Code-related Slash Commands

Interactive AI commands including /explain, /refactor, /tests, and /fix

Overview

Code-related slash commands provide interactive AI assistance for common development tasks. These commands integrate with GitLab Duo Chat to help developers understand, improve, and test their code.

Available Commands

  • /explain - Provides detailed explanations of selected code, helping developers understand complex logic, algorithms, or unfamiliar code patterns. Docs
  • /refactor - Suggests improvements and refactoring opportunities for selected code, focusing on code quality, readability, and maintainability. Docs
  • /tests - Generates unit tests for selected code, helping developers improve test coverage and ensure code reliability. Docs
  • /fix - Analyzes selected code for potential bugs or issues and suggests fixes or improvements. Docs

Usage

These commands can be used within IDEs through the GitLab extension or directly in GitLab Duo Chat. Select the code you want to analyze and use one of the available commands to get AI-powered assistance.

Technical Implementation

A user can use one of the predefined chat commands to suggest changes in the selected code.

These commands can be used in Duo Chat and the response is displayed in the Duo Chat window.

sequenceDiagram
    participant USR as User
    participant GLR as GitLab Rails
    participant AIGW as AI Gateway
    participant LLM as Large Language Model

    Note over USR,LLM: GraphQL API
    USR->>GLR: opens Duo Chat and sends `/refactor` messages with selected code
    GLR->>USR: accepts the request and enques it
    Note over USR,LLM: Asynchronous job
    GLR->>AIGW: builds prompt and sends AI request
    AIGW->>LLM: sends AI request
    LLM->>AIGW: receives response
    AIGW->>GLR: receives response
    GLR->>USR: sends websocket message with response which is displayed in chat

Evaluations

We have datasets for evaluations for some of our chat commands. You can find them:

Documentation

For more details on using these commands, see:

Last modified August 21, 2025: Rework the Code Creation Handbook Page (b3713bba)
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