sync: update cli-for-beginners ch01-02 with v1.0.35/v1.0.36 features

Chapter 01 (First Steps):
- Add /ask to Essential Slash Commands table; reorder entries
- Update table intro text to match upstream
- Add /ask vs regular chat tip
- Add Tab-completion tip for slash commands (v1.0.35)
- Add /keep-alive to Session commands table (v1.0.36)
- Update /session entry with delete/delete-all subcommands (v1.0.35)
- Update /resume and /rename descriptions
- Add /clear, /new, /rewind entries to Session table
- Update /share description (add HTML file option)
- Update /allow-all warning to include /yolo
- Add double Esc behavior to Common Mistakes table (v1.0.36)

Chapter 02 (Context and Conversations):
- Use --resume=<id> syntax (v1.0.35)
- Add --resume="name" example for resuming by name (v1.0.35)
- Update --continue behavior note: prefers current working directory (v1.0.35)
- Add --name flag for naming sessions at startup (v1.0.35)
- Expand Organize Your Sessions with --name, --resume=<name> (v1.0.35)
- Add /session delete subcommands to Organize Your Sessions (v1.0.35)
- Update Monday/Wednesday workflow to use --name and --resume=<name>
- Update essentials banner to mention --name flag
- Update Key Takeaways point 3 to mention --name flag

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
This commit is contained in:
github-actions[bot]
2026-05-01 11:04:02 +00:00
committed by GitHub
parent 90921cc46f
commit 6fce03ee7e
2 changed files with 54 additions and 22 deletions
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: '01 · First Steps'
description: 'Experience your first GitHub Copilot CLI demos and learn the three main interaction modes.'
authors:
- GitHub Copilot Learning Hub Team
lastUpdated: 2026-03-20
lastUpdated: 2026-05-01
---
![Chapter 01: First Steps](/images/learning-hub/copilot-cli-for-beginners/01/chapter-header.png)
@@ -365,17 +365,22 @@ copilot --allow-all -p "Review @myfile.py for issues"
## Essential Slash Commands
These commands work in interactive mode. **Start with just these six** - they cover 90% of daily use:
These commands are great to learn initially as you're getting started with Copilot CLI:
| Command | What It Does | When to Use |
|---------|--------------|-------------|
| `/help` | Show all available commands | When you forget a command |
| `/ask` | Ask a quick question without it affecting your conversation history | When you want a quick answer without derailing your current task |
| `/clear` | Clear conversation and start fresh | When switching topics |
| `/help` | Show all available commands | When you forget a command |
| `/model` | Show or switch AI model | When you want to change the AI model |
| `/plan` | Plan your work out before coding | For more complex features |
| `/research` | Deep research using GitHub and web sources | When you need to investigate a topic before coding |
| `/model` | Show or switch AI model | When you want to change the AI model |
| `/exit` | End the session | When you're done |
> 💡 **`/ask` vs regular chat**: Normally every message you send becomes part of the ongoing conversation and affects future responses. `/ask` is an "off the record" shortcut — perfect for quick one-off questions like `/ask What does YAML mean?` without polluting your session context.
> 💡 **Tab-completion**: When typing a slash command, press **Tab** to auto-complete the command name or cycle through available subcommands and arguments. This is especially handy when you can't remember the exact name of a command.
That's it for getting started! As you become comfortable, you can explore additional commands.
> 📚 **Official Documentation**: [CLI command reference](https://docs.github.com/copilot/reference/cli-command-reference) for the complete list of commands and flags.
@@ -424,19 +429,23 @@ That's it for getting started! As you become comfortable, you can explore additi
| `/list-dirs` | Show all allowed directories |
| `/cwd`, `/cd [directory]` | View or change working directory |
> ⚠️ **Use with caution**: `/allow-all` skips confirmation prompts. Great for trusted projects, but be careful with untrusted code.
> ⚠️ **Use with caution**: `/allow-all` and `/yolo` skip confirmation prompts. Great for trusted projects, but be careful with untrusted code.
### Session
| Command | What It Does |
|---------|--------------|
| `/resume` | Switch to a different session (optionally specify session ID) |
| `/rename` | Rename the current session |
| `/context` | Show context window token usage and visualization |
| `/usage` | Display session usage metrics and statistics |
| `/session` | Show session info and workspace summary |
| `/clear` | Abandons the current session (no history saved) and starts a fresh conversation |
| `/compact` | Summarize conversation to reduce context usage |
| `/share` | Export session as markdown file or GitHub gist |
| `/context` | Show context window token usage and visualization |
| `/keep-alive` | Prevent your system from sleeping while Copilot CLI is active — handy for long-running tasks on a laptop |
| `/new` | Ends the current session (saving it to history for search/resume) and starts a fresh conversation. |
| `/resume` | Switch to a different session (optionally specify session ID or name) |
| `/rename` | Rename the current session (omit the name to auto-generate one) |
| `/rewind` | Open a timeline picker to roll back to any earlier point in the conversation |
| `/usage` | Display session usage metrics and statistics |
| `/session` | Show session info and workspace summary; use `/session delete`, `/session delete <id>`, or `/session delete-all` to remove sessions |
| `/share` | Export session as a markdown file, GitHub gist, or self-contained HTML file |
### Help and Feedback
@@ -609,6 +618,7 @@ The examples used `/plan` for a search feature and `-p` for batch reviews. Now t
| Typing `exit` instead of `/exit` | Copilot CLI treats "exit" as a prompt, not a command | Slash commands always start with `/` |
| Using `-p` for multi-turn conversations | Each `-p` call is isolated with no memory of previous calls | Use interactive mode (`copilot`) for conversations that build on context |
| Forgetting quotes around prompts with `$` or `!` | Shell interprets special characters before Copilot CLI sees them | Wrap prompts in quotes: `copilot -p "What does $HOME mean?"` |
| Pressing Esc once to cancel a running task | A single Esc no longer cancels in-flight work (to prevent accidents) | Press **Esc twice** to cancel while Copilot CLI is processing |
### Troubleshooting