CLI Commands

Complete reference for all OWL CLI commands.

Session Commands

/new

Start a fresh conversation session:

/new

Creates a new session ID and clears the conversation context.

/history [limit]

Show recent conversation history:

/history      # Show last 10 messages
/history 20   # Show last 20 messages

/quit

Exit OWL:

/quit

Also: /exit, /q, or Ctrl+D

Context Commands

/project [path]

Set or show the current project:

/project              # Show current project
/project ~/my-app     # Set project to ~/my-app
/project .            # Set to current directory

OWL auto-detects project type, frameworks, and key directories.

/status

Show daemon status:

/status

Output:

Daemon Status
  Model: glm-4.6:cloud
  Session: abc12345
  Project: /home/user/my-project
  Conversation: 12 messages
  Learnings: 5

/tools [profile|mode]

Manage tool profiles and output:

/tools              # Show current profile and tools
/tools minimal      # Read-only mode (safe)
/tools coding       # Read + write mode (default)
/tools full         # All tools including shell

/tools collapsed    # Summary-only tool output
/tools expanded     # Detailed tool output

/mode [mode]

Set permission mode (when OWL asks before acting):

/mode               # Show current mode
/mode safe          # Ask before edits and commands (default)
/mode auto          # Allow edits, ask for commands
/mode plan          # Read-only (planning mode)
/mode yolo          # Allow everything

Mode indicators in status bar:

• 🔒 safe
• ✏️ auto
• 📋 plan
• ⚡ yolo

Memory Commands

/memory

View everything OWL remembers:

/memory

Shows contents of ~/.owl/memory.md organized by category.

/remember <text>

Add something to memory:

/remember I prefer tabs over spaces
/remember This project uses Redis for caching
/remember Always run tests before committing

OWL automatically categorizes into Preferences, Notes, or Decisions.

/forget <text>

Remove something from memory:

/forget I prefer tabs over spaces

Uses substring matching to find and remove entries.

Knowledge Base Commands

/learn <file>

Add a text document to the knowledge base:

/learn README.md
/learn docs/architecture.md
/learn ~/notes/project-spec.txt

Documents are chunked, embedded, and stored for semantic search.

Supported formats: Plain text files (.md, .txt, .py, .js, etc.)

/knowledge

Show knowledge base stats:

/knowledge

Output:

Knowledge Base
  Total chunks: 42
  Sources: 3

Sources:
  - README.md (12 chunks)
  - architecture.md (20 chunks)
  - spec.pdf (10 chunks)

/knowledge search <query>

Search the knowledge base:

/knowledge search authentication flow
/knowledge search database schema

Returns relevant chunks with similarity scores.

/unlearn <file>

Remove a document from knowledge base:

/unlearn README.md

Soul Commands

/soul

View OWL's character and values:

/soul

Shows identity, character description, values, and learning count.

/evolve

Trigger character evolution:

/evolve

Synthesizes recent learnings into an evolved character description.

/teach

Manually teach OWL something:

/teach
What did you observe? User prefers functional programming style
What should I learn from this? Suggest functional approaches when applicable

Utility Commands

/clear

Clear the screen and show banner:

/clear

/help

Show help message:

/help

Shell Commands

Run shell commands directly with !:

!ls -la
!git status
!python -m pytest tests/
!npm install

Output is displayed directly in the CLI.

Input Modes

Multi-line Input

Key Combination	Action
Enter	Send message
\ + Enter	Add newline (backslash escape)
Alt + Enter	Add newline
Ctrl + J	Add newline
Ctrl + X, Ctrl + E	Open in $EDITOR

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + C	Clear current input / Abort request
Ctrl + D	Exit OWL
Up/Down	Navigate command history

Command Summary Table

Command	Arguments	Description
/new	-	Start fresh session
/history	[limit]	Show history
/quit	-	Exit
/project	[path]	Set/show project
/status	-	Show daemon status
/tools	[profile|mode]	Manage tools
/mode	[mode]	Set permission mode
/memory	-	View memory
/remember	<text>	Remember something
/forget	<text>	Forget something
/learn	<file>	Add to knowledge
/knowledge	[search <q>]	Knowledge stats/search
/unlearn	<file>	Remove from knowledge
/soul	-	View character
/evolve	-	Evolve character
/teach	-	Teach manually
/clear	-	Clear screen
/help	-	Show help
!command	-	Run shell command