diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2f8d3da..a7b5f59 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ All notable changes to `@inceptionstack/roundhouse` are documented here.
 
 ### Added
 - Gateway with Telegram adapter, per-thread agent sessions
-- `/new`, `/restart`, `/status`, `/compact`, `/verbose`, `/stop`, `/doctor` commands
+- `/new`, `/restart`, `/status`, `/compact`, `/verbose`, `/cancel`, `/doctor` commands
 - Auto-register bot commands with Telegram on startup
 - Draining/drain_complete notification system
 - Context token usage with progress bar
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bb24158..e53060f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ Roundhouse automatically registers these commands with Telegram on startup:
 | `/compact` | Compact session context to free up tokens |
 | `/verbose` | Toggle tool status messages on/off for this chat |
 | `/status` | Show gateway status: version, agent, model, context usage, uptime, etc. |
-| `/stop` | Stop the current agent run (abort tools, LLM calls, compaction) |
+| `/cancel` | Stop the current agent run (abort tools, LLM calls, compaction) |
 | `/restart` | Restart the gateway service (requires `allowedUsers` to be configured) |
 | `/doctor` | Run health checks and show system status |
 | `/crons` | Manage scheduled jobs (list, trigger, pause, resume) |
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ Manually triggers context compaction for the current chat's session. Shows befor
 
 Toggles verbose mode for the current chat. When ON, shows tool call status messages (e.g. "⚡ Running `bash`…"). When OFF (default), tool calls execute silently — you only see the agent's text responses. State shown in `/status`.
 
-### `/stop`
+### `/cancel`
 
 Aborts the current agent run for this chat — stops any in-progress tool calls, LLM generation, and compaction. The session is preserved; send another message to continue the conversation.
 
diff --git a/docs/refactoring-plan.md b/docs/refactoring-plan.md
index 224d16e..e83f9e0 100644
--- a/docs/refactoring-plan.md
+++ b/docs/refactoring-plan.md
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
 | 4.7 | *Run tests* | Green bar |
 | 4.8 | *Extract Module: notifications* | Move `notifyStartup`, `postWithFallback`, `registerBotCommands` → `src/gateway/notifications.ts` |
 | 4.9 | *Run tests* | Green bar |
-| 4.10 | *Extract Module: command-router* | Move Telegram command handlers (`/status`, `/compact`, `/update`, `/crons`, `/stop`, `/verbose`, `/doctor`) → `src/gateway/command-router.ts` as a handler map |
+| 4.10 | *Extract Module: command-router* | Move Telegram command handlers (`/status`, `/compact`, `/update`, `/crons`, `/cancel`, `/verbose`, `/doctor`) → `src/gateway/command-router.ts` as a handler map |
 | 4.11 | *Run tests* | Green bar |
 | 4.12 | *Thin Gateway class* | `Gateway` becomes orchestrator importing from sub-modules (~100 lines) |
 | 4.13 | *Move file* | Rename `src/gateway.ts` → `src/gateway/index.ts`, update imports |
diff --git a/docs/transport-adapter-design.md b/docs/transport-adapter-design.md
index 2917519..bff11f4 100644
--- a/docs/transport-adapter-design.md
+++ b/docs/transport-adapter-design.md
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ export interface TransportAdapter {
 - Agent adapter lifecycle (create, prompt, stream)
 - Thread queue / concurrency management
 - Memory system (flush, compact, pressure)
-- Command routing (/new, /stop, /status, etc.)
+- Command routing (/new, /cancel, /status, etc.)
 - Config loading
 - Allowed user authorization
 
diff --git a/src/gateway/commands.ts b/src/gateway/commands.ts
index 5473936..fd37716 100644
--- a/src/gateway/commands.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/commands.ts
@@ -284,25 +284,25 @@ export async function handleStatus(ctx: CommandContext): Promise<void> {
   console.log(`[roundhouse] /status for thread=${thread.id} agentThread=${agentThreadId}`);
 }
 
-// ── /stop ────────────────────────────────────────────
+// ── /cancel ────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-export interface StopContext {
+export interface CancelContext {
   thread: any;
   agentThreadId: string;
   agent: AgentAdapter;
   abortControllers: Map<string, AbortController>;
 }
 
-export async function handleStop(ctx: StopContext): Promise<void> {
+export async function handleCancel(ctx: CancelContext): Promise<void> {
   const { thread, agentThreadId, agent, abortControllers } = ctx;
   if (agent.abort) {
     await agent.abort(agentThreadId);
     abortControllers.get(agentThreadId)?.abort();
-    try { await thread.post("⏹️ Stopped."); } catch {}
+    try { await thread.post("⏹️ Cancelled."); } catch {}
   } else {
     try { await thread.post("⚠️ Abort not supported for this agent."); } catch {}
   }
-  console.log(`[roundhouse] /stop for thread=${thread.id} agentThread=${agentThreadId}`);
+  console.log(`[roundhouse] /cancel for thread=${thread.id} agentThread=${agentThreadId}`);
 }
 
 // ── /verbose ─────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/src/gateway/gateway.ts b/src/gateway/gateway.ts
index 54a16a0..587d405 100644
--- a/src/gateway/gateway.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/gateway.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import type { PressureLevel } from "../memory/types";
 import { isCommand as _isCmd, isCommandWithArgs as _isCmdArgs, resolveAgentThreadId as _resolveThread, getSystemResources as _getSysRes } from "./helpers";
 import { saveAttachments, type AttachmentResult } from "./attachments";
 import { handleStreaming as _handleStream, StreamModelOverflowError } from "./streaming";
-import { handleNew, handleRestart, handleUpdate, handleCompact, handleStatus, handleStop, handleVerbose, handleDoctor, handleCrons, type CommandContext } from "./commands";
+import { handleNew, handleRestart, handleUpdate, handleCompact, handleStatus, handleCancel, handleVerbose, handleDoctor, handleCrons, type CommandContext } from "./commands";
 import { handleModel, handleModelAction, MODEL_ACTION_ID } from "./model-command";
 import { handleLater } from "./later-command";
 import { handleTopic, handleTopicAction, TOPIC_ACTION_ID, applyTopicOverride } from "./topic-command";
@@ -209,10 +209,10 @@ export class Gateway {
     // Per-thread verbose toggle (shows tool_start messages)
     const verboseThreads = this.verboseThreads;
 
-    // Per-thread abort signal for /stop
+    // Per-thread abort signal for /cancel
     const abortControllers = this.abortControllers;
 
-    // Per-thread lock to serialize prompts (concurrent mode lets /stop through)
+    // Per-thread lock to serialize prompts (concurrent mode lets /cancel through)
     const threadLocks = this.threadLocks;
 
     // ── Build command descriptors ──────────────────────
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ export class Gateway {
       const text = (message.text ?? "").trim();
 
       // Pre-turn commands fire before the main handler (and before the
-      // session-pressure gate), so /stop etc. still interrupt a mid-run
+      // session-pressure gate), so /cancel etc. still interrupt a mid-run
       // agent. Allowlist is enforced here for all pre-turn handlers.
       for (const desc of preTurnCommands) {
         if (matchesDescriptor(desc, text, matchers)) {
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ export class Gateway {
 
     const agent = this.router.resolve(agentThreadId);
 
-    // Serialize prompts per-thread (concurrent mode allows /stop to bypass)
+    // Serialize prompts per-thread (concurrent mode allows /cancel to bypass)
     const prevLock = threadLocks.get(agentThreadId);
     let releaseLock: () => void;
     const lockPromise = new Promise<void>((resolve) => { releaseLock = resolve; });
@@ -750,7 +750,7 @@ export class Gateway {
    *
    * Stage:
    *   - "in-turn" (default): runs after allowlist + pairing inside handle()
-   *   - "pre-turn": runs first in handleOrAbort() so commands like /stop
+   *   - "pre-turn": runs first in handleOrAbort() so commands like /cancel
    *     can interrupt an in-flight agent turn
    *
    * Per-request state (thread, message, text) comes in via CommandInvocation;
@@ -813,9 +813,9 @@ export class Gateway {
 
       // ── Pre-turn commands (abort-style; fire even during agent turn) ──
       {
-        triggers: ["/stop"],
+        triggers: ["/cancel"],
         stage: "pre-turn",
-        invoke: ({ thread, agentThreadId }) => handleStop({
+        invoke: ({ thread, agentThreadId }) => handleCancel({
           thread, agentThreadId,
           agent: this.router.resolve(agentThreadId),
           abortControllers,
diff --git a/src/transports/telegram/bot-commands.ts b/src/transports/telegram/bot-commands.ts
index 965eb71..9cdb69c 100644
--- a/src/transports/telegram/bot-commands.ts
+++ b/src/transports/telegram/bot-commands.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ export const BOT_COMMANDS: BotCommand[] = [
   { command: "later", description: "Save an idea for later" },
   { command: "topic", description: "Switch conversation topic" },
   { command: "verbose", description: "Toggle verbose tool output" },
-  { command: "stop", description: "Stop the current agent run" },
+  { command: "cancel", description: "Cancel the current agent run" },
   { command: "restart", description: "Restart agent process" },
   { command: "update", description: "Update roundhouse and restart" },
   { command: "status", description: "Show system status" },
diff --git a/test/gateway-helpers.test.ts b/test/gateway-helpers.test.ts
index 97fc652..d14ac25 100644
--- a/test/gateway-helpers.test.ts
+++ b/test/gateway-helpers.test.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ describe("gateway/helpers", () => {
     });
 
     it("rejects non-matching command", () => {
-      expect(isCommand("/stop", "/start", "mybot")).toBe(false);
+      expect(isCommand("/cancel", "/start", "mybot")).toBe(false);
     });
   });