The Complete OpenClaw Slack Keyboard Shortcuts Guide

Why Shortcuts Matter When You're Working with an AI Agent

Most people interact with their Slack-based AI agent the same way they learned to use early chatbots: type a question, wait, read the response, type again. It works, but it's slow. When your agent is connected to tools like GitHub, Linear, Jira, Gmail, and Notion — all at once, with persistent memory of your projects — the real productivity gains come from reducing the friction between thinking of a task and handing it off.

Keyboard shortcuts and slash commands are how you close that gap. This guide covers every shortcut worth knowing for OpenClaw running inside Slack via SlackClaw, including native Slack shortcuts that become more powerful when an autonomous agent is part of your workspace.

The Core SlackClaw Slash Commands

SlackClaw listens in any channel or DM it's been invited to, but slash commands give you precise, instant control without needing to @mention the bot or type in a specific channel.

/claw — Trigger a Task from Anywhere

The primary entry point. Use /claw followed by your instruction to hand off a task from any channel, DM, or thread you're currently in.

/claw Summarize all open PRs in the frontend repo and post a list here
/claw Check my Linear inbox and remind me of anything due this week
/claw Draft a reply to the last email from Sarah Chen in Gmail and show it to me first

Because SlackClaw runs on a dedicated server per team, your agent isn't sharing context or queue time with anyone else. That means /claw responses are fast and the agent has access to your team's full persistent memory when it processes the command.

/claw-memory — Inspect and Update What Your Agent Remembers

Persistent memory is one of the most powerful features of the OpenClaw framework, and this command gives you direct access to it. Learn more about our pricing page.

/claw-memory show             — Display current memory entries
/claw-memory add "We use Linear for bugs, Jira for client projects"
/claw-memory delete [id]      — Remove a specific memory entry
/claw-memory clear            — Wipe all stored context (use carefully)

Think of /claw-memory add as briefing your agent the way you'd brief a new team member. The more you invest here, the less you repeat yourself. A well-maintained memory means the agent already knows your sprint cadence, your preferred GitHub branch naming convention, and which Notion workspace holds your product specs — without you explaining it every session. Learn more about our integrations directory.

/claw-skills — Manage Custom Skills

Custom skills are saved, reusable workflows you've defined for your team. The /claw-skills command lets you list, trigger, and manage them.

/claw-skills list             — Show all saved skills
/claw-skills run [skill-name] — Execute a skill by name
/claw-skills new              — Open the skill builder
/claw-skills edit [skill-name]

For example, if your team has a recurring Friday ritual of pulling week-over-week metrics from multiple tools, you'd save that as a skill rather than re-typing the full instruction each week. Skills can chain actions across multiple integrations — pulling data from GitHub, formatting it, pushing a summary to a Notion page, and posting a link in Slack, all from a single /claw-skills run weekly-metrics.

/claw-credits — Check Your Usage Balance

SlackClaw uses credit-based pricing with no per-seat fees, which means your whole team can use the agent without the cost scaling awkwardly as you grow. The /claw-credits command shows your remaining balance and a breakdown of recent usage by task type — useful for understanding which workflows consume the most credits and optimizing accordingly.

/claw-credits balance
/claw-credits history --last 7d

Essential Native Slack Shortcuts That Work Beautifully with SlackClaw

These are standard Slack keyboard shortcuts, but they take on new utility when you're using an agent that can act on messages you forward, quote, or reference.

Navigating to Your Agent Fast

• Ctrl+K / Cmd+K — Quick switcher. Type "claw" or your agent's display name to jump directly to your SlackClaw DM in under a second.
• Ctrl+Shift+K / Cmd+Shift+K — Jump to direct messages. Use this when you want a private, focused session with the agent outside of a shared channel.
• Alt+↑ / Alt+↓ — Move between conversations. Useful for cycling back to your agent channel after checking a thread.

Sending Context to Your Agent Instantly

• Right-click → Forward to SlackClaw (via the message shortcut menu) — Not a keyboard shortcut, but the fastest way to send any message as context for a follow-up task.
• Ctrl+Shift+M / Cmd+Shift+M — Open the Mention list. Quickly scan what's tagged to you, then /claw a batch-triage instruction: "Summarize and prioritize everything in my mentions from the last 24 hours."
• E (in message hover) — Edit a message. When you've sent a /claw command and want to refine the instruction before the agent has started processing, hit E immediately.

Formatting Your Agent Instructions Faster

OpenClaw handles natural language well, but structured input often produces better-structured output. Slack's inline formatting shortcuts help:

• Ctrl+Shift+L / Cmd+Shift+L — Bulleted list. Use it to enumerate steps or constraints in your instruction.
• Ctrl+Alt+C / Cmd+Alt+C — Inline code. Wrap exact file names, branch names, or ticket IDs when precision matters.
• Shift+Enter — New line without sending. Essential for writing multi-line agent instructions without accidentally firing them early.

Power User Patterns: Combining Shortcuts into Workflows

The Morning Standup Brief

1. Press Ctrl+K and navigate to your #standup channel.
2. Type /claw Pull my open GitHub PRs, Linear tasks in progress, and any Jira tickets updated since yesterday. Format as a standup summary.
3. Press Enter. The agent has OAuth access to all three tools and your persistent memory knows your username on each platform — no clarification needed.
4. Review the output, press E to edit if you want adjustments, then copy to your standup thread.

The Inbox Zero Sprint

1. Ctrl+K → SlackClaw DM
2. /claw Check Gmail for unread messages from the last 48 hours. Categorize them by urgency and suggest a draft reply for anything marked high priority. Don't send anything yet.
3. Review drafts in the agent's response, then run /claw send approved replies to action the ones you confirm.

Pro tip: Save this as a custom skill with /claw-skills new and name it inbox-sprint. Then it's just /claw-skills run inbox-sprint every morning — two keystrokes with autocomplete. For related insights, see Use OpenClaw Memory Features in Slack.

Cross-Tool Research in One Command

SlackClaw's 800+ one-click OAuth integrations mean the agent can pull from Notion documentation, cross-reference a GitHub issue, and check a Linear milestone status in a single pass. Using the Quick Switcher shortcut to stay keyboard-native throughout keeps this feel seamless:

Cmd+K → SlackClaw
/claw Find the Notion spec for the payments redesign, check if there's a related GitHub issue open,
and tell me what Linear milestone it's blocking. Link everything.

Shortcut Reference Card

Bookmark or pin this table in your team's Slack for quick reference:

• /claw [instruction] — Trigger any agent task
• /claw-memory show|add|delete|clear — Manage persistent context
• /claw-skills list|run|new|edit — Work with saved workflows
• /claw-credits balance|history — Monitor usage
• Cmd/Ctrl+K — Jump to agent instantly
• Shift+Enter — Multi-line instructions without sending
• E — Edit last message before processing
• Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+M — Review mentions for batch triage

Getting the Most Out of Your Shortcut Habits

The teams that get the most from an AI agent like SlackClaw aren't the ones who use it for the most complex tasks — they're the ones who've made reaching for it as natural as reaching for a search bar. That starts with muscle memory around a handful of shortcuts and slash commands, then expands as you build up your custom skill library and memory store. For related insights, see Best Practices for OpenClaw Memory Management in Slack.

Start with /claw-memory add today. Write down the three things you find yourself explaining to the agent repeatedly and store them. Then pick one recurring workflow — standup summaries, email triage, ticket updates — and save it as a skill. Within a week, you'll have an agent that genuinely knows your context, responds to two keystrokes, and earns its credits every single day.