Lesson 20Automation

Skills & Commands

Slash commands

Slash Commands

Slash commands (/command) are quick actions called by name:

/helpShow help

/clearClear history

/compactCompress context

/modelSwitch model

/costShow usage

/memoryAdd to memory

Creating Custom Commands (SKILL.md)

Create a .claude/skills/SKILL_NAME.md file for your command:

---
name: pr
description: Create a pull request for current changes
arguments:
  - name: title
    description: PR title
    required: true
  - name: base
    description: Base branch
    default: main
---

Create a pull request with the following:
- Title: $1
- Base branch: $2
- Include all uncommitted changes
- Write a detailed description based on the changes

Steps:
1. Commit any uncommitted changes with a good message
2. Push the current branch
3. Create PR using gh cli
4. Return the PR URL

# Usage:

> /pr "Fix authentication bug" develop

Command Arguments

Commands can accept arguments via $1, $2 or $ARGUMENTS:

$ARGUMENTSAll arguments as string

$1, $2, $3...Positional arguments

default: valueDefault value in YAML

Agent Skills (Automatic)

Agent skills are called automatically by Claude when the task matches the description:

---
name: security-audit
description: Run security audit on the codebase
agent: true
model: sonnet
tools:
  - Read
  - Grep
  - Glob
---

You are a security auditor. Scan the codebase for:
1. SQL injection vulnerabilities
2. XSS vulnerabilities
3. Hardcoded secrets
4. Authentication issues

For each issue found, report:
- File and line number
- Vulnerability type
- Risk level
- Suggested fix

With agent: true the command runs as a sub-agent with isolated context

Skill vs Agent Skill

Skill (agent: false)

• Called by user via /command
• Executes in main context
• Sees full history

Agent Skill (agent: true)

• Can be called automatically
• Isolated context
• Can specify model and tools

Skill Scoping

.claude/skills/For current project

~/.claude/skills/For all projects

Command Ideas

/deploy— deploy current branch
/test-file— write tests for file
/review— code review current changes
/migrate— create DB migration

This lesson is part of a structured LLM course.

My Learning Path