Workflows

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

Creating Workflows

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

Create a .md file with step-by-step instructions
Save it in your commands directory
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...

Field	Description
`description`	Shown in the command picker
`agent`	Which agent to use when invoking this command
`model`	Model override for this command
`subtask`	When `true`, runs as a sub-agent session

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.

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.

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.

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.