Using Slash Commands in Continue

Learn how to use and create Slash Commands in Continue to run custom prompts, access context providers, and speed up coding tasks.

Slash commands are shortcuts that can be activated by typing ’/’ in a chat session (press cmd/ctrl + L (VS Code) or cmd/ctrl + J (JetBrains)), and selecting from the dropdown.

Slash commands can be combined with additional instructions, including highlighted code.

Recommended approach: Use prompt files to create slash commands instead of the deprecated config.json approach. The methods described below provide better flexibility and are the actively maintained ways to add custom commands.

Ways to Create Slash Commands in Continue

Assistant Prompt Blocks

The easiest way to add a slash command is by adding prompt blocks to your assistant, which show up as slash commands in Chat.

Prompt Files

It is also possible to write your own slash command by defining a “.prompt file.” Prompt files can be as simple as a text file, but also include templating so that you can refer to files, URLs, highlighted code, and more.

Learn more about prompt files here.

MCP Server Prompts

Any prompts provided by Model Context Protocol servers are also accessible in chat as Slash Commands. See the MCP Server Deep Dive for more details.