TUI Commands

LeanCTL's full-screen terminal UI supports slash commands, keyboard shortcuts, file attachments, and inline shell commands.

Slash Commands

Type / or press Ctrl+P to access commands. Commands are organized by category.

Sessions

Command	Shortcut	Description
/new	Ctrl+N	Start a new conversation
/sessions	Ctrl+S	Browse past sessions
/resume <n>		Resume session by number
/delete <n>		Delete a session
/export	Ctrl+X X	Export chat as markdown

Models & Providers

Command	Shortcut	Description
/model	Ctrl+L	Open model picker
/model <name>		Switch to a specific model
/model <provider>/<model>		Switch provider and model
/connect		Setup guide for all providers
/connect list		Show configured providers
/connect test		Test current connection
/connect add <name> --type <type>		Add a new provider
/thinking <mode>		Set thinking mode: auto, always, never, manual

Tools & MCP

Command	Shortcut	Description
/mcp		Show MCP server status
/mcp add <name> <cmd>		Add MCP server
/mcp reload		Reconnect all servers
/verbose	Ctrl+E	Toggle tool detail output

Code & Git

Command	Shortcut	Description
/diff	Ctrl+X D	Git diff of session changes
/undo	Ctrl+X U	Undo file changes (git restore)
/redo	Ctrl+X R	Redo undone changes

Context & Savings

Command	Shortcut	Description
/context		Show context token usage
/compact [focus]	Ctrl+X C	Compress conversation to save tokens
/cost		Show API cost & token savings
/stats		Token savings statistics (today)
/wrapped [period]		Savings report (day/week/month)
/knowledge [query]		Knowledge base status or search
/benchmark [file]		Token compression benchmark
/lab [key value]		Tune lean-ctx compression parameters

Settings

Command	Description
/yolo	Toggle auto-approve for all tool executions
/theme <name>	Switch TUI theme (or open theme picker)
/init	Create LEANCTL.md project instructions file
/sidebar	Toggle sidebar visibility
/verbose	Toggle detailed tool output (alias: /details)
/lab [key value]	View or tune LeanCTX compression parameters
/clear	Clear conversation (keep context)
/exit	Quit LeanCTL

Custom Commands

Any /command that doesn't match a built-in will look for a markdown file in .leanctl/commands/ or ~/.leanctl/commands/. The file content is sent as a prompt with $ARGUMENTS replaced by the command arguments. See Configuration for details.

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Key	Action
Enter	Send message
Shift+Enter	New line in input
Ctrl+C	Quit (with confirmation)
Ctrl+D	Quit immediately
Esc	Cancel current action (press twice)
Tab	Toggle Build/Plan mode

Navigation

Key	Action
Ctrl+N	New session
Ctrl+S	Browse sessions
Ctrl+L	Model info / picker
Ctrl+P	Command palette
Ctrl+B	Toggle sidebar (files in context)
Ctrl+T	Expand thinking output
Ctrl+E	Toggle tool details
Ctrl+O	Open external editor ($VISUAL or $EDITOR, fallback: vim)
PageUp / PageDown	Scroll chat

Text Editing

Key	Action
Alt+←/→	Jump by word
Ctrl+A	Move to line start
Ctrl+W	Delete word backwards
Ctrl+K	Delete to end of line
Ctrl+U	Delete to start of line

Quick Actions (Ctrl+X, then key)

Sequence	Action
Ctrl+X N	New session
Ctrl+X L	Session picker
Ctrl+X Y	Copy last message
Ctrl+X X	Export chat
Ctrl+X C	Compact context
Ctrl+X D	Git diff
Ctrl+X U	Undo
Ctrl+X R	Redo
Ctrl+X S	Toggle mouse scroll
Ctrl+X Q	Quit

Inline Features

File attachments with @

Reference files in your prompt to include their content as context:

@src/auth.ts fix the token validation bug
@package.json @tsconfig.json update the build config

Multiple @ references can be used in a single prompt.

Shell commands with !

Run a shell command and attach its output to your prompt:

!npm test — fix the failing tests
!git log --oneline -5 — summarize recent changes

Model Picker

Press Ctrl+L or type /model to open the interactive model picker. It shows:

• All configured models from your [[providers]] registry
• Local Ollama models (auto-detected)
• Provider type and tier indicators

Type to filter, use arrow keys to navigate, and press Enter to select.

Build & Plan Modes

Toggle between modes with Tab:

• Build mode (default): The AI has access to all 23 tools — read, write, edit, run commands, git, web, etc.
• Plan mode: The AI only has access to read-only tools (no writes, no command execution, no task). It analyzes your request and proposes a plan without making changes.

Permission Dialog

When the AI wants to edit a file or run a command, a permission dialog appears showing:

• The tool name and permission level
• A diff preview for file edits (unified or split view for wide terminals)
• Three options: Allow (a), Always Allow (s), or Deny (d)

"Always Allow" grants permission for that tool for the rest of the session. Use /yolo or leanctl --yolo to skip all dialogs.

Sidebar

Toggle with Ctrl+B or /sidebar. Shows "Files in Context" — all files the AI has read during the session, extracted from read_file tool calls.

Session Picker

Press Ctrl+S or type /sessions to browse past sessions. The picker supports:

• Resume a previous session
• Search sessions by title
• Rename sessions
• Delete sessions

Undo & Redo

LeanCTL uses git stash internally for undo/redo. When you type /undo, it restores files to their state before the AI's last changes. /redo re-applies them. Requires a git repository.

Use /undo msg to remove the last chat message without reverting file changes.

Adding Providers via /connect

The /connect command provides an interactive way to add and manage providers without editing config files:

# Setup guide
/connect

# Add a provider interactively
/connect anthropic
/connect openai
/connect ollama

# Add with full parameters
/connect add myserver --type openai --url https://my-api.com/v1 --key sk-... --model gpt-4.1

# Test connection
/connect test

# List all providers
/connect list

# Remove a provider
/connect remove myserver