Slash Commands & Custom Skills

Slash commands let you trigger specific AI actions directly from the chat input. Type / to open a command menu with keyboard navigation, pick a command, and the AI executes it immediately.

Using Slash Commands

Type / in any AI chat input to open the command menu. Browse commands with the arrow keys and press Enter to select one. You can also type to filter the list.

Commands work in any chat context — the main assistant, PDF chat, flashcard chat, or any content-specific chat sidebar.

Built-in Commands

Two built-in commands sit at the top of the menu. They are actions Scholarly performs rather than prompts it runs:

• /new — Start a new conversation.
• /create-skill — Create a new custom skill from the current conversation.

Built-in commands are always available and cannot be edited or deleted.

Built-in Skills

Separately from those two commands, every account ships with built-in skills — ready-made prompts you can run without setting anything up. They appear in the command menu and in Settings alongside your own skills, under Built-in skills:

• /summary — A concise, high-signal summary: key takeaways first, then a compact write-up, ending with what to review next.
• /study-guide — A structured guide with an overview, core concepts, key terms, important facts and formulas, common mistakes, and practice questions.

Built-in skills are available to everyone. You can run them from Chat, but you cannot edit or delete them, and their command names are reserved — a custom skill cannot claim /summary or /study-guide.

Custom Skills

Custom skills are your own slash commands with personalized AI instructions. Create them to automate workflows you repeat often.

Creating a Custom Skill

There are two ways to create a custom skill:

1. From Settings — Go to Settings and find the Skills section. Select Add skill to define a name, command, and prompt.
2. From chat — Ask the AI to create a skill for you during a conversation. For example: "Create a skill that turns a policy document into a one-page briefing for the team." The AI builds and saves it automatically.

Each custom skill has:

• Name — A display name shown in the command menu.
• Command — The /command you type to trigger it (e.g., /practice-questions). This is set when the skill is created and cannot be changed later.
• Prompt — The instructions the AI follows when the skill is triggered.

Importing Skills

Import skills from .md files using the dropdown menu next to the Add skill button. This is useful for sharing skill configurations with colleagues or across devices. The file needs YAML front matter with a name and description, followed by the prompt.

Managing Skills

Open Settings to view all your skills. Built-in skills are labelled and locked. Your custom skills can be edited or deleted at any time.

Queued Messages

You can attach a slash skill to a message even while the AI is still responding to a previous one. The skill stays attached to that specific queued message, so batching several actions in a row works as expected.

Tips

• Use custom skills for workflows you repeat — turning meeting notes into a decision log, rewriting a spec into customer-facing language, or drilling the areas you keep getting wrong.
• Keep skill prompts focused. A concise, specific prompt produces better results than a long, vague one.
• Combine skills with @ content linking for powerful workflows. For example, type /study-guide after linking a PDF with @ to generate a guide grounded in that document.

Related

• AI Chat — where slash commands run, and how @ linking brings a source into the conversation.
• Settings — managing, importing, editing, and deleting your skills.
• Customization Profiles — reusable guidance and visual references for creations, rather than chat.