Commands & Prompts

5. Commands (Slash Commands & Reusable Templates)

Commands are markdown prompt files that serve two roles:

1. User-invoked — triggered by typing /command-name.
2. Reusable templates — referenced by agents and skills via {{variable}} interpolation.

A command with no variables is a simple slash command. A command with variables is a parameterized template that can also be referenced by agents and skills.

Simple Command

---
name: review
description: Run a comprehensive code review on the current file
---

Review the current file for:
1. Code organization and structure
2. Error handling patterns
3. Performance implications
4. Security vulnerabilities
5. Test coverage gaps

Provide specific, actionable feedback with line references.

Parameterized Command (Template)

---
name: audit-finding
description: "Structured command for documenting a single audit finding"
variables:
  - name: control_id
    description: "Control identifier"
    required: true
  - name: severity
    description: "Finding severity level"
    required: true
    enum: [critical, high, medium, low]
    default: medium
  - name: evidence
    description: "Supporting evidence"
    required: false
    default: "No evidence provided"
---

# Audit Finding: {{control_id}}

## Severity: {{severity}}

Analyze the following evidence and produce a structured finding:

{{evidence}}

Frontmatter Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
name	string	Yes	Identifier, [a-z0-9-], max 64 chars.
description	string	RECOMMENDED	Shown in command listings and help.
variables	Variable[]	No	Template variables with optional defaults and enums.

Each variable in the variables array has:

Field	Type	Required	Description
name	string	Yes	Variable identifier used in {{name}} interpolation.
description	string	No	Human-readable description.
required	boolean	No	Whether the variable must be provided. Default: false.
enum	string[]	No	Allowed values.
default	string	No	Default value when not provided.

Platform Mapping

Platform	Native Support	Location	Invocation
Claude Code	✅ Yes	commands/ (.md files), .claude/prompts/	/plugin:command
Cursor	✅ Prompts / ⚠️ Commands via rules	.cursor/prompts/	No native /command from plugins
GitHub Copilot	✅ Yes	.github/prompts/<name>.prompt.md	Via prompt picker
Codex	⚠️ Via skills	Skills with disable-model-invocation	$skill-name

Command Namespacing & Collision

When multiple installed packages define commands with the same name, the platform MUST apply this resolution order:

Scope	Location	Precedence
Project	./commands/ (in package or .claude/commands/)	Highest
Personal	~/.claude/commands/ or user profile	Lower
Plugin / Package	<package>/commands/	Always namespaced

Plugin/package commands are always namespaced as package-name:command-name (e.g., /code-review:review). Two packages that both define a command named review are addressable as /code-review:review and /testing-utils:review without conflict.

Unnamespaced invocation (e.g., /review) resolves to the project or personal scope. If neither scope defines the command, the platform SHOULD prompt the user to disambiguate when multiple packages provide a command with that name.

Migration Strategy

For platforms without native command support, commands can be converted to skills with disable-model-invocation: true to achieve similar user-initiated behavior.