current user session.

Exit the CLI with /quit or /exit

1. Type /quit (or /exit) and press Enter.

Expected: Codex exits immediately. Save or commit any important work first.