qwen-code/docs/users/features/commands.md

Commands

This document details all commands supported by Qwen Code, helping you efficiently manage sessions, customize the interface, and control its behavior.

Qwen Code commands are triggered through specific prefixes and fall into three categories:

Prefix Type	Function Description	Typical Use Case
Slash Commands (/)	Meta-level control of Qwen Code itself	Managing sessions, modifying settings, getting help
At Commands (@)	Quickly inject local file content into conversation	Allowing AI to analyze specified files or code under directories
Exclamation Commands (!)	Direct interaction with system Shell	Executing system commands like git status, ls, etc.

1. Slash Commands (/)

Slash commands are used to manage Qwen Code sessions, interface, and basic behavior.

1.1 Session and Project Management

These commands help you save, restore, and summarize work progress.

Command	Description	Usage Examples
/init	Analyze current directory and create initial context file	/init
/summary	Generate project summary based on conversation history	/summary
/compress	Replace chat history with summary to save Tokens	/compress
/resume	Resume a previous conversation session	/resume
/recap	Generate a one-line session recap now	/recap
/restore	Restore files to state before tool execution	/restore (list) or /restore <ID>

1.2 Interface and Workspace Control

Commands for adjusting interface appearance and work environment.

Command	Description	Usage Examples
/clear	Clear terminal screen content	/clear (shortcut: Ctrl+L)
/context	Show context window usage breakdown	/context
→ detail	Show per-item context usage breakdown	/context detail
/theme	Change Qwen Code visual theme	/theme
/vim	Turn input area Vim editing mode on/off	/vim
/directory	Manage multi-directory support workspace	/dir add ./src,./tests
/editor	Open dialog to select supported editor	/editor

1.3 Language Settings

Commands specifically for controlling interface and output language.

Command	Description	Usage Examples
/language	View or change language settings	/language
→ ui [language]	Set UI interface language	/language ui zh-CN
→ output [language]	Set LLM output language	/language output Chinese

• Available built-in UI languages: zh-CN (Simplified Chinese), en-US (English), ru-RU (Russian), de-DE (German)
• Output language examples: Chinese, English, Japanese, etc.

1.4 Tool and Model Management

Commands for managing AI tools and models.

Command	Description	Usage Examples
/mcp	List configured MCP servers and tools	/mcp, /mcp desc
/tools	Display currently available tool list	/tools, /tools desc
/skills	List and run available skills	/skills, /skills <name>
/plan	Switch to plan mode or exit plan mode	/plan, /plan <task>, /plan exit
/approval-mode	Change approval mode for tool usage	/approval-mode <mode (auto-edit)> --project
→plan	Analysis only, no execution	Secure review
→default	Require approval for edits	Daily use
→auto-edit	Automatically approve edits	Trusted environment
→yolo	Automatically approve all	Quick prototyping
/model	Switch model used in current session	/model
/model --fast	Set a lighter model for prompt suggestions	/model --fast qwen3-coder-flash
/extensions	List all active extensions in current session	/extensions
/memory	Open the Memory Manager dialog	/memory
/remember	Save a durable memory	/remember Prefer terse responses
/forget	Remove matching entries from auto-memory	/forget <query>
/dream	Manually run auto-memory consolidation	/dream

1.5 Built-in Skills

These commands invoke bundled skills that provide specialized workflows.

Command	Description	Usage Examples
/review	Review code changes with 5 parallel agents + deterministic analysis	/review, /review 123, /review 123 --comment
/loop	Run a prompt on a recurring schedule	/loop 5m check the build
/qc-helper	Answer questions about Qwen Code usage and configuration	/qc-helper how do I configure MCP?

See Code Review for full /review documentation.

1.6 Side Question (/btw)

The /btw command allows you to ask quick side questions without interrupting or affecting the main conversation flow.

Command	Description
/btw <your question>	Ask a quick side question
?btw <your question>	Alternative syntax for side questions

How It Works:

• The side question is sent as a separate API call with recent conversation context (up to the last 20 messages)
• The response is displayed above the Composer — you can continue typing while waiting
• The main conversation is not blocked — it continues independently
• The side question response does not become part of the main conversation history
• Answers are rendered with full Markdown support (code blocks, lists, tables, etc.)

Keyboard Shortcuts (Interactive Mode):

Shortcut	Action
Escape	Cancel (while loading) or dismiss (after completed)
Space or Enter	Dismiss the answer (when input is empty)
Ctrl+C or Ctrl+D	Cancel an in-flight side question

Example:

(While the main conversation is about refactoring code)

> /btw What's the difference between let and var in JavaScript?

  ╭──────────────────────────────────────────╮
  │ /btw What's the difference between let   │
  │     and var in JavaScript?               │
  │                                          │
  │ + Answering...                           │
  │ Press Escape, Ctrl+C, or Ctrl+D to cancel│
  ╰──────────────────────────────────────────╯
  > (Composer remains active — keep typing)

(After the answer arrives)

  ╭──────────────────────────────────────────╮
  │ /btw What's the difference between let   │
  │     and var in JavaScript?               │
  │                                          │
  │ `let` is block-scoped, while `var` is    │
  │ function-scoped. `let` was introduced    │
  │ in ES6 and doesn't hoist the same way.   │
  │                                          │
  │ Press Space, Enter, or Escape to dismiss │
  ╰──────────────────────────────────────────╯
  > (Composer still active)

Supported Execution Modes:

Mode	Behavior
Interactive	Shows above Composer with Markdown rendering
Non-interactive	Returns text result: btw> question\nanswer
ACP (Agent Protocol)	Returns stream_messages async generator

Tip

Use /btw when you need a quick answer without derailing your main task. It's especially useful for clarifying concepts, checking facts, or getting quick explanations while staying focused on your primary workflow.

1.7 Session Recap (/recap)

The /recap command generates a short "where you left off" summary of the current session, so you can resume an old conversation without scrolling back through pages of history.

Command	Description
/recap	Generate and show a one-line session recap

How it works:

• Uses the configured fast model (fastModel setting) when available, falling back to the main session model. A small, cheap model is enough for a recap.
• The recent conversation (up to 30 messages, text only — tool calls and tool responses are filtered out) is sent to the model with a tight system prompt.
• The recap is rendered in dim color with a ❯ prefix so it stands apart from real assistant replies.
• Refuses with an inline error if a model turn is in flight or another command is processing. If there is no usable conversation, or the underlying generation fails, /recap shows a short info message instead of a recap — the manual command always responds with something.

Auto-trigger when returning from being away:

If the terminal is blurred for 5+ minutes and gets focused again, a recap is generated and shown automatically (only when no model response is in progress; otherwise it waits for the current turn to finish and then fires). Unlike the manual command, the auto-trigger is fully silent on failure: if generation errors or there is nothing to summarize, no message is added to the history. Controlled by the general.showSessionRecap setting (default: true); the manual /recap command always works regardless of this setting.

Example:

> /recap

❯ Refactoring loopDetectionService.ts to address long-session OOM caused by
  unbounded streamContentHistory and contentStats. The next step is to
  implement option B (LRU sliding window with FNV-1a) pending confirmation.

Tip

Configure a fast model via /model --fast <model> (e.g. qwen3-coder-flash) to make /recap fast and cheap. Set general.showSessionRecap to false to opt out of the auto-trigger while keeping the manual command available.

1.8 Information, Settings, and Help

Commands for obtaining information and performing system settings.

Command	Description	Usage Examples
/help	Display help information for available commands	/help or /?
/about	Display version information	/about
/stats	Display detailed statistics for current session	/stats
/settings	Open settings editor	/settings
/auth	Change authentication method	/auth
/bug	Submit issue about Qwen Code	/bug Button click unresponsive
/copy	Copy last output content to clipboard	/copy
/quit	Exit Qwen Code immediately	/quit or /exit

1.9 Common Shortcuts

Shortcut	Function	Note
Ctrl/cmd+L	Clear screen	Equivalent to /clear
Ctrl/cmd+T	Toggle tool description	MCP tool management
Ctrl/cmd+C×2	Exit confirmation	Secure exit mechanism
Ctrl/cmd+Z	Undo input	Text editing
Ctrl/cmd+Shift+Z	Redo input	Text editing

1.10 CLI Auth Subcommands

In addition to the in-session /auth slash command, Qwen Code provides standalone CLI subcommands for managing authentication directly from the terminal:

Command	Description
qwen auth	Interactive authentication setup
qwen auth qwen-oauth	Authenticate with Qwen OAuth (discontinued on 2026-04-15)
qwen auth coding-plan	Authenticate with Alibaba Cloud Coding Plan
qwen auth coding-plan --region china --key sk-sp-…	Non-interactive Coding Plan setup (for scripting)
qwen auth status	Show current authentication status

Tip

These commands run outside of a Qwen Code session. Use them to configure authentication before starting a session, or in scripts and CI environments. See the Authentication page for full details.

2. @ Commands (Introducing Files)

@ commands are used to quickly add local file or directory content to the conversation.

Command Format	Description	Examples
@<file path>	Inject content of specified file	@src/main.py Please explain this code
@<directory path>	Recursively read all text files in directory	@docs/ Summarize content of this document
Standalone @	Used when discussing @ symbol itself	@ What is this symbol used for in programming?

Note: Spaces in paths need to be escaped with backslash (e.g., @My\ Documents/file.txt)

3. Exclamation Commands (!) - Shell Command Execution

Exclamation commands allow you to execute system commands directly within Qwen Code.

Command Format	Description	Examples
!<shell command>	Execute command in sub-Shell	!ls -la, !git status
Standalone !	Switch Shell mode, any input is executed directly as Shell command	!(enter) → Input command → !(exit)

Environment Variables: Commands executed via ! will set the QWEN_CODE=1 environment variable.

4. Custom Commands

Save frequently used prompts as shortcut commands to improve work efficiency and ensure consistency.

Note

Custom commands now use Markdown format with optional YAML frontmatter. TOML format is deprecated but still supported for backwards compatibility. When TOML files are detected, an automatic migration prompt will be displayed.

Quick Overview

Function	Description	Advantages	Priority	Applicable Scenarios
Namespace	Subdirectory creates colon-named commands	Better command organization
Global Commands	~/.qwen/commands/	Available in all projects	Low	Personal frequently used commands, cross-project use
Project Commands	<project root directory>/.qwen/commands/	Project-specific, version-controllable	High	Team sharing, project-specific commands

Priority Rules: Project commands > User commands (project command used when names are same)

Command Naming Rules

File Path to Command Name Mapping Table

File Location	Generated Command	Example Call
~/.qwen/commands/test.md	/test	/test Parameter
<project>/.qwen/commands/git/commit.md	/git:commit	/git:commit Message

Naming Rules: Path separator (/ or \) converted to colon (:)

Markdown File Format Specification (Recommended)

Custom commands use Markdown files with optional YAML frontmatter:

---
description: Optional description (displayed in /help)
---

Your prompt content here.
Use {{args}} for parameter injection.

Field	Required	Description	Example
description	Optional	Command description (displayed in /help)	description: Code analysis tool
Prompt body	Required	Prompt content sent to model	Any Markdown content after the frontmatter

TOML File Format (Deprecated)

Warning

Deprecated: TOML format is still supported but will be removed in a future version. Please migrate to Markdown format.

Field	Required	Description	Example
prompt	Required	Prompt content sent to model	prompt = "Please analyze code: {{args}}"
description	Optional	Command description (displayed in /help)	description = "Code analysis tool"

Parameter Processing Mechanism

Processing Method	Syntax	Applicable Scenarios	Security Features
Context-aware Injection	{{args}}	Need precise parameter control	Automatic Shell escaping
Default Parameter Processing	No special marking	Simple commands, parameter appending	Append as-is
Shell Command Injection	!{command}	Need dynamic content	Execution confirmation required before

1. Context-aware Injection ({{args}})

Scenario	TOML Configuration	Call Method	Actual Effect
Raw Injection	prompt = "Fix: {{args}}"	/fix "Button issue"	Fix: "Button issue"
In Shell Command	prompt = "Search: !{grep {{args}} .}"	/search "hello"	Execute grep "hello" .

2. Default Parameter Processing

Input Situation	Processing Method	Example
Has parameters	Append to end of prompt (separated by two line breaks)	/cmd parameter → Original prompt + parameter
No parameters	Send prompt as is	/cmd → Original prompt

🚀 Dynamic Content Injection

Injection Type	Syntax	Processing Order	Purpose
File Content	@{file path}	Processed first	Inject static reference files
Shell Commands	!{command}	Processed in middle	Inject dynamic execution results
Parameter Replacement	{{args}}	Processed last	Inject user parameters

3. Shell Command Execution (!{...})

Operation	User Interaction
1. Parse command and parameters	-
2. Automatic Shell escaping	-
3. Show confirmation dialog	✅ User confirmation
4. Execute command	-
5. Inject output to prompt	-

Example: Git Commit Message Generation

---
description: Generate Commit message based on staged changes
---

Please generate a Commit message based on the following diff:

```diff
!{git diff --staged}
```

4. File Content Injection (@{...})

File Type	Support Status	Processing Method
Text Files	✅ Full Support	Directly inject content
Images/PDF	✅ Multi-modal Support	Encode and inject
Binary Files	⚠️ Limited Support	May be skipped or truncated
Directory	✅ Recursive Injection	Follow .gitignore rules

Example: Code Review Command

---
description: Code review based on best practices
---

Review {{args}}, reference standards:

@{docs/code-standards.md}

Practical Creation Example

"Pure Function Refactoring" Command Creation Steps Table

Operation	Command/Code
1. Create directory structure	mkdir -p ~/.qwen/commands/refactor
2. Create command file	touch ~/.qwen/commands/refactor/pure.md
3. Edit command content	Refer to the complete code below.
4. Test command	@file.js → /refactor:pure

---
description: Refactor code to pure function
---

Please analyze code in current context, refactor to pure function.
Requirements:

1. Provide refactored code
2. Explain key changes and pure function characteristic implementation
3. Maintain function unchanged

Custom Command Best Practices Summary

Command Design Recommendations Table

Practice Points	Recommended Approach	Avoid
Command Naming	Use namespaces for organization	Avoid overly generic names
Parameter Processing	Clearly use {{args}}	Rely on default appending (easy to confuse)
Error Handling	Utilize Shell error output	Ignore execution failure
File Organization	Organize by function in directories	All commands in root directory
Description Field	Always provide clear description	Rely on auto-generated description

Security Features Reminder Table

Security Mechanism	Protection Effect	User Operation
Shell Escaping	Prevent command injection	Automatic processing
Execution Confirmation	Avoid accidental execution	Dialog confirmation
Error Reporting	Help diagnose issues	View error information