[BUG] Slash Commands Not Loading from .claude/commands Directory in v2.0.22

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/9518
2. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/8831
3. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/9435

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Manual SlashCommand Tool Testing - Confirms Bug

I manually tested the SlashCommand tool to verify command discovery, and the results confirm the bug:

Test Commands

SlashCommand("/hello") → Error: Unknown slash command: hello
SlashCommand("/test")  → Error: Unknown slash command: test
SlashCommand("/help")  → Error: Slash command help is not a prompt-based command

Analysis

Custom Commands (NOT WORKING):

• /hello and /test both exist as .md files in .claude/commands/
• Both return Unknown slash command error
• These should be registered and available

Built-in Command (Different Behavior):

• /help returns a different error: "not a prompt-based command"
• This proves the SlashCommand tool IS functional
• Built-in commands ARE recognized
• Only custom command discovery is broken

Conclusion

✅ SlashCommand tool itself works
✅ Built-in commands are recognized
❌ Custom commands from .claude/commands/ are NOT loaded

This manual test confirms what the debug logs showed:

[DEBUG] Slash commands included in SlashCommand tool:

↑ Empty - zero custom commands registered despite 17 valid .md files existing

The command discovery/scanning mechanism is definitely not running in v2.0.22.

✅ Issue Resolved - Root Cause Identified

Status: Slash commands now loading correctly after configuration refactoring

---

🎯 Root Cause

The issue was caused by unsupported configuration options and overly restrictive tool patterns in settings.local.json that interfered with Claude Code's tool initialization and command discovery system.

Primary Culprits

1. Unsupported Configuration Blocks (CRITICAL)

• memory, parallelTools, outputStyle, statusLine blocks
• These caused silent initialization failures that prevented command discovery

1. Overly Restrictive Tool Patterns (PRIMARY FIX)

• Bash(git *), Bash(gh *), Task(general-purpose), etc.
• Interfered with internal directory scanning for .claude/commands/

1. Experimental/Deprecated Tools

• Memory tool and MultiEdit tool
• Caused tool initialization to fail early

---

🔧 Configuration Changes That Fixed It

❌ Broken Configuration

{
  "permissions": {
    "allowedTools": [
      "Bash(git *)",           // ⚠️ Too restrictive
      "Task(general-purpose)", // ⚠️ Restricted agent type
      "Memory",                // ⚠️ Experimental/unsupported
      "MultiEdit(src/**)",     // ⚠️ Deprecated
      ...
    ]
  },
  "enableMemory": true,        // ⚠️ Unsupported
  "memory": { ... },           // ⚠️ Unsupported block
  "parallelTools": { ... },    // ⚠️ Unsupported block
  "outputStyle": "development" // ⚠️ Unsupported
}

✅ Working Configuration

{
  "env": {
    "SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET": "100000",
    "USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP": "0"
  },
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Read(/home/vscode/**)",
      "Write(src/**)",
      ...
    ],
    "allowedTools": [
      "Read",      // ✅ Simple tool names only
      "Bash",      // ✅ No restrictive patterns
      "Task",      // ✅ No agent restrictions
      "Skill",
      "SlashCommand",
      ...
    ]
  },
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [{
      "matcher": "Write(*.py)",
      "hooks": [{
        "type": "command",
        "command": "rye fmt $file",
        "continueOnError": true  // ✅ Error handling
      }]
    }]
  }
}

---

🔍 Key Changes

1. Removed all unsupported config blocks (memory, parallelTools, etc.)
2. Simplified allowedTools to base tool names (removed patterns like Bash(git *))
3. Removed experimental tools (Memory, MultiEdit)
4. Moved file permissions to permissions.allow section
5. Added environment variables for slash command budgets
6. Added error handling to hooks (continueOnError: true)

---

✅ Verification

After configuration fix:

• ✅ All 17 custom slash commands load correctly
• ✅ Commands appear in autocomplete
• ✅ /status and other commands execute successfully
• ✅ No "Unknown slash command" errors

---

💡 Recommendations for Claude Code Team

1. Add Configuration Validation

• Validate settings.local.json on startup
• Show helpful error messages for unsupported options
• Warn about deprecated/experimental features

1. Improve Error Visibility

• Show initialization errors in debug logs
• Don't fail silently when config issues occur
• Add --validate-config flag for testing

1. Documentation Updates

• Clearly document supported configuration options
• Provide migration guides for deprecated features
• Add examples of proper tool permission patterns

1. Error Messages

• When tool patterns are used incorrectly, suggest the fix
• When unsupported configs are found, warn the user
• Link to documentation for proper configuration

---

📝 Workarounds Attempted (All Failed)

Before finding the config issue:

• ❌ Cleared project cache (~/.claude/projects)
• ❌ Checked ripgrep configuration (not the issue)
• ❌ Reinstalled via curl installer
• ❌ Complete clean reinstall

None of these worked because the issue was in the configuration itself.

---

🎯 Takeaway

The issue was entirely configuration-based. Unsupported config blocks caused silent failures in the tool initialization process, which prevented slash commands from being discovered. Simplifying to documented configuration options resolved the issue immediately.

Platform: WSL2 (Linux)
Version: Claude Code 2.0.22
Resolution: Configuration refactoring (removed unsupported options)
Time to Resolution: ~4 hours of debugging

Hope this helps others encountering similar issues! 🎉

this was fixed by https://github.com/anthropics/claude-cli-internal/pull/8646 and in claude already. Please let me know if you can still repro. thanks

Claude Code VS-Code extension 2.0.25 is not seeing custom Slash commands for me on MacOS.. but the terminal CC does. @whyuan-cc

Claude Code VS-Code extension 2.0.25 is not seeing custom Slash commands for me on MacOS.. but the terminal CC does. @whyuan-cc

Same for me.

issue still persists. I tried to remove any Claude configs, started clean and still having this issue

In the mentioned above post, I have screenshots showing two projects with the same exact configs are loading differently in Claude Code. One is not reading the .claude folder or claude.md at all.

Up-to-date VS Code, latest Claude Code, and latest Claude Code extension.

<img width="1858" height="393" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e505cee3-e07a-4d52-a381-d6234b9da632" />

thanks for reporting. Let me take a look.

facing same issue with claude-code V2.0.28 cli in mac terminal [macOS 15.6.1] but works with VScode claude-code extension

having the latest version of the claude code (2.0.28) but suddenly and unfortunately all the global slash comments given via SYMLINKS are not recognized anymore. In the same time, I can use global slash commands when they are given via regular files - here for both terminal and IDE extensions.

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