google-gemini/gemini-cli

/clear docs dont mention that it clears context

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#19239 opened on Feb 17, 2026

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 (9 comments) (0 reactions) (1 assignee)TypeScript (103,992 stars) (13,657 forks)batch import
area/agenthelp wantedkind/customer-issuepriority/p3status/bot-triaged

Description

/clear

Description: Clear the terminal screen, including the visible session history and scrollback within the CLI. The underlying session data (for history recall) might be preserved depending on the exact implementation, but the visual display is cleared.

This forgets to mention the most important part, that the context of the agent is cleared fresh so you can begin new thread without context pollution.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
clidocumentation
Issue type
documentation
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
1
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
under 1 hour
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
blocked
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
familiarity with the /clear command
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
90
Research direction
Locate the help text definition for the /clear command in the gemini cli codebase. Update the description to clarify that it also clears the agent context, not just the terminal screen. Review the existing comments for any proposed wording or maintainer feedback.