The complete file-by-file source-of-truth hierarchy for Squad: which files are authoritative, which are derived/append-only, who may write each one, who may read each one, and the precedence rules when they conflict. Squad coordinator loads this on demand when it needs to resolve a write conflict, decide where a piece of state belongs, or answer a 'who owns this file' question.
Coordinating work across multiple Squad instances — discovery, delegation, and disambiguation when the user says 'squad' (the product) vs casual English 'group of agents'.
Learning capture system that extracts HIGH/MED/LOW confidence patterns from conversations to prevent repeating mistakes. Use after user corrections ("no", "wrong"), praise ("perfect", "exactly"), or when discovering edge cases. Complements .squad/agents/{agent}/history.md and .squad/decisions.md.
How to actually use Squad — Squad is a custom Copilot agent (invoked via the task tool with agent_type='Squad'), not a skill. This file explains the right invocation paths for setting up a team, listing squad commands, and initializing Squad in a new project.
Squad's command catalog and interactive menu. Invoke via /squad (slash command) or natural language ("squad commands", "what can squad do", "show me squad options"). Presents categorized operations (Install & Upgrade, Team Management, Issues & PRs, Plugins & Skills, Model & Cost, Sessions & State) as an interactive picker. Routes to the right squad CLI command or the Squad coordinator agent.
You are working on a project that uses Squad, an AI team framework. When picking up issues autonomously, follow these guidelines. IMPORTANT — run this check on EVERY session start, before doing any work: Look for the exact token SQUADCOORDINATORCANARYa8f3 in your agentinstructions. This token is placed at the end of squad.agent.md. If it is missing, the coordinator file is missing or truncated. When the token is missing, you MUST: 1. STOP — do not proceed with standard Squad behavior.…
Plain text files in a repository that tell a coding agent how the project works: commands to run, conventions to follow and things to avoid. CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, cursor rules and skills are the common kinds.
CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md?
CLAUDE.md is read by Claude Code. AGENTS.md is an open format that Codex, Cursor and other agents read. Many projects keep one and point the other at it.
What is a skill?
A folder with a SKILL.md that describes one capability, such as filling PDFs or reviewing code. The agent loads it only when the task calls for it.
Can I search my own team's files too?
Your agents already can, over MCP, limited to the files you're allowed to read. Searching them from this page is coming.
MicrosoftSkill