Claude Desktop App: Finish Your Daily Tasks with One Slash (/)

When you run a business alone, you repeat the same tasks every day. Every morning you sort out today's to-dos, check email, review your schedule. Explaining the same thing to Claude at length every time is tedious too. But the Claude desktop app (the Claude program you install and run) has a feature that calls up these repetitive tasks with a single word. It's the slash (/). Even without knowing code or the terminal (the black command window), you just type characters into the chat box.

Definition (what it is)

Type a slash (/) into the desktop app chat box and a list of the features and commands you can use right now pops up. Pick what you want from the list, and a predefined task runs all at once.

The commands here are usually called "skills." A skill is a bundle of tasks you've taught Claude in advance. For example, if there's a skill called "morning work briefing," it already contains a procedure like "show the to-do list, check email, and organize the schedule." You don't have to explain it every time — you just call its name.

This approach originally came from Claude Code (the CLI version operated by commands) used in the terminal, but you can use it the same way in the desktop app.

How to use it (step by step)

1. Open the Claude desktop app.
2. Click the chat box (the message input field) and type a slash (/) once.
3. A list of available commands pops up above. Pick one with the arrow keys, or type part of the name to narrow it down.
4. Choose the command you want and press Enter to run it.

For example, if the morning work briefing skill is installed, you type this.

/daily-briefing

Then today's to-dos and email — a day's worth of work — come out organized on one screen.

It's fine if you can't remember the command name. You can just ask in plain words as usual.

Tell me today's to-dos

Just typing this, and Claude figures out and runs the right skill on its own. Think of the slash as for "when you want to call exactly this command," and asking in words as for "when you don't know the name or want to ask casually."

Real-world example

You arrive in the morning, open the desktop app, and type just one slash. Running /daily-briefing, today's to-dos and the email you need to check pop up organized on one screen. What used to mean opening and checking apps here and there is now done with a single command. The more a task repeats daily, the more turning it into a slash command cuts down your time.

Taking it further

• Think about what you do often. If there's something you repeat the same way every day or week, that's exactly a candidate to turn into a slash command.
• Just typing the slash to skim the list once lets you see at a glance what features you can use right now.
• If you're unsure of the name, ask in words; once it's in your hands, call it directly with a slash — mixing the two is convenient.

Summary

Just type a slash (/) into the desktop app chat box and a list of usable commands pops up. No code or terminal needed, and you can finish routine work with a single word. If you can't remember the name, asking in words works too. The more repetitive work you have as a solo business owner, the bigger the effect.

Based on: Claude Code v2.1.154 (2026.05)