Custom Commands – Prompt Templates

Custom commands are Markdown files where you define reusable prompt shortcuts for your project. Type /name in the chat to invoke a command, where name is the filename without .md. Each command expands into a full prompt, saving you from repeating common instructions.

Where Ziva looks

Ziva reads custom commands from the following locations. All files that exist are loaded; project files take priority over home-directory files.

<project> is the root folder of your project.

What to write

Good candidates for custom commands:

• Code review workflows — /review for a standard code review checklist
• Project-specific tasks — /gdscript-check for GDScript-specific linting
• Multi-step procedures — /setup-player for initializing player nodes with standard properties
• Multi-step procedures — /setup-gut-test to setup a basic GUT test

Each command can accept arguments to customize the prompt at runtime.

Format

---
description: Review the current diff for bugs and security issues
---
 
Review the staged changes with focus on:
 
- Logic errors and off-by-one bugs
- Security vulnerabilities
- Missing error handling

• The filename becomes the command name. review.md becomes /review.
• description is optional. If missing, the first non-empty line is used.
• Argument hints are not yet supported in Ziva but may be added in the future.

Example

---
description: Set up a new player character with standard properties
---
 
Create a Player scene with:
 
- CharacterBody2D as root node
- AnimatedSprite2D for animations
- CollisionShape2D with CapsuleShape2D
- \_ready() that initializes movement speed and direction

To use it: type /setup-player in the chat.

Arguments

Custom commands can accept positional arguments to make them more flexible:

• $1, $2, … are replaced with arguments 1, 2, etc.
• $@ or $ARGUMENTS expands to all arguments joined together
• ${1:-default} uses argument 1 if present, otherwise default

Example command (setup-ui.md):

---
description: Create a new UI scene with a Control node
argument-hint: <name> <type>
---
 
Create a new scene with a Control node named $1 of type $2. Set up basic properties and add it to the project.

Usage: /setup-ui "MainMenu" "PanelContainer"

See also

• AGENTS.md — Define project-wide coding conventions and rules
• Skills — Reusable capability packs the agent loads automatically
• Slash Commands — On-demand prompt shortcuts