How to Create a Custom Slash Command in Claude Code

If you keep typing the same long instruction, turn it into a slash command. A slash command is just a Markdown file whose body becomes the prompt when you type /name. This guide creates a /changelog command that drafts a release note from recent commits.

• Claude Code installed and a project open
• A prompt you find yourself repeating
• A text editor

Step 1: Create the command file

Project commands live in .claude/commands. The file name without the extension becomes the command name, so changelog.md gives you /changelog. Make the folder and the file.

Step 2: Write the prompt body

The body is the instruction Claude runs. Optional frontmatter sets a description shown in the menu and can declare allowed tools. Here we let the command run git so it can read the log itself.

---
description: Draft a release note from recent commits
allowed-tools: Bash(git log:*)
---

Look at the commits since the last tag using git log.
Group them into Added, Changed, and Fixed.
Write a short, human changelog. No marketing language.

Step 3: Run it

Type the slash command in a session. It appears in the command menu as you type, with the description you set. Selecting it runs the body as your message.

Result: a reusable /changelog command that turns a paragraph of instructions into a single word, saved as committable text your whole team can use.