Commands

Type / in the TUI input box to open the command palette. A leading slash command is also recognized in --print, SDK stream mode, and ACP. Command names use exact ASCII-insensitive matching. Unknown and unavailable slash-prefixed text is rejected with an error instead of becoming a prompt. Prefix a literal message that starts with / with another slash to send it as text: //lmao sends /lmao. Text sent programmatically (maki.session.prompt, subagent chat) is not parsed as a command. A known available command with invalid arguments returns an error instead of becoming a prompt.

The active registry combines built-ins, custom Markdown commands, MCP prompts, and Lua commands. Lua commands have the highest collision priority, followed by MCP prompts, custom commands, and built-ins. Each frontend advertises its capabilities, and the registry omits commands that require unavailable capabilities. Registrations can change when plugins reload or MCP servers reconnect. The palette and protocol command lists show the current target-scoped winners. Root CLI subcommands such as maki auth are separate from slash commands.

Built-in commands

Command	Description	Mode	Arguments	Frontends
/tasks	Browse and search tasks	none		TUI only
/compact	Summarize and compact conversation history	raw (optional)		all
/new	Start a new session	none		TUI only
/clear	Alias for /new	none		TUI only
/help	Show keybindings	none		TUI only
/queue	Remove items from queue	none		TUI only
/model	Switch model	typed		all
/theme	Switch color theme	typed		TUI only
/mcp	Configure MCP servers	none		TUI only
/login	Authenticate with an LLM provider	none		TUI only
/cd	Change working directory. Quote paths containing spaces.	typed	[path]	all
/btw	Ask a quick question (no tools, no history pollution)	raw (required)		all
/yolo	Toggle YOLO mode (skip all permission prompts)	none		all
/fast	Toggle fast mode (Anthropic Opus or Codex subscription models)	none		all
/workflow	Toggle workflow mode (task callable inside code_execution)	none		all
/exit	Exit the application	none		TUI only
/reload	Reload plugins and config	none		TUI only
/trust	Trust this folder and load its shared project config	none		TUI only

The portable built-ins are /compact, /model, /cd, /btw, /yolo, /fast, and /workflow. ACP advertises these built-ins plus custom, MCP, and portable Lua commands. ACP hides /new and /clear. The ACP client owns session creation through session/new. A typed /new or /clear resolves locally and returns guidance to use session/new; it does not invoke model inference or reset model history. Commands that require TUI capabilities are omitted from ACP. Invoking an unavailable command returns an error; to send it as a literal prompt, escape the leading slash (//help sends /help).

Bundled plugin commands

Bundled Lua plugins register these commands at startup. Plugin commands have higher collision priority than built-ins, so a bundled plugin can replace a built-in implementation for the targets it supports.

Command	Description	Mode	Arguments	Frontends
/automode	Toggle bash auto mode (classifier gates every bash command)	none		all
/build	Switch to build mode (full tool access)	none		all
/memory	View, edit, and delete memory files	none		TUI only
/options	Browse and change session options	none		TUI only
/plan	Switch to plan mode (analyse and write only the plan file)	none		all
/rename	Rename the current session	raw (required)		TUI only
/sessions	Browse and switch sessions	typed	[query]	TUI only
/splash	Preview and select a splash renderer	typed	[splash]	TUI only
/splash-fps	Toggle the splash fps overlay: live fps and per-frame render time.	none		TUI only
/thinking	Set thinking effort (bare opens a selector)	typed	[effort]	TUI only
/usage	Show provider quota and focused-session token usage	none		TUI only

Command arguments

Lua commands declare their arguments with arguments. Use arguments = { raw = true } for an optional unparsed argument string, or add required = true to reject empty input. Provide a dense array of typed positional descriptors for decoded values. Each typed argument has a name and one of string, integer, enum, file, or directory types. Set optional = true only after required arguments, and set variadic = true only on the final argument.

Typed command input uses shell-like single or double quotes to keep spaces in one value. Quotes are removed before validation; double-quoted values only escape \" and \\. Integers are signed decimal values from -9007199254740991 through 9007199254740991. Handlers receive the original text in opts.args, decoded tokens in opts.fargs, and typed values in opts.values keyed by argument name.

Completion callbacks receive the typed argument name as ctx.argument, its type as ctx.type, and successfully parsed preceding values as ctx.values. Raw commands receive the original argument text.

/model and /theme also accept an argument. While you type it, the palette lists the possible values (model specs, theme names), and submitting resolves the argument without opening the picker:

• /model <spec>: a full provider/id spec is used as-is, even if it is not in the discovered list. A fragment is fuzzy-matched against the discovered specs, and a unique match switches to it. Zero or multiple matches flash a note and keep the current model.
• /theme <name>: the exact name is applied and persisted. A fragment that matches one theme name (like toky for tokyonight) is resolved the same way; unknown or ambiguous names flash a note and leave the current theme. With no argument, the picker opens and previews each theme as you navigate.

Sessions

Sessions run concurrently. /new starts a fresh session while the old one keeps working in the background, and /sessions shows the live status of each (working, needs input, idle) so you can jump between them. The picker lists this directory's sessions; a session open in another terminal is greyed out and cannot be opened from here. When a background session finishes or needs input, Makima flashes a note in the status bar. /rename renames the current session; in the session picker, Ctrl+N / Ctrl+R / Ctrl+D create, rename, and delete.

Modes and toggles

• /yolo: skip permission prompts for this session (deny rules still apply). Config: always_yolo = true.
• /thinking: bare opens the selector; an optional setting applies and persists the default. Completion lists the finite options supplied by the host. Positive numeric token budgets are accepted as arguments but are not suggested. Config: always_thinking.
• /fast: faster responses on Anthropic Opus, and on eligible Codex models when you sign in with a ChatGPT subscription. OpenAI API keys and every other model ignore it. Config: always_fast = true.
• /workflow: let code_execution call the task tool (and other workflow-only tools) from inside the Python sandbox. Config: always_workflow = true.
• Plan / build: not a slash command. Press Tab in the input to toggle plan mode (plan-file writes only).
• /reload: rebuild plugins and config without leaving the app.
• /btw: one-shot side question with no tools and no history pollution.
• /memory: open the memory file picker (view / edit / delete). See the memory tool under Tools.

Custom commands

You can define your own slash commands as Markdown files. Empty files are skipped.

Discovery and priority

Later sources override earlier ones when the command name matches (the stem of the file, or name in frontmatter):

1. User config: ~/.config/makima/commands/ (and legacy ~/.makima/commands/ if present)
2. User third-party: ~/.claude/commands/
3. Project dirs, walking from the current working directory up to the nearest .git root. At each level: .makima/commands/, then .claude/commands/

Because the walk goes cwd → … → git root, a command at the repository root overrides the same name found only under a nested cwd. Project commands override user commands. Palette names are /project:<name> or /user:<name> depending on which scope won.

Skip all of the above with --no-commands (see CLI).

Metadata

You can add optional metadata at the top of the file between --- lines to set name, description, and argument-hint:

---
description: Review code for issues
argument-hint: <file>
---
Review $ARGUMENTS and suggest improvements.

Arguments

Use $ARGUMENTS in the command body. It gets replaced with whatever you type after the command name. The command is treated as accepting args if the body contains $ARGUMENTS or you set argument-hint.

For example, /project:review main.rs replaces $ARGUMENTS with main.rs.

Aliasing commands

Prefer a different name for a command? maki.api.run_command runs any slash command exactly as typing it would, so an alias is a one-line handler in your init.lua instead of a reimplementation.

-- ~/.config/makima/init.lua
local aliases = {
    { name = "/clear", target = "/new", description = "Alias for /new" },
    { name = "/resume", target = "/sessions", description = "Alias for /sessions" },
}

for _, alias in ipairs(aliases) do
    maki.api.register_command({
        name = alias.name,
        description = alias.description,
        handler = function()
            local ok, err = maki.api.run_command(alias.target)
            if not ok then
                maki.ui.flash("could not run " .. alias.target .. ": " .. err)
            end
        end,
    })
end

Both names stay in the palette: aliasing adds a name, it does not rename or hide the original. It works for any command listed above, plus plugin commands and MCP prompts. See maki.api.run_command for matching and error handling, or maki.ui.action to bind a key instead of a name.

Related: CLI for shell flags and subcommands, Skills for on-demand playbooks.