diff --git a/src/client/src/components/PromptEditor.ts b/src/client/src/components/PromptEditor.ts
index 1deb3f9..56a01b1 100644
--- a/src/client/src/components/PromptEditor.ts
+++ b/src/client/src/components/PromptEditor.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { LitElement, html, type PropertyValues } from "lit";
 import { customElement, property, query, state } from "lit/decorators.js";
 import { api, type FileSuggestion, type SlashCommand } from "../api";
+import { inputModeForDraft } from "../inputModes";
 import { promptEditorStyles, type CompletionItem } from "./shared";
 import "./AutocompleteMenu";
 
@@ -31,7 +32,8 @@ export class PromptEditor extends LitElement {
   }
 
   render() {
-    const shellMode = this.isShellMode();
+    const inputMode = inputModeForDraft(this.draft);
+    const shellMode = inputMode.kind === "shell";
     return html`
       <footer class=${shellMode ? "shell-mode" : ""}>
         <div class="editor-wrap">
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ export class PromptEditor extends LitElement {
             @keydown=${(event: KeyboardEvent) => this.handleKeyDown(event)}
             placeholder="Message pi... Use / for commands, @ for files"
           ></textarea>
-          ${shellMode ? html`<div class="mode-hint">Shell command${this.isShellExcludedFromContext() ? " · excluded from context" : ""}</div>` : null}
+          ${shellMode ? html`<div class="mode-hint">Shell command${inputMode.excludeFromContext ? " · excluded from context" : ""}</div>` : null}
           <autocomplete-menu .items=${this.completions} .selectedIndex=${this.selectedIndex} .onPick=${(item: CompletionItem) => this.pick(item)}></autocomplete-menu>
         </div>
         <button ?disabled=${this.disabled} @click=${this.send}>Send</button>
@@ -62,14 +64,6 @@ export class PromptEditor extends LitElement {
     textarea.style.height = `${textarea.scrollHeight}px`;
   }
 
-  private isShellMode(): boolean {
-    return this.draft.trimStart().startsWith("!");
-  }
-
-  private isShellExcludedFromContext(): boolean {
-    return this.draft.trimStart().startsWith("!!");
-  }
-
   private updateDraft(value: string) {
     this.draft = value;
     if (this.sessionId) saveDraft(this.sessionId, this.draft);
diff --git a/src/client/src/controllers/sessionController.ts b/src/client/src/controllers/sessionController.ts
index 412ee4e..658f453 100644
--- a/src/client/src/controllers/sessionController.ts
+++ b/src/client/src/controllers/sessionController.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { api, type CommandResult, type SessionActivity, type SessionInfo, type SessionStatus } from "../api";
 import { normalizeMessages, textMessage } from "../chatMessages";
 import { applyTranscriptEvent } from "../chatTranscript";
-import { isShellInput } from "../shellMessages";
+import { isShellInput } from "../inputModes";
 import { GlobalSessionSocket, SessionSocket, type SessionUiEvent } from "../sessionSocket";
 import type { GetState, SetState, UpdateUrl } from "./types";
 
diff --git a/src/client/src/inputModes.ts b/src/client/src/inputModes.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..504e9e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client/src/inputModes.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+export type InputMode =
+  | { kind: "normal" }
+  | { kind: "command" }
+  | { kind: "file" }
+  | { kind: "shell"; excludeFromContext: boolean };
+
+export function inputModeForDraft(draft: string): InputMode {
+  const trimmed = draft.trimStart();
+  if (trimmed.startsWith("!")) return { kind: "shell", excludeFromContext: trimmed.startsWith("!!") };
+  if (currentToken(draft).startsWith("/")) return { kind: "command" };
+  if (draft.endsWith("@ ") || currentToken(draft).startsWith("@")) return { kind: "file" };
+  return { kind: "normal" };
+}
+
+export function isShellInput(text: string): boolean {
+  return inputModeForDraft(text).kind === "shell";
+}
+
+function currentToken(draft: string): string {
+  const tokenStart = Math.max(draft.lastIndexOf(" "), draft.lastIndexOf("\n")) + 1;
+  return draft.slice(tokenStart);
+}
diff --git a/src/client/src/shellMessages.ts b/src/client/src/shellMessages.ts
index ac348c4..0455adf 100644
--- a/src/client/src/shellMessages.ts
+++ b/src/client/src/shellMessages.ts
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@ import { textMessage } from "./chatMessages";
 import type { ChatLine } from "./components/shared";
 import type { SessionUiEvent } from "./sessionSocket";
 
-export function isShellInput(text: string): boolean {
-  return text.trim().startsWith("!");
-}
-
 export function shellStartMessage(command: string, excludeFromContext?: boolean): ChatLine {
   return textMessage("bash", `$ ${command}${excludeFromContext ? "\n\nexcluded from context" : ""}`);
 }