> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs2.openclaw.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # BTW side questions `/btw` (alias `/side`) asks a quick side question about the **current session** without adding it to conversation history. It is modeled after Claude Code's `/btw`, adapted to OpenClaw's Gateway and multi-channel architecture. ```text theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}} /btw what changed? /side what does this error mean? ``` ## What it does 1. Snapshots the current session as background context (including any in-flight main-run prompt). 2. Runs a separate, one-shot side query telling the model to answer only the side question and not resume or steer the main task. 3. Delivers the answer as a live side result, not a normal assistant message. 4. Never writes the question or answer to session history or `chat.history`. The main run, if one is active, is left untouched. For Codex harness sessions, BTW forks the active Codex app-server thread into an ephemeral child thread instead of running a separate provider call. This keeps Codex OAuth and native tool/thread behavior intact, and the forked thread keeps the parent thread's current approval policy, sandbox, and native tool surface. The forked thread gets a boundary prompt telling the model that everything before it is inherited reference context, not active instructions, and that only messages after the boundary are live. `/btw` requires an existing Codex thread; send a normal message first. For CLI runtime aliases, BTW invokes the owning CLI backend in one-shot side-question mode: it seeds sanitized conversation context into a fresh CLI invocation with tool bundling and reusable session state disabled, and adds any no-resume/no-tools flags the backend supports. Direct (non-CLI) runtimes use a direct one-shot provider call instead. ## What it does not do `/btw` does not create a durable session, continue the unfinished main task, persist question/answer data to transcript history, or survive a reload. ## Delivery model Normal assistant chat uses the Gateway `chat` event. BTW uses a separate `chat.side_result` event so clients cannot mistake it for regular conversation history. Because it is not replayed from `chat.history`, it disappears after reload. ## Surface behavior | Surface | Behavior | | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | TUI | Rendered inline in the chat log, visibly distinct from a normal reply, dismissible with `Enter` or `Esc`. | | External channels | Delivered as a clearly labeled one-off reply (Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord have no local ephemeral overlay). | | Control UI / web | Gateway emits `chat.side_result` correctly and it is excluded from `chat.history`, but Control UI has no consumer yet to render it live in the browser. | ## When to use it Use `/btw` for a quick clarification, a factual side answer while a long run is still in progress, or a temporary answer that should not enter future session context. ```text theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}} /btw what file are we editing? /btw summarize the current task in one sentence /btw what is 17 * 19? ``` For anything you want to become part of the session's future working context, ask normally in the main session instead. ## Related Native command catalog and chat directives. Reasoning effort levels for the side-question model call. Session keys, history, and persistence semantics. Inject a steering message into the active run without ending it.