> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mutagent.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sessions

> What you see when Helix boots — the dashboard, the slash commands, and the working line.

`helix` boots into the orchestrator session. The other modes share the same harness and most of
the same commands — [Three ways to run Helix](/helix/modes) 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:

```
why is support-triage mislabeling refund requests?
```

```
/diagnose support-triage
```

`/commands` complete as you type. Underneath, each one wires to the `*command` the dashboard roster
shows and Helix uses in its own replies — `/diagnose` and `*diagnose` are the same thing. The full
roster is on [Commands](/helix/reference/commands).

## Session commands

| Command                                  | Does                                                                                                               | Where            |
| ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------- |
| `/help`                                  | Repaint the dashboard (no model turn).                                                                             | orchestrator     |
| `/clear`                                 | Start a fresh conversation **and** clear the screen. The previous session stays on disk; `/resume` still finds it. | orchestrator     |
| `/exit`                                  | End the session cleanly.                                                                                           | orchestrator     |
| `/rename <name>`                         | Set this session's display name.                                                                                   | orchestrator     |
| `/thinking [level]`                      | Pick the reasoning level (no argument opens the picker).                                                           | orchestrator     |
| `/feedback`                              | Ask Helix to summarize the session and send feedback to the team — it shows you what it will send and asks first.  | orchestrator     |
| `/trace`                                 | Open the trace viewer over your session logs — see [Trace viewer](/helix/features/trace-viewer).                   | every mode       |
| `/agents`                                | Manage agent definitions.                                                                                          | every mode       |
| `/agent`                                 | Show the active agent definition.                                                                                  | `helix agent`    |
| `/prime` · `/refine`                     | Show the code namespace · record a learning.                                                                       | `helix --prime`  |
| `/login` · `/model` · `/resume` · `/new` | Add a provider · pick a model · reopen a session · fresh conversation (keeps the screen).                          | from the harness |

## The crew

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](/helix/features/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.

<Card title="Next: commands" icon="arrow-right" href="/helix/reference/commands">
  The lifecycle roster, the session commands, and what to type on which surface.
</Card>