Gemini CLI Slash Commands: Complete Reference (2026)

Gemini CLI is Google's open-source agentic terminal for reading, editing, and running code with Gemini models. Beyond natural-language prompts, it exposes 50+ built-in slash commands, custom .toml commands, @ file injection, and ! shell passthrough—giving you meta-level control over sessions, tools, memory, and workflows without leaving the terminal.

Custom slash commands shipped in July 2025—a highly requested feature that lets teams define reusable prompts in .toml files or expose MCP prompts as slash commands. This article is a complete reference from the official Commands documentation, plus custom-command authoring from the Google Cloud blog.

It is not a replacement for upstream docs. Note: Google announced migration from Gemini CLI to Antigravity CLI for some tiers in 2026—verify your install path and changelog before documenting team runbooks. See our Google Antigravity analysis for context.

For the Anthropic and OpenAI equivalents, see Claude Code commands and Codex slash commands. For open-source multi-provider TUI, see OpenCode slash commands. For editor-parity terminal agent, see Cursor CLI slash commands.

TL;DR

Three prefix types: /, @, and !

Gemini CLI uses three command prefixes with different roles:

Slash commands control the CLI itself. @ and ! are input patterns that shape what reaches the model or your system shell.

How slash commands fit a typical workflow

flowchart LR
  A[Setup /init /memory /mcp] --> B[Work /model /plan /compress]
  B --> C[Context @files /ide /directory]
  C --> D[Parallel /agents /shells]
  D --> E[Undo /restore /rewind]
  E --> F[Sessions /resume /clear /quit]

First session in a repo

During a task

Parallel work and subagents

Before you ship

Between sessions

Setup, memory, and project context

Memory hierarchy: Gemini CLI loads GEMINI.md from global, project/ancestor, and subdirectory locations—similar to CLAUDE.md and MEMORY.md patterns. Codex uses AGENTS.md; Gemini uses GEMINI.md.

Multi-directory: /directory add supports absolute paths, relative paths, and ~ home references. Disabled in restrictive sandbox profiles—use --include-directories at launch instead.

Model, plan, and session control

Plan mode is enabled by default. Use it the same way you'd use /plan in Codex or Claude Code—propose execution before implementation.

Session, resume, and checkpointing

Auto-save vs manual checkpoints: Conversations are automatically saved as you chat—run /resume to browse them. Manual /chat save <tag> checkpoints are project-scoped and stored under ~/.gemini/tmp/<project>/.

/restore vs /rewind: /restore reverts file changes from a specific tool call. /rewind navigates conversation history and can revert chat state, code changes, or both.

See Claude Code restore/checkpoint guide for the Anthropic equivalent.

Skills, MCP, extensions, and tools

Run /commands reload after adding or modifying custom commands without restarting the CLI.

IDE, editor, and TUI customization

Custom slash commands (.toml)

Custom commands are Gemini CLI's distinguishing feature—reusable prompts defined in TOML files, announced July 31, 2025 by Google Developer Advocates Jack Wotherspoon and Abhi Patel.

Install latest Gemini CLI

# npx (no global install)
npx @google/gemini-cli

# global npm
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli@latest

Scopes

Minimal .toml structure

Only two keys are required: description and prompt.

# ~/.gemini/commands/plan.toml
description = "Investigates and creates a strategic plan to accomplish a task."
prompt = """
Your primary role is that of a strategist, not an implementer.
Your task is to devise a comprehensive strategic plan for: {{args}}

You MUST NOT write, modify, or execute any code.

Present your plan with: Understanding the Goal, Investigation & Analysis,
Proposed Strategic Approach, Verification Strategy, and Anticipated Challenges.
"""

Usage:

/plan How can I make the project more performant?

Template variables

PR review example (from Google Cloud blog)

# .gemini/commands/review.toml
description = "Reviews a pull request based on issue number."
prompt = """
Please provide a detailed pull request review on GitHub issue: {{args}}.

Follow these steps:
1. Use `gh pr view {{args}}` to pull PR information.
2. Use `gh pr diff {{args}}` to view the diff.
3. Understand intent from the PR description.
4. Verify title follows Conventional Commits. Recent commits:
   !{git log --pretty=format:"%s" -n 5}
5. Search the codebase if required.
6. Write a concise review encouraging strong code quality.
7. Use `gh pr comment {{args}} --body {{review}}` to post the review.
"""

Invoke with /review 123.

Namespacing

File path relative to commands/ determines the command name. Path separators become colons:

Command names are case-sensitive.

After creating commands:

/commands list
/commands reload

MCP prompts as slash commands

Gemini CLI exposes MCP server prompts as slash commands automatically. The MCP prompt name and description become the command name and help text.

MCP prompt arguments support named and positional forms:

/research --topic="quantum computing"
/research quantum computing

This integrates with FastMCP Python servers and any MCP-compliant prompt provider. Reload with /commands reload after MCP server changes.

At commands (@): file injection

Git-aware filtering: By default, git-ignored files (node_modules/, dist/, .env) are excluded. Configure via context.fileFiltering in settings.

Spaces in paths: Escape with backslash: @My\ Documents/file.txt

Uses the read_many_files tool internally. Binary and very large files may be skipped or truncated.

Shell mode (!): passthrough commands

Shell mode sets GEMINI_CLI=1 in the subprocess environment so scripts can detect they're running inside Gemini CLI.

Platform: Linux/macOS uses bash; Windows uses powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command unless ComSpec is overridden.

Complete built-in slash command reference

Every built-in command from the official reference as of June 2026.

Custom commands: Any .toml in ~/.gemini/commands/ or .gemini/commands/ plus MCP prompts discovered at runtime.

Four-way comparison: Gemini CLI vs Codex vs Claude Code vs OpenCode

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

Commands worth memorizing first

/init                          # GEMINI.md scaffold
/memory show                   # inspect loaded context
/model set                     # pick the right model
/plan                          # read-only planning mode
/compress                      # free context mid-session
@src/main.ts Explain this file # attach code to prompt
!git status                    # quick shell check
/agents list                   # see subagents
/resume                        # pick up yesterday's thread
/commands reload               # after adding custom .toml

Quick custom command starter

mkdir -p ~/.gemini/commands
cat > ~/.gemini/commands/plan.toml << 'EOF'
description = "Strategic plan only—no implementation."
prompt = "Create a step-by-step plan for: {{args}}. Do NOT write code."
EOF
/commands reload
/plan Refactor the auth module

Related ExplainX guides

• Claude Code commands reference — Anthropic CLI counterpart
• Codex slash commands reference — OpenAI CLI counterpart
• OpenCode slash commands reference — open-source TUI counterpart
• Cursor CLI slash commands reference — Cursor terminal counterpart
• What is MCP? — /mcp and MCP prompts as slash commands
• What are agent skills? — /skills authoring patterns
• What is MEMORY.md? — hierarchical memory patterns
• Goal mode complete guide — /goal on Codex and Claude Code
• Loop engineering — scheduled and verification loops
• Google Antigravity vs Gemini CLI — 2026 migration context

Primary sources: Commands — Gemini CLI Docs · Custom slash commands — Google Cloud Blog · Gemini CLI GitHub

Summary

Gemini CLI slash commands span built-in session control (/model, /plan, /compress), custom .toml workflows (/review, /git:commit), MCP prompt integration, and @ / ! input patterns for file injection and shell passthrough. The .toml system—with {{args}} templating and !{shell} injection—is the most extensible custom-command model among the three major agentic CLIs.

Type /help to discover what your build exposes. Treat geminicli.com/docs as source of truth; bookmark this guide alongside the Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and Cursor CLI references for cross-platform work.

Command names, custom command syntax, and Antigravity migration status reflect Google documentation and the July 2025 Cloud blog as of June 11, 2026. Re-check the Gemini CLI changelog before documenting internal runbooks.