Workflows

Workflows (also called slash commands in the new extension) automate repetitive tasks by defining step-by-step instructions for Kilo Code to execute.

{% image src="/docs/img/screenshot-tests/kilo-vscode/visual-regression/settings/agent-behaviour-workflows-chromium-linux.png" alt="Workflows tab in Kilo Code" width="420" caption="Workflows tab in Kilo Code" /%}

Creating Workflows

{% tabs %} {% tab label="VSCode" %}

Workflows are Markdown files stored as slash commands in .kilo/commands/:

• Global commands: ~/.config/kilo/commands/ (available in all projects)
• Project commands: [project]/.kilo/commands/ (project-specific)

Basic Setup

1. Create a .md file with step-by-step instructions
2. Save it in your commands directory
3. Type /command-name in the chat (just the filename without .md extension) to execute

For example, a file at .kilo/commands/submit-pr.md is invoked with /submit-pr.

Optional Frontmatter

Command files can include YAML frontmatter:

---
description: Submit a pull request with checks
agent: code
---

You are helping submit a pull request...

Workflow Capabilities

Workflows can leverage all built-in tools: read, glob, grep, edit, write, bash, webfetch, and MCP server tools.

Migration from Legacy Workflows

The new extension automatically migrates legacy workflows from .kilocode/workflows/ to the new command format on startup. You can also manually move files and remove the .md extension from invocations.

{% /tab %} {% tab label="VSCode (Legacy)" %}

Workflows are markdown files stored in .kilocode/workflows/:

• Global workflows: ~/.kilocode/workflows/ (available in all projects)
• Project workflows: [project]/.kilocode/workflows/ (project-specific)

Basic Setup

1. Create a .md file with step-by-step instructions
2. Save it in your workflows directory
3. Type /filename.md to execute

Workflow Capabilities

Workflows can leverage:

• Built-in tools: read_file(), search_files(), execute_command()
• CLI tools: gh, docker, npm, custom scripts
• MCP integrations: Slack, databases, APIs
• Agent switching: new_task() for specialized contexts

{% /tab %} {% /tabs %}

Common Workflow Patterns

Release Management

1. Gather merged PRs since last release
2. Generate changelog from commit messages
3. Update version numbers
4. Create release branch and tag
5. Deploy to staging environment

Project Setup

1. Clone repository template
2. Install dependencies (`npm install`, `pip install -r requirements.txt`)
3. Configure environment files
4. Initialize database/services
5. Run initial tests

Code Review Preparation

1. Search for TODO comments and debug statements
2. Run linting and formatting
3. Execute test suite
4. Generate PR description from recent commits

Example: PR Submission Workflow

Let's walk through creating a workflow for submitting a pull request.

{% tabs %} {% tab label="VSCode" %}

Create a file called submit-pr.md in your .kilo/commands directory:

---
description: Submit a pull request with full checks
---

# Submit PR Workflow

You are helping submit a pull request. Follow these steps:

1. First, use `grep` to check for any TODO comments or console.log statements that shouldn't be committed
2. Run tests using `bash` with `npm test` or the appropriate test command
3. If tests pass, stage and commit changes with a descriptive commit message
4. Push the branch and create a pull request using `bash` with `gh pr create`
5. Use `question` to get the PR title and description from the user

Parameters needed (ask if not provided):

- Branch name
- Reviewers to assign

Trigger this workflow by typing /submit-pr in the chat.

{% /tab %} {% tab label="VSCode (Legacy)" %}

Create a file called submit-pr.md in your .kilocode/workflows directory:

# Submit PR Workflow

You are helping submit a pull request. Follow these steps:

1. First, use `search_files` to check for any TODO comments or console.log statements that shouldn't be committed
2. Run tests using `execute_command` with `npm test` or the appropriate test command
3. If tests pass, stage and commit changes with a descriptive commit message
4. Push the branch and create a pull request using `gh pr create`
5. Use `ask_followup_question` to get the PR title and description from the user

Parameters needed (ask if not provided):

- Branch name
- Reviewers to assign

Trigger this workflow by typing /submit-pr.md in the chat.

{% /tab %} {% /tabs %}

Kilo Code will:

• Scan your code for common issues before committing
• Run your test suite to catch problems early
• Handle the Git operations and PR creation
• Set up follow-up tasks for deployment

This saves you from manually running the same steps every time you want to submit code for review.