An object of the slice category is a morphism ; a map from to is with . The identity morphism is a terminal object of this slice category, even when itself has no terminal object.
For a cospan in the slice category, form its underlying pullback in a category in , with maps and . If are the structure maps to , then . This common map equips with its slice structure. An underlying mediating map into is automatically over , because its composite with is the prescribed structure map. Hence the same square is a pullback in a category in .