Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex CLI: slash commands compared
Claude Code and OpenAI Codex CLI are the two terminal agents whose command sets have converged hardest. Of the twenty-seven tasks in the table, twenty-one use the same or a near-identical slash command in both tools, including /compact, /model, /plan, /goal, /fork, /resume, /diff, /init, /mcp, /permissions, /hooks, /skills, /usage, /statusline and /theme. Both even ship an /import command that pulls configuration from the other.
| Task | Claude Code | OpenAI Codex CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Start a fresh conversation | /clear name | /new |
| Shrink the context window | /compact instructions | /compact |
| Switch model | /model model | /model |
| Set reasoning / effort level | /effort level|auto | /reasoning |
| Fast mode | /fast on|off | /fast |
| Enter plan mode | /plan description | /plan |
| Set a long-lived goal | /goal condition|clear | /goal |
| Fork the session | /fork prompt | /fork |
| Resume a previous session | /resume session | /resume |
| Rename the session | /rename name | /rename |
| Review the current diff | /diff | /diff |
| Run a code review | /code-review low|medium|high|xhigh|max|ultra --fix --comment pr#|branch|path | /review |
| Initialize project instructions file | /init | /init |
| Edit memory / instructions | /memory | /memories |
| Manage MCP servers | /mcp reconnect <server>|enable|disable <server>|all | /mcp |
| Permissions / approvals | /permissions | /permissions |
| Hooks | /hooks | /hooks |
| Plugins | /plugin subcommand | /plugins |
| Skills | /skills | /skills |
| Background tasks | /tasks | /ps |
| Stop background work | /stop | /stop |
| Side question | /btw question | /side, /btw |
| Import config from the other tool | /import codex|gemini --dry-run --yes | /import |
| Usage and limits | /usage | /usage |
| Status line | /statusline | /statusline |
| Theme | /theme | /theme |
| Exit | /exit | /exit |
Where they diverge, it is usually a name rather than a capability. Codex uses /new where Claude Code uses /clear; /memories versus /memory; /ps versus /tasks for background work; /reasoning versus /effort for the thinking budget; /plugins versus /plugin. Codex's /review is a simple second-look command, while Claude Code's /code-review takes an effort level and a target and can post comments or apply fixes. Codex also has sandbox commands (/setup-default-sandbox, /sandbox-add-read-dir) and cloud-versus-local switches (/cloud, /local, /worktree) that Claude Code expresses differently, through /remote-env, /teleport and plain directory commands.
Both tables on this site are rebuilt from the vendors' current documentation, so the pairing here reflects the command names as documented at the time of the last update. Removed commands are kept on the per-tool pages with a note (for example Claude Code's /vim and /pr-comments) but are not listed here.
Full references: Claude Code (111) · OpenAI Codex CLI (58) · all comparisons