CLI Slash Palette

The AIP CLI ships with an interactive command palette that recognises a curated set of slash commands. Launching aip with no subcommand in an interactive terminal drops you straight into this palette so you can browse agents, run them, or reconfigure credentials without remembering full Click invocations.

Rendered palette banner with `/` completion dropdown. Capture by running `aip`, then typing `/` once the welcome panel appears.

Launch & Requirements

  • Run aip without arguments in a TTY-enabled shell to open the palette.

  • The palette honours existing CLI context: flags such as --api-url, --api-key, and --view become defaults for the slash commands you trigger.

  • prompt_toolkit is optional but recommended. When installed, you get inline completions, coloured placeholders, and /-aware key bindings. Without it, the CLI falls back to a plain input prompt and prints placeholder hints before the first command.

  • The palette checks your credentials up front. If API URL or API key are missing, it launches the /login wizard (an alias of aip configure) and revalidates before continuing.

  • Slash mode is skipped automatically when STDIN/STDOUT are not TTYs or when you pass --no-tty; in those cases the CLI prints regular help output instead.


Global Slash Commands

These commands are always available from the palette home screen and inside agent sessions.

Command
Aliases
What it does
Context

/help

/?

Renders a Rich table of all palette commands, showing aliases and descriptions.

Global & agent

/login

/configure

Opens the interactive credential wizard, clears cached config, and surfaces next steps (status check, browse agents).

Global & agent

/status

-

Runs aip status with live Rich output, then suggests quick follow-up actions (recent agents, /agents).

Global & agent

/agents

-

Lists available agents using the API client; lets you fuzzy-pick interactively or jump straight to an agent via /agents <ref>. Enters the agent run session on selection.

Global only (but callable from agent prompt)

/exit

/q

Leaves the command palette cleanly. When called from an agent session it simply returns you to the palette home screen.

Global & agent

Tips

  • Type / to trigger inline completion; continue typing to filter commands. Backspace cancels completion when the current token is no longer a slash command.

  • Rich quick-action cards appear after /status, /login, or when you exit an agent session, highlighting the next useful slash commands to try.

  • The palette remembers up to five recent agents and shows the most recent one in the status banner so you can re-open it quickly (/agents <agent-id>).


Agent Run Session Commands

Picking an agent with /agents drops you into a focused prompt tied to that agent. Any plain text you enter runs the agent once; slash commands provide shortcuts to inspect or exit without losing context.

Input
Aliases
Behaviour

<message>

-

Executes aip agents run for the active agent with the entered prompt. The last input is remembered and displayed in /help.

/details

/detail

Invokes aip agents get to show the agent's full configuration export and metadata.

/status

-

Surfaces the same Rich status view without leaving the agent session.

/help

/?

Prints the context-aware help table (agent controls first, reminder that global commands stay available).

/exit

/back, /q

Returns to the palette home screen while keeping agent history for quick re-entry.

Agent Prompt UX

  • The header highlights the agent name, type, ID, and readiness, followed by shortcut reminders (/help, /details, /exit).

  • After each successful run the palette stores the prompt so the help sheet can show the latest input alongside guidance.

  • If you press Ctrl+C, the current input is cleared and you stay inside the agent session; Ctrl+D exits the palette immediately.


Non-interactive Execution

While the palette is primarily interactive, the session also supports feeding a list of slash commands programmatically. The CLI skips the palette automatically when STDIN/STDOUT are not TTYs, but you can force a run by calling SlashSession directly in scripts or tests.

Warning - The public aip entry point does not expose a --slash flag. Use the Python entry point shown above when orchestrating tests or demos that exercise the palette in a non-interactive environment.


Troubleshooting & FAQ

chevron-rightI only see the regular CLI helphashtag

Ensure you're running aip inside an interactive terminal (no redirected stdin/stdout) and without --no-tty.

chevron-rightSlash completions are missinghashtag

Install prompt_toolkit>=3.0. The CLI works without it, but you'll lose dropdown completions and themed placeholders.

chevron-rightAPI calls fail inside the palettehashtag

/login re-runs the credential wizard and refreshes cached config. The header shows API URL and credential status so you can confirm the setup before re-running commands.