Command Line, Stream Deck & Macro Pads

Everything SlyPilot can do from a keyboard shortcut, a Touch Bar button or your voice can also be started from a command line. That makes it easy to put on a Stream Deck key, a macro-pad button, a Windows shortcut, a script or a scheduled task. This page covers the switches, the voice-command-by-text route (/say), the small fast client SlyCtl.exe, and examples for the common tools.

If you are looking for AI coding agents and the Model Context Protocol, that is a separate, gated interface: see MCP & Agent Automation and the caution below.

1. How It Works

• You run SlyPilot.exe <switch> [parameters] (or SlyCtl.exe, see below). The command is handed to the SlyPilot that is already running in your tray, and the command-line program ends. Nothing opens, nothing is printed.
• If SlyPilot is not running, running the command starts it. The command itself may need to be sent again once SlyPilot is up.
• A leading / or - is optional: /next, -next and next are the same. Switches are not case-sensitive. A bare number is a desktop jump: SlyPilot.exe 3 means /goto 3.
• The exit code does not tell you whether the action worked. Check the effect (the desktop changed, the window moved). For /say you can read the answer in logs\crash.log (section 4).
• Put a path or a parameter that contains spaces in double quotes: SlyPilot.exe snap "focus center".

2. SlyPilot.exe or SlyCtl.exe?

Exit codes of SlyCtl.exe: 0 when it delivered the command, the exit code of SlyPilot.exe when it passed the command on, and 2 when it could not find SlyPilot.exe in its own folder (keep the two files together).

You never need SlyCtl.exe: every example below works with SlyPilot.exe too. If you only have SlyPilot.exe (for example you copied the single file somewhere), use that.

3. The Switches

These are the most useful ones. The complete list ships with the setup program as skills\slypilot\references\cli-commands.md in the install folder, and SlyPilot.exe /help opens a window that lists them (it waits for you to click OK, so do not put it on a button or in a script).

Notes column: window in front = acts on the window you were working in; opens a window = something appears that you close yourself; system = changes volume, display, power or similar; careful = disruptive or hard to undo.

Virtual desktops and workspaces

Windows

Panels and tools

Sound, display and system

Voice and macros

Program housekeeping

4. /say: Any Voice Command, From a Button

/say runs a voice command by its words, through the same dispatcher the microphone uses. Any command in the Voice Command Reference can be run this way, including the many that have no switch of their own:

SlyCtl.exe /say "snap left"
SlyCtl.exe /say "go to desktop two"
SlyCtl.exe /say "mute microphone"
SlyCtl.exe /say "workspace work"

• It does not need a microphone. It is the way to use voice commands from a Stream Deck, a macro pad, a script or the on-screen keyboard.
• The answer goes to the log. Each call writes one line to logs\crash.log (next to the program for the zip, in the install folder for the setup program): VOICE SAY: 'snap left' -> '<what SlyPilot answered>'. If a button does nothing, that line tells you whether the phrase was understood.
• Risky commands still ask. A command that is marked Needs "confirm" in the voice command list asks for confirmation first, as it does by voice. Do not put those on a button you could press by accident.
• Use the phrases from the voice command list as written; a made-up phrase is not understood. A few commands only work in a certain kind of program (a browser or an editor in front, for example), and the list says so.
• Phrases that start with ? are developer test hooks. Leave them alone.

5. Examples

Stream Deck and macro pads

Add a button that launches a program (in the Stream Deck software this is usually the "Open" action under System; other macro-pad programs have an equivalent):

If your software has only one box, put the path in quotes first and the arguments after it. If a button needs several steps, point it at a small .cmd file (below). Good first buttons: /goto 1 ... /goto 4, /say "snap left", /say "snap right", /radial, /touch, /mic-mute, /vol up, /vol down, /ws "MorningDev".

A Windows shortcut with its own hotkey

Right-click the desktop, New -> Shortcut, enter "C:\...\SlyCtl.exe" /say "next desktop", name it, then in its Properties give it a Shortcut key (Windows only honours shortcut keys on shortcuts that sit on the desktop or in the Start menu).

Batch file

@echo off
rem Put the programs in a folder for work and snap them
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\SlyPilot\SlyCtl.exe" /ws "MorningDev"
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\SlyPilot\SlyCtl.exe" /say "snap left"

A batch file does not wait for a program without a console. To wait and read the exit code, use start "" /wait "...\SlyCtl.exe" /goto 2 and then check %ERRORLEVEL%.

PowerShell

$ctl = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\SlyPilot\SlyCtl.exe"

# fire and forget
& $ctl /say "next desktop"

# wait for it and read the exit code (0 = delivered)
$p = Start-Process $ctl -ArgumentList '/say', '"snap left"' -PassThru -Wait
$p.ExitCode

AutoHotkey v2

; Ctrl+F9 snaps the window to the left half, Ctrl+F10 goes to desktop 2
^F9::Run('"C:\Path\To\SlyCtl.exe" /say "snap left"', , "Hide")
^F10::Run('"C:\Path\To\SlyCtl.exe" /goto 2', , "Hide")

Task Scheduler, a login script, a calendar tool

Anything that can start a program can start a switch. For example, a scheduled task that runs SlyCtl.exe /audio-preset night in the evening, or a script that runs /ws-save "end of day" before you log off.

The mag switches (Magnifier, presenter tools, drawing board)

Bind them to a Stream Deck button or a macro pad key like any other switch. The full list is in skills\slypilot\references\cli-commands.md of the program folder.

6. Agents, and the Difference From Switches

AI coding agents (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex and others) use a different, gated command: SlyPilot.exe agent <verb> and the SlyPilot.exe mcp server. It is off until you choose a level in the tray menu, always names the window it acts on, answers in JSON, and asks you to click for risky actions. Everything about it is in MCP & Agent Automation. Its exit codes are 0 ok, 1 error, 2 SlyPilot not reachable, 3 your approval is needed, 4 phrase not understood, and 5 a check or wait came out false or timed out.

Caution: switches and /say are not covered by that gate. They are meant for your macros, buttons and scripts. Any program running as you on this PC can run SlyPilot.exe /goto 2 or /say "...", whether or not agent control is on, and the agent levels and approval windows do not apply to them. If you let a program or an AI tool run commands on your PC, remember that this door exists. SlyPilot's agent skill tells agents not to use it to get around a refused request.

7. Troubleshooting

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need Stream Deck hardware? No. Any program that can start another program with arguments will do: a Windows shortcut, a batch file, AutoHotkey, Task Scheduler.

Why not just use the hotkeys? Hotkeys are fine at the keyboard. A button helps when your hands are on another device, when you want a single key to do several things (a .cmd file), or when you want something that has no hotkey (most voice commands).

Can a phone do the same? Yes, in a different way, with SlyPilot Pro: the Phone Remote (Chrome on Android) has a command search that runs the same commands, with permissions you choose per phone.

Is there a way to see what a button did? For /say, the log line. For other switches, the effect itself; classic switches do not answer.

Where are all the keyboard shortcuts? In the Keyboard & Gestures Cheat Sheet.