Cursor CLI Slash Commands: Complete Reference (2026)

Cursor CLI brings the Cursor editor's agentic coding experience to the terminal—same modes, rules, MCP integrations, and model catalog, keyboard-first in your shell. Beyond natural-language prompts, it exposes 25+ slash commands for switching between Plan and Ask modes, configuring sandbox and auto-run behavior, managing rules and custom commands, and controlling sessions without leaving the CLI.

This article is a complete slash-command reference from the official Slash commands documentation and the Using Agent in CLI guide. It is not a replacement for upstream docs. Use this as a map of the surface area and a workflow guide; verify behavior against cursor.com/docs before you ship team runbooks.

Sister guides: Claude Code · Codex · Gemini CLI · OpenCode

TL;DR

Three agent modes (the foundation)

Cursor CLI's slash commands orbit three modes—the same model as the Cursor editor:

Plan mode works best for complex features, multi-file changes, unclear requirements, and architectural decisions. Ask mode is for understanding code without risk of edits. Agent mode is the default for implementation work.

See Plan Mode documentation for the full workflow: agent asks questions → researches codebase → generates plan → you review/edit → build when ready.

How slash commands fit a typical workflow

flowchart LR
  A[Setup /rules /mcp /sandbox] --> B[Plan /plan]
  B --> C[Build Agent mode]
  C --> D[Explore /ask]
  D --> E[Ship /compress /usage]
  E --> F[Sessions /new-chat /resume]

First session in a repo

The CLI automatically loads AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md at the project root alongside .cursor/rules—same as the editor agent.

During a task

Before debugging or support

Between sessions

Mode and model commands

Auto-run controls whether the agent executes tools (shell, file edits) without asking first. Tighten with /auto-run off when working on sensitive code; check state with /auto-run status.

Max mode enables extended reasoning on models that support it—similar in spirit to Claude Code's /effort or Codex's deeper reasoning tiers, but Cursor-specific.

CLI flags (non-slash alternatives):

cursor agent --mode=plan "Refactor the auth module"
cursor agent --mode=ask "How does caching work?"
cursor agent --plan "Design a migration strategy"

Security, sandbox, and permissions

Use /sandbox to restrict what the agent can reach on your machine and network—especially important when running Cursor CLI on shared or production-adjacent environments.

For broader agent security patterns, see Is Claude Cowork safe? and Claude Code's /permissions in our Claude Code commands reference.

Rules, custom commands, and MCP

Rules live in .cursor/rules as .mdc files—the same rules system as the Cursor editor. They provide persistent, path-scoped guidance to the agent.

Custom commands via /commands let you define reusable prompts—Cursor's equivalent to Gemini CLI .toml commands or OpenCode .md commands.

MCP integration matches the editor: enable servers with /mcp enable, disable with /mcp disable, browse config with /mcp list. See What is MCP? for protocol fundamentals.

Session, context, and terminal commands

/compress vs /new-chat: /compress keeps you in the same session with a summarized history—use mid-task when context fills up. /new-chat wipes context entirely—use when switching to an unrelated task.

Resume by folder: /resume <chat> finds previous sessions by folder name, aligning with Cursor's project-scoped chat history.

Debugging and support commands

When filing bugs or asking in Cursor forums, /copy-request-id gives support a precise trace of the failing request.

Complete slash command reference table

Every command from the official Slash commands page as of June 11, 2026. (The upstream docs list /max-mode twice; it is one command.)

Total: 24 unique built-in slash commands (25 entries in upstream table with duplicate /max-mode).

Five-way comparison: Cursor CLI vs Claude Code vs Codex vs Gemini CLI vs OpenCode

Full references: Cursor CLI · Claude Code · Codex · Gemini CLI · OpenCode

Cursor's differentiator: Plan + Ask + Agent mode triad with editor-parity .cursor/rules—a smaller built-in table than Claude Code, but tight integration with the Cursor ecosystem.

Commands worth memorizing first

/plan                          # design before coding
/ask                           # read-only exploration
/model                         # pick model
/auto-run status               # confirm tool policy
/compress                      # free context mid-session
/rules                         # edit project rules
/mcp list                      # check MCP servers
/new-chat                      # fresh session
/resume my-project             # continue prior chat
/copy-request-id               # for support tickets

Typical workflow

# 1. Plan a large change
/plan
Refactor auth to use JWT with refresh tokens

# 2. Review plan, then switch to Agent (default) to implement
# 3. Mid-session context getting full?
/compress

# 4. Explore without edits
/ask
How does the current session middleware work?

Related ExplainX guides

• Claude Code commands reference — Anthropic CLI
• Codex slash commands reference — OpenAI CLI
• Gemini CLI slash commands reference — Google CLI
• OpenCode slash commands reference — open-source TUI
• What is CLAUDE.md? — also read by Cursor CLI
• What is MCP? — /mcp setup
• What are agent skills? — skills across hosts
• Top 10 tips for working with Claude efficiently — model and context discipline

Primary sources: Slash commands — Cursor Docs · Using Agent in CLI · Plan Mode · CLI Overview

Summary

Cursor CLI slash commands center on three modes (/plan, /ask, Agent), editor-parity configuration (/rules, /commands, /mcp), and session hygiene (/compress, /new-chat, /resume). The built-in surface is smaller than Claude Code's 90+ commands, but the Plan → review → build workflow is first-class—not bolted on.

Type / to discover commands in your build. Treat cursor.com/docs/cli/reference/slash-commands as source of truth; bookmark this guide alongside the Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and OpenCode references for cross-platform work.

Command names and behavior reflect Cursor documentation as of June 11, 2026. Re-check cursor.com/docs and the Cursor changelog before documenting internal runbooks.