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, 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.

/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.

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.

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.

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.

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.