Quick Reference

Slash Commands Cheat Sheet

Every / command your Ally understands — bookmark this page.

How to use: In the chat box, type / and your Ally shows you the available options. Keep typing to narrow it down. These commands work the same every time — memorize the few you use most, bookmark this page for the rest.

Essential Commands

These are the ones you'll reach for most. Learn them first.

Command What It Does When to Use It
/new Starts a brand-new conversation. Your Ally lets go of the old chat and starts fresh — no memory of what came before. When you're done with one task and moving to something completely different.
/stop Tells your Ally to stop whatever it's doing right now. The current response stops mid-stream. Your Ally is writing a long answer and you already have what you need, or it's going in the wrong direction.
/reset A deeper reset than /new. Clears the conversation and resets any active state your Ally was tracking. Things got tangled — your Ally is confused about what's happening. A fresh slate.
/deliver Controls whether your Ally sends its work to other channels (Slack, email, etc.). See sub-commands below for on and off. You want to control when your Ally's output leaves the chat. Off by default — nothing goes out unless you say so.

Power User Commands

Step up your Ally game once you're comfortable with the basics.

Command What It Does When to Use It
/session Lets you switch between different conversation threads (sessions). Each session is a separate thread — like having multiple tabs open. You want to keep two different projects separate, or you want to jump back to a conversation from earlier.
/model Changes which AI brain your Ally is using right now. Different models have different strengths. You need a quick answer (fast model) or you're working on something complex that needs a deeper thinker (powerful model).
/goal Gives your Ally a mission to keep working toward — across multiple conversations. Like setting a North Star for everything it does. You want your Ally to keep a long-term objective in mind, even across different chats and sessions.
/reasoning Controls whether your Ally shows its internal thought process. See sub-commands for on and off. You want to decide whether to see the steps behind the answer or just the answer.
/fast Switches your Ally between quick-answer mode and full-depth reasoning. See sub-commands for on and off. Simple questions vs. complex analysis. Toggle as needed.

Troubleshooting & Info Commands

Command What It Does When to Use It
/status Shows what state your Ally is in — idle, working, waiting for your approval, or connected to other systems. You're not sure if your Ally is busy, stuck, or waiting on you.
/help Shows the full list of available commands right in the chat. You forgot a command and don't have this cheat sheet handy.
/verbose Shows more detail in your Ally's responses. See sub-commands for on and off. You want to see exactly what your Ally is doing under the hood.

Sub-Commands (the [bracket hints])

Many commands have sub-options that appear when you type the main command. These show up as a popup with each option explained in [brackets].

Use to move through the list, Tab to fill in the selected option, Enter to run it, Esc to close the popup.

Toggle Commands (on / off)

These commands turn a feature on or off. The bracket hints will say [on] or [off].

Type This Sub-Command What It Does
/deliver on [turn on delivery] Your Ally starts sending responses to Slack, email, or other connected channels.
off [turn off delivery] Everything stays in the chat. Nothing goes out. This is the default.
/reasoning on [show thinking] Your Ally shows its internal thought process — how it reached its answer.
off [hide thinking] Only the answer is shown, not the steps behind it.
/fast on [fast mode on] Quick answers for simple questions. Your Ally uses a faster brain.
off [fast mode off] Returns to full-depth reasoning. Your Ally takes the time it needs.
/verbose on [verbose mode on] Shows more detail — including every tool your Ally runs internally.
off [verbose mode off] Normal response style, keeps things compact.

Goal Management

Type /goal and a popup shows everything you can tell your Ally about a mission.

Type This Sub-Command What It Does
/goal status [check goal status] Check if your Ally has an active goal and what it is.
start [set a goal] Begin a new goal. Type your objective after it.
pause [pause goal] Put the current goal on hold without losing it.
resume [resume goal] Unpause a goal and get back to work.
complete [complete goal] Mark the goal as finished. Your Ally celebrates the win.
block [what's blocking you] Tell your Ally what's in the way so it can help you work around it.
clear [clear goal] Remove the goal entirely. No trace left.

Commands That Take Parameters

Some commands need extra information after them — like a session name or model. Type the command, and the popup will show you what's available.

Command How to Use It What It Does
/session name [pick a session] Switch to a named conversation thread. Type a name like /session weekly-planning or a key like /session main. If it doesn't exist yet, your Ally creates it.
idle [set idle timeout] Only in channels with thread bindings (Discord, Matrix, Telegram topics, Slack threads). Check or change how long the binding lasts before it auto-unfocuses due to inactivity. By default: 24 hours. Example: /session idle 30m sets it to 30 min. /session idle off disables the auto-unfocus.
max-age [set max session age] Only in channels with thread bindings. Check or change the hard maximum age for the current binding. When the timer expires, the binding ends regardless of activity. By default: disabled (no max age). Example: /session max-age 2h sets a 2-hour limit. /session max-age off disables it.
/model Type /model and a popup shows available options. Pick one or type to search. Changes which AI brain your Ally uses for the current conversation.

Pro tip: Just type / in the chat box. Your Ally will show you every command available right now, with [bracket hints] explaining each one. The list changes depending on what's running — so if you're ever stuck, start with / and see what comes up.

Use Tab to auto-fill a selected command, Enter to run it, Esc to close the popup.

Why do some commands say "only in channels with thread bindings"?

/session idle and /session max-age manage thread bindings — a feature that pins a conversation session to a specific thread (like a Discord thread, Matrix thread, Telegram topic, or Slack thread). In those channels, you can bind a session to a thread so all messages in that thread route to the same session. The idle and max-age settings control how long that binding lasts. In the web dashboard, sessions aren't thread-bound, so these commands aren't relevant there.

Save this cheat sheet to your A Portal dashboard for quick access.

Go deeper

Master One Command at a Time

Each of these commands has a short guide showing you exactly when and how to use it with your Ally.

Starting Fresh (/new) Stop the Run (/stop) Tab Switching (/session) Setting Goals (/goal) Delivery (/deliver)