SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET

Updated October 13, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET is a Claude Code environment variable: Character budget for slash command tool output. Its release history is not tracked here. It is listed in the official reference.

Status	Present in v2.1.294
Category	Shell and tools
Official docs	Listed

How to set it

For one session, export it in the shell that starts Claude Code:

export SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET=<value>
claude

To apply it to every session, add it to the env object of a settings file:

// ~/.claude/settings.json
{
  "env": {
    "SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET": "<value>"
  }
}

Related variables

CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ADVISOR_TOOL: Disables what appears to be an internal advisory tool.
CLAUDE_CODE_EMIT_TOOL_USE_SUMMARIES: Emit tool use summary events.
CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_ADVISOR_TOOL: Enables the experimental Advisor Tool — a server-side tool with its own advisorModel config option.
CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_TOOL_USE_CONCURRENCY: Max concurrent tool executions; default 10.
CLAUDE_CODE_TOOL_MEMORY_CGROUP_EXCLUDE
CLAUDE_CODE_TOOL_MEMORY_LIMIT
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_POWERSHELL_TOOL: Enables a PowerShell-specific tool variant for Windows environments.
ENABLE_LSP_TOOL: Enable Language Server Protocol tool.

Frequently asked questions

What does SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET do?

Character budget for slash command tool output

Which Claude Code version has SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET?

Its release history is not tracked here.

How do I set SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET?

Export it before starting Claude Code (export SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET=value), or add it to the "env" object in ~/.claude/settings.json to apply it to every session.

All variables, searchable: Claude Code environment variables.