Feature Request: Add /reload command to refresh configuration without restarting session

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Jan 9, 2026 by martymcenroe Closed Jan 13, 2026

Problem

When editing files in .claude/ (agents, settings, hooks), changes are not reflected until the session is exited and restarted. This creates friction during development:

  1. Edit .claude/agents/my-agent.md to fix a frontmatter error
  2. Run /doctor - still shows the old error (cached)
  3. Must exit session and restart to pick up changes

Proposed Solution

Add a /reload command (or similar: /refresh, /config reload) that re-reads configuration from disk:

  • .claude/settings.json
  • .claude/settings.local.json
  • .claude/agents/*.md
  • Hook configurations

Use Cases

  1. Fixing agent parse errors - Currently requires full session restart
  2. Iterating on hooks - Testing hook changes requires exit/restart cycle
  3. Permission updates - Adding new permissions to settings.local.json
  4. Agent development - Editing agent prompts and testing immediately

Alternatives Considered

  • Exit and restart - Current workaround, but loses conversation context
  • Staging directory - Helps with development but still requires restart to test

Additional Context

Discovered while fixing an agent frontmatter error. The fix was applied to disk but /doctor continued reporting the cached (stale) error until session restart.

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