Built-In Slash Commands Overview
Built-In Slash Commands Overview
~7 Min. Lesezeit Zuletzt aktualisiert am August 8, 2026
Chapter 3 briefly mentioned the slash command /help. Now that the recipe planner has grown to a reasonable size, it's worth taking a systematic look at the most important built-in slash commands: short commands that start with a slash and control Claude Code itself, rather than giving it a task.
What makes a slash command
The difference from a normal message: a normal message like "Add a route" is a task for Claude, which it carries out using the tools from block 2. A slash command, on the other hand, controls Claude Code as a program itself - for example the history of the current session, or settings like which model is used.
The most important built-in commands
/help— shows an overview of available commands and the basics of using Claude Code./clear— starts a new, empty conversation in the same project folder, without the previous history./compact— compresses the conversation so far into a summary, to free up room in the context window (more in chapter 22)./model— shows the currently used model, or lets you switch it./cost— shows an overview of usage for the current session so far (more in chapter 26)./permissions— shows and manages the current permission settings from chapter 9./agents— shows available subagents, or manages them (more in chapter 19)./resume— picks up a previous session instead of starting from zero (more in chapter 22)./init— analyses the current project and proposes a first CLAUDE.md (see chapter 10).
Trying slash commands in the recipe planner
A good time to try these commands is right now, in the middle of the running recipe planner project: open a session in the project folder and try, for example, /cost to see roughly how much the work on chapters 11 through 15 has cost so far, or /permissions to review your current settings from chapter 9.
> /costSlash commands vs. normal messages
As a rule of thumb: for a task on the project ("add this", "explain that", "find this bug"), a normal message is the right way. For something about the session itself (clearing history, switching model, checking usage, managing permissions), a slash command is the right tool.
Tipp: Just type a slash (/) at the start of the input line - Claude Code will usually show you a list of available commands with a short description, so you don't need to memorise them.
The built-in commands cover controlling Claude Code itself. The next chapter goes one step further: your own slash commands, which automate recurring tasks in your own project.