If you use Scholarly's AI tutor regularly, you've probably typed the same kinds of prompts over and over. "Summarize this chapter." "Make flashcards from these notes." "Explain this like I'm five." Every student has their go-to requests, and retyping them every session is wasted effort.

Today we're introducing Slash Commands and Custom Skills — a way to turn your most-used prompts into instant shortcuts you can trigger with a single keystroke.

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What Are Slash Commands?

Type / in any AI chat conversation and a command menu appears. You can browse the list with your arrow keys, press Enter to select a command, or hit Esc to close the menu. It works exactly like slash commands in Slack, Discord, or Notion — if you've used any of those, you already know the interaction.

Scholarly ships with two built-in commands to start:

• /new — Starts a fresh conversation. No more scrolling up to find the "New Chat" button.
• /create-skill — Opens the skill builder modal where you can define a new custom skill right from the chat.

These built-in commands are just the beginning. The real power comes from the skills you create yourself.

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Creating Your First Skill

A skill is a reusable prompt template that becomes a slash command. To create one, type /create-skill in chat or go to Settings > Skills and click "Create Skill."

Each skill has three parts:

1. Name — What you'll type after / to invoke it (e.g., "summarize").
2. Description — A short note so you remember what it does.
3. Prompt — The actual instructions sent to the AI when you invoke the skill.

Once saved, your skill appears in the / menu alongside the built-in commands. Select it, and the AI executes your prompt immediately — no retyping, no copy-pasting from a notes app.

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Example Skills Every Student Should Try

Here are a few skills to get you started. You can create all of these in under a minute:

/summarize

Prompt: "Summarize the content I've uploaded in clear, concise bullet points. Focus on the main arguments and key takeaways."

Perfect for processing long readings before class. Upload a PDF, type /summarize, and get the highlights.

/flashcards

Prompt: "Generate flashcards from this material. Focus on definitions, key concepts, and anything likely to appear on an exam."

Pairs naturally with Scholarly's flashcard system. The AI generates the cards, and you can save them directly to a deck.

/essay-outline

Prompt: "Create a detailed essay outline based on this topic. Include a thesis statement, 3-4 main arguments with supporting points, and a conclusion."

Useful when you're staring at a blank page. Give it your topic and get a structured starting point.

/eli5

Prompt: "Explain this concept in the simplest possible terms, as if I'm completely new to the subject. Use analogies and everyday examples."

Great for dense material in unfamiliar subjects. Sometimes you need the jargon stripped away before the textbook version makes sense.

/study-guide

Prompt: "Create a comprehensive study guide from this material. Organize by topic, highlight must-know concepts, and include practice questions at the end."

Turn any set of notes or readings into exam prep material with one command.

/practice-problems

Prompt: "Generate 10 practice problems based on this material, ranging from basic recall to application-level questions. Include an answer key."

Self-testing is one of the most effective study techniques. This skill gives you fresh practice problems on demand.

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Let the AI Create Skills for You

You don't have to write every skill from scratch. During any conversation, you can ask the AI tutor to create a skill for you. Say something like "Turn that into a reusable skill" or "Save that prompt as a skill I can use again," and the AI will build and save it.

This is especially useful when the AI gives you a response format you like. Instead of trying to recreate the prompt later, just ask it to save the approach as a skill on the spot.

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Managing Your Skills

All your skills live in Settings > Skills. From there you can:

• Edit the name, description, or prompt of any skill.
• Delete skills you no longer need.
• See all your custom commands in one place.

Skills are tied to your account, so they follow you across devices and sessions.

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Simpler Than GPT Builders

If you've tried building custom GPTs or configuring AI assistants on other platforms, you know the process can feel heavy — system prompts, conversation starters, knowledge bases, publishing settings. Skills skip all of that complexity.

A skill is just a name and a prompt. Create it in seconds, use it immediately, edit it whenever you want. There's no configuration overhead, no publishing step, and no wondering whether your settings are correct. It's the simplest version of "save a prompt and reuse it" that we could build.

Type / in your next conversation to try it out.