In-Chat Commands

Type these during a conversation with Mercury. Most work in both CLI and Telegram unless marked otherwise. They do not consume API tokens.

General

Command	Description
/help	Show the full manual (Telegram gets a Telegram-specific version)
/status	Show agent name, provider, budget, and channels
/progress	Show live status for the current long-running task
/ or /menu	CLI only: open the arrow-key command picker
/permissions	Change permission mode (Ask Me / Allow All)
/models	List configured models/providers for this session
/models use <provider>	Switch the current session model/provider
/tools	List all currently loaded tools
/skills	List installed skills
/memory	View and manage second brain memory
/tasks	List scheduled tasks
/stream	Toggle Telegram text streaming (on/off)
/stream on	Enable streaming (live text updates)
/stream off	Disable streaming — responses arrive as single message

Budget

Command	Description
/budget	Show token budget status
/budget override	Override budget for one request
/budget reset	Reset usage to zero
/budget set <n>	Change daily token budget

Programming Mode

Command	Description
/code	Show current programming mode
/code plan	Switch to plan mode (analyze and present options, no coding)
/code execute	Switch to execute mode (implement step by step)
/code build	Alias for execute mode
/code off	Exit programming mode
/code toggle	Cycle through: off → plan → execute → off
/code agent <task>	Delegate a coding task to a sub-agent in the background
/code workspace	CLI only: open current directory in workspace IDE mode

Workspace IDE (CLI Only)

Command	Description
/ws	Show workspace commands
/ws open <path>	Open a directory in workspace IDE mode
/ws exit	Exit workspace IDE mode back to general chat
/ws refresh	Refresh file tree and git status panel
/ws stage <file|all>	Stage a file or all changes
/ws commit <message>	Commit staged changes
/ws undo <file>	Revert file changes with git checkout
/ws help	Show workspace command list

Sub-Agents

Command	Description
/agents	List all sub-agents and their status
/agents stop <id|all>	Stop a sub-agent or all sub-agents
/agents pause <id>	Pause a running sub-agent
/agents resume <id>	Resume a paused sub-agent
/agents config	Show sub-agent resource allocation
/agents set max <n>	Set max concurrent sub-agents

Background Tasks

Command	Description
/bg <command>	Run a shell command in the background
/bg: <task>	Run a natural-language sub-agent task in background
/bg current	Move the current in-flight task to background
/bg list	Show background tasks
/bg <id>	Show details/output for one background task
/bg cancel <id>	Cancel a running background task
/bg stop <id>	Alias for /bg cancel
/bg killall	Cancel all running background tasks
/bg clear	Prune completed background tasks

Spotify

Command	Description
/spotify	Show Spotify connection status
/spotify auth	Connect Spotify (browser or manual code flow)
/spotify code <code>	Complete auth with a pasted authorization code
/spotify player	CLI only: interactive music player with arrow-key controls
/spotify devices	List available Spotify devices
/spotify device <id>	Set active Spotify device
/spotify now	Show what is currently playing
/spotify logout	Disconnect Spotify and clear saved tokens

Emergency Controls

Command	Description
/halt	Emergency: stop all agents and clear the task queue
/stop	Stop all agents, clear queue, release file locks, clear task board
/reset	Full reset: stop all + clear conversation context (requires confirmation)

Fast-path commands

/agents, /halt, /stop, /progress, /spotify, /code, /memory, and /bg all work even while Mercury is busy processing a task. They're processed immediately without waiting for the current task to finish.

Progress View (CLI Only)

Command	Description
/view	Toggle progress view (balanced/detailed)
/view balanced	Show last 5 tool steps, compact format
/view detailed	Show last 20 tool steps, full format

Telegram Management (CLI Only)

Command	Description
/telegram	Open Telegram management menu
/telegram pending	List pending Telegram access requests
/telegram users	List approved Telegram admins and members
/telegram approve <code|id>	Approve a pairing code or access request
/telegram reject <id>	Reject a pending Telegram access request
/telegram remove <id>	Revoke an approved Telegram user
/telegram promote <id>	Promote a Telegram member to admin
/telegram demote <id>	Demote a Telegram admin to member
/telegram reset	Clear all Telegram access and restart pairing

Telegram-Only Commands

Command	Description
/start or /pair	Request access (new users) or check status (approved users)
/unpair	Admin only: reset all Telegram access for this instance

Keyboard Shortcuts (CLI)

These shortcuts work in the CLI terminal interface:

Shortcut	Description
Ctrl+C	Exit Mercury
Ctrl+T	Toggle progress view (balanced/detailed)
Ctrl+B	Show background tasks (or move current task to background if busy)
Ctrl+N	Insert newline (multi-line input)
Ctrl+P	Switch to code plan mode (in coding/workspace mode)
Ctrl+X	Switch to code execute mode (in coding/workspace mode)

Slash Command Autocomplete

When you type / in the CLI, an autocomplete popup appears with matching commands:

• Up/Down arrows — navigate through suggestions
• Tab or Enter — fill the selected suggestion into the input
• Enter (when input matches a command) — submit the command

Workspace IDE Shortcuts

Shortcut	Description
Esc / Ctrl+Q	Exit workspace (from explorer) or return to explorer
Ctrl+E	Focus explorer panel
Ctrl+G	Focus git panel
Ctrl+J	Toggle chat panel
Tab	Cycle focus: explorer → code → right panel
Arrow keys	Navigate file tree / scroll panels
Enter	Open selected file
Ctrl+U / Ctrl+D	Scroll up/down by 8-10 lines
PageUp / PageDown	Scroll by 15 lines

Telegram pairing and access

Telegram stays private 1:1 only. The first user sends /start, receives a pairing code in Telegram, and you approve that code from the CLI during setup. Later Telegram users also send /start, appear as pending requests, and can then be approved or rejected from the CLI /telegram menu.