Get Started›CLI & slash commands

CLI & Slash Command Reference

Easy lookup guide for every talkops (and ops) terminal command, keyboard shortcut, and in-chat /slash command.

You can control TalkOps in two ways:

1. From your terminal (talkops / ops) — Start an interactive chat, run a one-off question (-p), launch a shared team server (talkops serve), sign in (talkops auth), or manage plugins, skills, and tools.
2. Inside the chat window (/, !, @) — Type / in the chat box to switch modes (/smart), pick AI models (/model, /pool), switch cloud accounts (/cloud), install plugins (/plugins), or review code (/review).

Quick Jump: Main talkops Flags · serve · auth · threads · mcp · plugin · addon · skills · agents · doctor · benchmark · Chat Shortcuts · Slash Commands

---

Starting TalkOps (Main Flags)

Running talkops (or the shorter ops alias) opens the interactive chat window in your terminal. If you want to ask a single question and exit—for example, inside a script or CI/CD pipeline—pass -p "your question".

# Open the interactive chat window
talkops                           # or: ops

# Open the chat window in Smart Mode and send an initial question
talkops --smart -m "Check if any pods in kube-system are failing"

# Run a single question and exit (great for scripts and CI/CD)
talkops -p "Check security groups in ap-south-1 for open SSH ports"

# Pipe error logs directly into TalkOps
kubectl logs deploy/checkout-api -n prod --tail=100 | talkops -p "Why is this service returning 502 errors?"

Everyday Options (Prompts, Safety & Cloud)

Flag	Short / Alias	What It Does
--prompt <text>	-p, -n	Run a single question without opening the interactive chat window, print the answer, and exit.
--message <text>	-m	Open the interactive chat window and immediately send <text> as your first message.
--smart	—	Turn on Smart Mode: automatically picks a fast, low-cost AI model for simple checks and a stronger model for hard problems, while checking commands for safety.
--auto-approve	-y	Automatically run routine commands without asking [y/n], while still blocking dangerous commands.
--approval-mode <mode>	—	Choose how commands are approved: manual, smart, auto, or yolo (yolo is only for -p or talkops serve).
--read-only	--dry-run	Safe mode—allows TalkOps to read and inspect your cloud or cluster, but blocks any changes or deletions.
--aws-profile <name>	—	Use a specific AWS profile for this session (for example, staging or prod-readonly).
--aws-region <region>	—	Use a specific AWS region for this session (for example, us-east-1 or ap-south-1).
--model <spec>	-M	Pick which AI model to use (for example, anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5 or openai:gpt-5.6-luna).
--agent <name>	-a	Start with a specific specialist agent (for example, -a aws-cloud-security-engineer).
--skill <name>	-s	Run a saved SKILL.md runbook right when the session starts.
--resume <thread_id>	-r	Continue a previous conversation by its ID.
--sandbox [provider]	—	Run commands and file edits inside an isolated cloud sandbox (modal, daytona, runloop, langsmith, agentcore, or vercel).
--server-url <url>	—	Connect to a shared team server (talkops serve) instead of running locally.
--cwd <path>	--workspace	Run TalkOps inside a specific folder.
--version / --help	-v / -h	Show the installed version or help text.

Advanced CLI Flags (Scripting, JSON Output, Goals & Debugging)

Flag	Short	What It Does
--quiet	-q	Only print the final answer in -p mode (hides step-by-step progress).
--no-stream	—	Wait until the answer is finished before printing it in -p mode.
--json	--output-format json	Output results as JSON so other scripts can read them easily.
--stdin	—	Read piped input from stdin and attach it to your prompt.
--max-turns <int>	—	Stop after at most <int> steps in -p mode.
--timeout <sec>	—	Stop if a -p run takes longer than <sec> seconds (exits with code 124).
--goal <objective>	—	Start the interactive chat with a multi-step goal that TalkOps works toward until finished.
--rubric <text|@file>	—	Give -p mode a checklist of requirements (or a @file.md). TalkOps keeps working until every item passes.
--rubric-model <spec>	—	Choose which AI model grades your --rubric checklist.
--rubric-max-iterations <n>	—	Maximum number of retries when checking --rubric.
--default-model [spec]	—	Show your saved default model, or save <spec> as your new default.
--clear-default-model	—	Reset your saved default model.
--model-params <json>	—	Pass extra model settings as JSON (for example, '{"temperature": 0.0}').
--no-subagents	—	Turn off specialist subagents and do everything in the main chat.
--shell-allow-list <list>	-S	Comma-separated list of allowed shell commands (recommended, all, or specific command names).
--tnr	—	Enable automatic rollback if a change fails verification.
--api-key <key>	—	API key (TALKOPS_API_KEY) for signing in to a Central Server or Control Plane.
--user-id <id>	—	Your user ID (TALKOPS_USER_ID) when sharing a Central Server with teammates.
--mcp-config <path>	—	Load an extra .mcp.json tool configuration file.
--no-mcp	—	Disable external MCP tool servers for this session.
--trust-project-mcp	—	Trust project .mcp.json servers without asking for confirmation.
--sandbox-id <id>	—	Connect to an already-running cloud sandbox container by its ID instead of creating a new one.
--sandbox-snapshot-name <name>	—	Pre-built container snapshot or blueprint name for --sandbox langsmith or --sandbox runloop.
--sandbox-setup <path>	—	Run a local .sh setup script inside the remote sandbox right after it starts.
--startup-cmd <cmd>	—	Run a local shell command before the first prompt starts.
--trajectory-file <path>	—	Save a detailed step-by-step log (JSONL) of the run to <path>.
--verbose / --log-level	-V	Show detailed debug logs (debug, info, warning, error).
--log-dir / --log-file	—	Customize where log files are saved (default: /tmp/talkops_logs/talkops.log).

---

CLI Subcommands

talkops serve (Aliases: webhook, webhooks)

Starts the shared Central Server so teammates can connect from their terminals (--server-url) and monitoring tools (like PagerDuty, Datadog, Prometheus, and GitHub) can send live alerts for automated investigation.

# Start the Central Server on port 2024
talkops serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 2024

# See all built-in webhook URLs for PagerDuty, Datadog, GitHub, etc.
talkops serve list

# See which server features (addons) are enabled
talkops serve addons

Action / Flag	Default	What It Does
talkops serve [start]	(default)	Starts the Central Server and webhook listener.
talkops serve list (ls)	—	Prints a table of all 9 built-in webhook integrations and their URLs.
talkops serve addons	—	Lists the active server features (client-gateway, core-auth, webhooks, plus any custom addons).
--host <addr> / --port <int>	0.0.0.0:2024	Address and port where the server listens.
--webhook-port <int>	Same as --port	Optional separate port just for incoming webhooks.
--postgres-uri <uri>	SQLite	PostgreSQL database URL for saving team conversations (uses local SQLite if omitted).
--profile <name>	default	Server mode: default (all features), api-only (team terminals only), webhook-worker (alerts only), or enterprise-full.
--approval-mode <mode>	smart	How server runs approve commands (smart, auto, yolo, or manual).
--read-only / --dry-run	False	Safe mode—allows the server to inspect resources but blocks changes or deletions.
--aws-profile / --aws-region	Default	Default AWS profile and region for server runs.
-V / -q / --json	—	-V for debug logs, -q to hide live log streaming, --json for JSON output on list/addons.

_{Viewing Webhook URLs (talkops serve list): Checking all 9 built-in webhook endpoints, shorthand aliases, and supported monitoring/CI tools.}

---

talkops auth

Manages your AI model API keys, your sign-in to a Central Server or Control Plane, and checks your active AWS login.

# Sign in via your browser or save a Central Server login
talkops auth login --sso
talkops auth login --server-url http://talkops.internal:2024 --api-key oc_live_... --user-id alice

# Save an AI provider API key (stored securely in your system keyring)
talkops auth set anthropic sk-ant-...
talkops auth set openai sk-proj-...

# Check which AI providers and cloud accounts are connected
talkops auth status
talkops auth aws --profile prod-admin --region us-east-1

Subcommand	Example	What It Does
status	talkops auth status	Shows your sign-in status, which AI providers have keys configured, and your active AWS account.
login	talkops auth login [--sso] [--server-url <url>] [--api-key <key>]	Signs in through your browser (--sso) or saves your API key and server URL so you don't have to type them every time.
logout	talkops auth logout [--all | --account | --provider <name>]	Signs out of your account or removes saved keys.
set	talkops auth set <provider> [api_key]	Saves an API key for any AI provider (prompts securely if you omit the key on the command line).
list (ls)	talkops auth list	Lists all 26+ supported AI model providers and shows which ones are ready to use.
remove (rm)	talkops auth remove <provider|all>	Deletes a saved API key.
aws	talkops auth aws [--profile <name>]	Checks which AWS account and IAM role your terminal is currently using.
token	talkops auth token [--refresh]	Prints your current session token for use in custom scripts.

_{Checking Your Setup (talkops auth status & talkops doctor): Verifying your sign-in status, AI provider keys, AWS account identity, and installed DevOps tools (aws, kubectl, terraform, helm, docker, git).}

---

talkops threads

Lists or deletes saved conversations from your computer (~/.talkops/sessions.db) or from a shared Central Server (--server-url).

# List your saved conversations
talkops threads list

# List your conversations on a shared Central Server
talkops threads list --server-url http://talkops.internal:2024 --user-id alice

# Resume or delete a conversation by its ID
talkops -r 8f3a9c12
talkops threads delete 8f3a9c12-4b2e-4d1a-9e5b-123456789abc

---

talkops plugin (Alias: plugins)

Finds and installs ready-made specialist plugins (like AWS FinOps, SRE, Kubernetes, Terraform, and Security agents) from the TalkOps Marketplace or your team's Git repository.

# Search for and install specialist plugins
talkops plugin search finops
talkops plugin install aws-finops-agent
talkops plugin install aws-cloud-security-engineer --scope project

# List all available and installed plugins
talkops plugin list

Subcommand	Syntax	What It Does
list (ls)	talkops plugin list	Shows all installed and available plugins.
search	talkops plugin search <keyword>	Searches plugins by topic (such as finops, security, eks, or terraform).
install	talkops plugin install <name> [--scope {user,project,local}]	Installs a plugin for yourself (user) or for your current repository (project).
uninstall	talkops plugin uninstall <name>	Removes an installed plugin.
enable / disable	talkops plugin <enable|disable> <name>	Turns an installed plugin on or off without deleting it.
refresh	talkops plugin refresh	Fetches the latest plugin list from the marketplace.
marketplace	talkops plugin marketplace <list|add <repo>|remove <name>>	Adds or manages custom GitHub/Git plugin catalogs for your team.

_{Browsing Plugins from the Terminal (talkops plugin list): Viewing installed plugins alongside available Infrastructure, Platform, Observability, Security, and FinOps specialists.}

---

talkops skills, talkops agents, talkops mcp, talkops addon & talkops doctor

Command	Common Usage	What It Does
talkops skills	talkops skills list talkops skills create <name> --project talkops skills info <name> talkops skills delete <name>	Lists, creates, or inspects reusable SKILL.md troubleshooting runbooks.
talkops agents	talkops agents list	Lists all specialist agents available in your workspace and installed plugins.
talkops mcp	talkops mcp list talkops mcp probe	Lists external MCP tool servers configured in .mcp.json or config.toml, and tests whether they are online (probe).
talkops addon	talkops addon list talkops addon install <name>	Lists or installs extra server features (addons) for talkops serve.
talkops doctor	talkops doctor	Checks that your AWS login and local DevOps tools (aws, kubectl, terraform, helm, docker, git) are installed and working.
talkops benchmark	talkops benchmark run --suite sregym	Runs automated SRE and DevOps evaluation suites (when optional benchmark packages are installed).

---

Chat Shortcuts & Input Prefixes

When you are inside the interactive talkops chat window, you can use these prefixes and keyboard shortcuts at any time:

Shortcut / Prefix	What It Does
/	Opens the command menu—type a few letters to filter commands, skills, or agents.
!<command>	Runs a shell command directly in your terminal and shows the output in chat (for example, !kubectl get nodes or !git status).
@<filename>	Searches files in your project so you can attach them to your message.
Shift+Tab	Switches between Manual, Smart, and Auto approval modes.
Ctrl+O	Expands or collapses detailed command outputs and specialist agent steps.
Ctrl+X	Opens your text editor ($EDITOR) to write a longer, multi-line prompt.
Ctrl+N	Opens the notifications panel.
Ctrl+L	Clears the screen.
Esc	Stops the current AI response or running command.
Ctrl+D / Ctrl+C	Exits TalkOps.

_{In-Chat / Command Menu: Type / and start typing (like / sma) to quickly jump to any command, skill, or specialist agent.}

---

In-Chat Slash Commands

Every /slash command below works both when running locally and when connected to a Central Server (--server-url).

1. Approval Mode & Safety

Command	How to Use It	What It Does
/smart	/smart (or Shift+Tab)	Turns on Smart Mode: automatically picks the best AI model for each question and runs safe read-only commands while asking before making risky changes.
/auto	/auto	Automatically runs routine commands without asking, while still blocking destructive commands.
/manual	/manual	Asks for your confirmation ([y/n/e]) before running any command or editing any file.
/permissions	/permissions	Opens a window to view or change which tools are allowed to run automatically.

---

2. Choosing AI Models & Smart Mode Pools

Command	How to Use It	What It Does
/model	/model or /model <provider:model>	Opens a menu to switch AI models, or switches directly to the model you specify (add --default to save it as your default).
/pool	/pool	Opens the Model Pool window so you can choose which AI models Smart Mode uses for Fast, Standard, and Powerful tasks.
/effort	/effort [low|medium|high|max]	Adjusts how much "thinking time" reasoning models spend before answering.
/fast	/fast	Pins the chat to your fastest model for quick back-and-forth questions.

_{Configuring Your Smart Mode Model Pool (/pool): Pick which models handle simple checks (Fast), everyday work (Standard), and deep investigations (Powerful).}

---

3. Cloud Accounts, Code Review & Multi-Step Goals

Command	How to Use It	What It Does
/cloud	/cloud (aliases: /aws, /azure, /gcp, /k8s)	Opens a window to switch between your AWS profiles, Azure subscriptions, GCP projects, and Kubernetes clusters (~/.kube/config).
/review	/review	Reviews your uncommitted git diff changes for bugs, security risks, and infrastructure issues.
/goal	/goal <what you want to achieve>	Gives TalkOps a multi-step goal to work on until every requirement is met (use /goal pause, /goal resume, or /goal clear to manage it).
/rubric	/rubric set <checklist>	Sets a success checklist that TalkOps verifies before finishing a task.
/doctor	/doctor	Checks your cloud login and local DevOps tools right inside the chat window.
/trace	/trace	Shows the LangSmith trace link for debugging the current conversation.

_{Switching Cloud & Kubernetes Accounts (/cloud): Easily switch between AWS profiles, Azure subscriptions, GCP projects, and Kubernetes clusters without leaving the chat.}

---

4. Managing Conversations & Context

Command	How to Use It	What It Does
/threads	/threads (or /resume)	Opens a list of your saved conversations (and shared alert threads on a Central Server) so you can search, resume, or delete them.
/fork	/fork (or /branch)	Makes a copy of the current conversation so you can test a fix or try another idea without changing the original thread.
/compact	/compact	Summarizes older messages in a long chat to free up memory and keep responses fast.
/btw	/btw <quick question>	Asks a quick side question without interrupting a running task or cluttering the main conversation.
/context	/context	Shows how much conversation memory is currently in use.
/cost	/cost (or /tokens)	Shows total token usage, cache savings, and estimated AI cost for the session.
/tasks	/tasks	Views or stops background commands and manages the session to-do list.
/loop	/loop 5m <prompt>	Repeats a check automatically on a schedule (for example, /loop 5m Check rollout status of checkout-api).
/copy	/copy	Copies the last AI reply to your clipboard.
/clear	/clear (or /force-clear)	Clears the screen and starts a new conversation (/force-clear also stops any running background work).
/exit	/exit (or /quit, /q)	Saves your session and closes TalkOps.

---

5. Specialist Agents, Plugins, Skills & Memory

Command	How to Use It	What It Does
/agent	/agent or /agent:<name> [prompt]	Opens a menu to pick a specialist agent (or switches directly with /agent:<name>). Type /agent clear to switch back to the main assistant.
/plugins	/plugins	Opens the Plugins window to browse, install, enable, or uninstall specialist DevOps plugins without leaving the chat.
/skills	/skills or /skill:<name>	Lists all available tools and SKILL.md runbooks, or runs a specific runbook.
/skill-creator	/skill-creator [topic]	Helps you turn a troubleshooting workflow you just did into a reusable SKILL.md runbook.
/mcp	/mcp	Opens the MCP Tool Server manager to check tool health or reconnect external servers.
/remember	/remember <note>	Saves a rule or project detail (for example, /remember Our prod EKS cluster is in ap-south-1) so TalkOps remembers it in future sessions.
/memory	/memory	Views or edits what TalkOps has saved in project and personal memory.

_{Switching to a Specialist Agent (/agent:aws-cloud-security-engineer): Loads the specialist's dedicated skills and tools and shows ▶ Agent: aws-cloud-security-engineer in the bottom bar.}

_{Installing Plugins Inside the Chat (/plugins): Browse and install AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform, SRE, FinOps, and Security plugins with a single keystroke.}

---

6. Settings, Login, Updates & Appearance

Command	How to Use It	What It Does
/login & /logout	/login (or /auth) and /logout	Opens the sign-in window to add AI provider keys or log in to a server, or signs out.
/config	/config	Opens the settings window to view or change TalkOps preferences.
/reload & /restart	/reload and /restart	/reload refreshes your config files, plugins, skills, and MCP tools; /restart restarts the background engine.
/update & /install	/update and /install <package>	Checks for new TalkOps versions (/update) or installs optional add-on packages (/install).
/theme	/theme	Switches between dark, light, and custom color themes.
/notifications, /timestamps, /scrollbar	/notifications, /timestamps, /scrollbar	Customizes notifications, toggles message timestamps, or shows/hides the scrollbar.
/version, /bug, /help	/version, /bug, /help	Shows version info, reports an issue, or displays the help guide.