Gemini CLI supports several built-in commands to help you manage your session, customize the interface, and control its behavior. These commands are prefixed with a forward slash (`/`), an at symbol (`@`), or an exclamation mark (`!`).
- **Description:** File an issue about Gemini CLI. By default, the issue is filed within the GitHub repository for Gemini CLI. The string you enter after `/bug` will become the headline for the bug being filed. The default `/bug` behavior can be modified using the `bugCommand` setting in your `.gemini/settings.json` files.
- **Description:** Save and resume conversation history for branching conversation state interactively, or resuming a previous state from a later session.
- **Sub-commands:**
- **`save`**
- **Description:** Saves the current conversation history. You must add a `<tag>` for identifying the conversation state.
- **Usage:** `/chat save <tag>`
- **`resume`**
- **Description:** Resumes a conversation from a previous save.
- **Usage:** `/chat resume <tag>`
- **`list`**
- **Description:** Lists available tags for chat state resumption.
- **Description:** Clear the terminal screen, including the visible session history and scrollback within the CLI. The underlying session data (for history recall) might be preserved depending on the exact implementation, but the visual display is cleared.
- **Keyboard shortcut:** Press **Ctrl+L** at any time to perform a clear action.
- **`/compress`**
- **Description:** Replace the entire chat context with a summary. This saves on tokens used for future tasks while retaining a high level summary of what has happened.
- **Description:** Display the full, concatenated content of the current hierarchical memory that has been loaded from all `GEMINI.md` files. This lets you inspect the instructional context being provided to the Gemini model.
- **Description:** Reload the hierarchical instructional memory from all `GEMINI.md` files found in the configured locations (global, project/ancestors, and sub-directories). This command updates the model with the latest `GEMINI.md` content.
- **Note:** For more details on how `GEMINI.md` files contribute to hierarchical memory, see the [CLI Configuration documentation](./configuration.md#4-geminimd-files-hierarchical-instructional-context).
- **Description:** Restores the project files to the state they were in just before a tool was executed. This is particularly useful for undoing file edits made by a tool. If run without a tool call ID, it will list available checkpoints to restore from.
- **Usage:** `/restore [tool_call_id]`
- **Note:** Only available if the CLI is invoked with the `--checkpointing` option or configured via [settings](./configuration.md).
- **Description:** Inject the content of the specified file or files into your current prompt. This is useful for asking questions about specific code, text, or collections of files.
- The command uses the `read_many_files` tool internally. The content is fetched and then inserted into your query before being sent to the Gemini model.
- **Git-aware filtering:** By default, git-ignored files (like `node_modules/`, `dist/`, `.env`, `.git/`) are excluded. This behavior can be changed via the `fileFiltering` settings.
- **File types:** The command is intended for text-based files. While it might attempt to read any file, binary files or very large files might be skipped or truncated by the underlying `read_many_files` tool to ensure performance and relevance. The tool indicates if files were skipped.
- **Output:** The CLI will show a tool call message indicating that `read_many_files` was used, along with a message detailing the status and the path(s) that were processed.
- **Description:** If you type a lone `@` symbol without a path, the query is passed as-is to the Gemini model. This might be useful if you are specifically talking _about_ the `@` symbol in your prompt.
- If the path specified after `@` is not found or is invalid, an error message will be displayed, and the query might not be sent to the Gemini model, or it will be sent without the file content.
- If the `read_many_files` tool encounters an error (e.g., permission issues), this will also be reported.
- **Description:** Execute the given `<shell_command>` in your system's default shell. Any output or errors from the command are displayed in the terminal.
- **Examples:**
-`!ls -la` (executes `ls -la` and returns to Gemini CLI)
-`!git status` (executes `git status` and returns to Gemini CLI)
- **`!` (Toggle shell mode)**
- **Description:** Typing `!` on its own toggles shell mode.
- **Entering shell mode:**
- When active, shell mode uses a different coloring and a "Shell Mode Indicator".
- While in shell mode, text you type is interpreted directly as a shell command.
- **Exiting shell mode:**
- When exited, the UI reverts to its standard appearance and normal Gemini CLI behavior resumes.
- **Caution for all `!` usage:** Commands you execute in shell mode have the same permissions and impact as if you ran them directly in your terminal.
