helix opens the full Helix session. The other modes run on the same engine and share most of
the same commands — Three ways to run Helix notes what each drops.
The dashboard
helix opens on the dashboard: the lifecycle stages, the skills that loaded, and the command roster.
It is a header, not a menu — you talk to Helix in the prompt beneath it. /help repaints the full
dashboard into the transcript at any time, without a model turn.
Plain English or a slash command
Describe what you want, or type the command — both route to the same stage:/commands complete as you type. The dashboard roster and Helix’s own replies use the same slash
form. The full roster is on Commands.
Session commands
Sub-agents
Sub-agents Helix dispatches appear as a list under your prompt; open one and its conversation replaces the chat, and typing steers it. The full surface — the fleet list, the viewer, the keys — is on Sub-agents.The working line
While the model works, the line under the transcript shows elapsed time, tokens, and what it is doing (thinking escalates to overthinking after a minute, and settles to thought for Ns when
reasoning ends). An open agent viewer shows the same line, on that agent’s clock.
Next: commands
The lifecycle roster, the session commands, and what to type on which surface.