Cmd. /side
Start an ephemeral side conversation from the current thread.
Key takeaways
/sidestarts a focused, ephemeral side conversation without moving the main task off the parent thread.- Use it for short risk reviews or policy questions without polluting the main transcript.
- You cannot open
/sidefrom inside another side conversation, and it is unavailable in review mode. - Prefer
/forkfor longer-lived alternate implementation work; let the human decide if the side result feeds back into the parent.
Original Command Declaration
/sideOfficial Summary
/side starts a focused side conversation without switching the main task away from the parent
thread.
Usage
/sideGood Examples
- Use
/side Check whether this plan has an obvious riskfor a short independent critique. - Ask a policy or documentation question without polluting the main transcript.
- Let the human decide whether the side result should influence the parent thread.
Similar Commands
| Command | Difference | Choose It When |
|---|---|---|
/side | Temporary side conversation | You need a short detour |
/fork | New longer-lived thread | You need alternate implementation work |
/agent | Switches to a spawned agent thread | You need to inspect an existing agent |
Use Cases
- Quick risk review during implementation.
- Short policy checks during a larger task.
- Separating a narrow question from the main transcript.
Recent Changes
/sidefirst appeared in changelog context for quick side questions.- It is now included in the official slash command table and treated as a standard command.
Cautions
- You cannot open
/sidefrom inside another side conversation. /sideis unavailable in review mode.- Use
/forkfor longer alternate implementations.
Release Basis
- Judgment: first observed mention plus official table
- First evidence version:
rust-v0.122.0 - Date (UTC): 2026-04-20
- Release link: https://developers.openai.com/codex/changelog
Sources
- Codex slash commands: https://developers.openai.com/codex/cli/slash-commands
- Codex changelog: https://developers.openai.com/codex/changelog