Built-ins
Level: 🌱 Beginner Source: CLI Reference, Features
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Claude Code ships with built-in slash commands, bundled skills, hook events, and built-in sub agents out of the box. This page is a reference for everything available without any custom configuration.
Built-in Slash Commands
Type / in Claude Code to see all available commands. Some commands depend on your platform, plan, or environment. Here are the key categories:
Session Management
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
/clear | Clear conversation history and free up context (aliases: /reset, /new) |
/compact [instructions] | Compact conversation with optional focus instructions |
/resume [session] | Resume a conversation by ID or name (alias: /continue) |
/fork [name] | Fork the current conversation at this point |
/export [filename] | Export conversation as plain text |
/rename [name] | Rename the current session |
/rewind | Rewind conversation/code to a previous point (alias: /checkpoint) |
Configuration & Status
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
/config | Open the Settings interface (alias: /settings) |
/model [model] | Select or change the AI model |
/permissions | View or update permissions (alias: /allowed-tools) |
/status | Show version, model, account, and connectivity |
/context | Visualize current context usage as a colored grid |
/cost | Show token usage statistics |
/usage | Show plan usage limits and rate limit status |
/doctor | Diagnose and verify your Claude Code installation |
/fast [on\|off] | Toggle fast mode on or off |
Tools & Integrations
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
/hooks | Manage hook configurations for tool events |
/agents | Manage agent configurations |
/mcp | Manage MCP server connections |
/memory | View and edit auto memory files |
/init | Initialize project with CLAUDE.md guide |
/ide | Manage IDE integrations |
/plugin | Manage Claude Code plugins |
/skills | List available skills |
🌿 Git & Code Review
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
/diff | Interactive diff viewer for uncommitted changes and per-turn diffs |
/review | Review a pull request for quality, correctness, security, and test coverage |
/pr-comments [PR] | Fetch and display comments from a GitHub PR |
/security-review | Analyze pending changes for security vulnerabilities |
/install-github-app | Set up the Claude GitHub Actions app |
Session Features
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
/desktop | Continue session in Claude Code Desktop app (alias: /app) |
/vim | Toggle between Vim and Normal editing modes |
/theme | Change the color theme |
/terminal-setup | Configure terminal keybindings |
/statusline | Configure status line |
/output-style [style] | Switch output styles (standard, explanatory, learning) |
/plan | Enter plan mode directly from the prompt |
/tasks | List and manage background tasks |
/loop [interval] [command] | Run a prompt or command on a recurring interval (default: 10 minutes) |
/btw [message] | Send a one-off request that doesn’t enter the conversation context — perfect for quick lookups mid-task |
/keybindings | Open keybindings configuration file |
/stats | Visualize daily usage, session history, streaks |
/insights | Generate a report analyzing your sessions |
Account & Meta
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
/login | Sign in to your Anthropic account |
/logout | Sign out |
/upgrade | Open the upgrade page |
/help | Show help and available commands |
/feedback [report] | Submit feedback (alias: /bug) |
/release-notes | View the full changelog |
/privacy-settings | View and update privacy settings |
/copy | Copy the last assistant response to clipboard |
/exit | Exit the CLI (alias: /quit) |
🌿 Bundled Skills
Bundled skills ship with Claude Code and are available in every session. Unlike slash commands which execute fixed logic, bundled skills are prompt-based playbooks that use Claude’s tools.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
/simplify | Reviews your recently changed files for code reuse, quality, and efficiency issues, then fixes them. Spawns three review agents in parallel. Run after implementing a feature or bug fix. |
/batch <instruction> | Orchestrates large-scale changes across a codebase in parallel. Decomposes work into 5-30 independent units, spawns one agent per unit in isolated git worktrees, each opens a PR. Requires a git repo. |
/debug [description] | Troubleshoots your current session by reading the session debug log. Optionally describe the issue to focus analysis. |
There is also a bundled developer platform skill that activates automatically when your code imports the Anthropic SDK — no manual invocation needed.
🌿 Built-in Hook Events
Claude Code provides these lifecycle events that you can hook into. No hooks are configured by default — you add them yourself — but these are the events available:
| Event | When it fires | Can block? |
|---|---|---|
SessionStart | Session begins or resumes | No |
UserPromptSubmit | User submits a prompt | Yes |
PreToolUse | Before a tool call executes | Yes |
PermissionRequest | Permission dialog appears | Yes |
PostToolUse | After a tool call succeeds | No |
PostToolUseFailure | After a tool call fails | No |
Notification | Claude sends a notification | No |
SubagentStart | A subagent is spawned | No |
SubagentStop | A subagent finishes | Yes |
Stop | Claude finishes responding | Yes |
TeammateIdle | Agent team teammate goes idle | Yes |
TaskCompleted | Task is marked as completed | Yes |
ConfigChange | Configuration file changes | Yes (except policy) |
WorktreeCreate | Worktree is being created | Yes |
WorktreeRemove | Worktree is being removed | No |
PreCompact | Before context compaction | No |
SessionEnd | Session terminates | No |
Hook handlers can be shell commands (type: "command"), HTTP endpoints (type: "http"), LLM prompts (type: "prompt"), or agentic verifiers (type: "agent").
See Hooks for how to get started, or the official hooks reference for full schemas.
🌳 Built-in Sub Agents
Claude Code includes built-in sub agents that Claude automatically uses when appropriate:
| Agent | Model | Tools | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explore | Haiku (fast) | Read-only | File discovery, code search, codebase exploration. Claude delegates when it needs to search or understand a codebase without changes. |
| Plan | Inherits | Read-only | Codebase research for planning. Used during plan mode to gather context before presenting a plan. |
| General-purpose | Inherits | All tools | Complex research, multi-step operations, code modifications. Used when a task requires both exploration and action. |
| Bash | Inherits | Bash | Running terminal commands in a separate context. |
| Claude Code Guide | Haiku | Read-only | Answers questions about Claude Code features. |
These agents are used automatically. You don’t need to configure them, but you can override them with custom agents of the same name, or disable them via permissions:
{
"permissions": {
"deny": ["Agent(Explore)", "Agent(Plan)"]
}
}
See Sub Agents for how to create your own custom agents.
Built-in Tools
Claude Code has access to these internal tools (used by both the main conversation and sub agents):
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
Bash | Execute shell commands |
Read | Read file contents |
Write | Create or overwrite a file |
Edit | Replace a string in an existing file |
Glob | Find files matching a pattern |
Grep | Search file contents with regex |
WebFetch | Fetch and process web content |
WebSearch | Search the web |
Agent | Spawn a sub agent |
Skill | Invoke a skill |
MCP servers can add additional tools with the naming pattern mcp__<server>__<tool>.
Quick Reference Shortcuts
| Prefix | What it does |
|---|---|
/ | Invoke a command or skill |
! | Run a bash command directly (bash mode) |
@ | File path mention with autocomplete |
Next Steps
- Type
/to explore all available commands in your environment - Run
/doctorto verify your installation - Run
/initto set up CLAUDE.md for your project - Return to Automating Your Workflows to learn about custom automation