Add, change, and pause squad members

Who is in your squad

Your squad has one lead and other squad members. The setup conversation creates up to 8 besides your lead. After setup, you can keep adding squad members, with no limit.

• Your lead talks with you in Chat and adds squad members when you ask. It hands each new task to the squad member whose role fits it. You named it during setup.
• Every other squad member has one role, such as Research or Content, and does that work.

Each squad member has a first name and a handle: the @ name made from it (Iris becomes @iris). It also has a role, a character, and a model, the AI it runs on.

Open the Squad page

Click Squad in the sidebar, or press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows), type "Squad", and select it.

Your lead sits in a wide card at the top, with a card for each other squad member below.

If your squad can't load, you see "Agents could not be loaded". Click Try again.

Open a squad member's profile

Click a card. The profile opens on the right, with:

• The name, Rename, and the role. Your lead's profile also says Lead.
• The status: Working, Idle, or Waiting on you (one of its tasks is blocked on a question for you).
• Pause or Resume at the top.
• Default Model, Capabilities, Agent Files, and Activity.
• On every squad member except your lead: Checks on [name]'s work and Helped on.

Activity has two tabs. Attention lists its tasks that wait for review or are blocked, with the reason. Timeline lists the task it is on now and the 5 tasks it updated last.

Add a squad member in Chat

You add a squad member by asking your lead, once setup has built your squad.

1. 1

   Open your lead in Chat

   Open Chat and choose your lead.

2. 2

   Ask for one squad member

   Say what you need, such as "Add someone to handle customer support." Ask for one at a time.

3. 3

   Read your lead's reply

   Your lead picks a broad role, such as Research or Content, and a character. It also picks a first name in the style of your squad's other names. It asks you for a name only when those names follow no pattern.

   Your lead tells you when the squad member is ready. It shows up on Squad within 10 seconds.

Add a squad member from a task

When you create a task that no squad member's role covers, your lead can ask you before anyone starts. You get a ticket titled "Add [name] for this work?".

If the squad member can't be created, your lead takes the task, and the task thread says why.

Rename a squad member

1. 1

   Click Rename

   Open the profile and click Rename next to the name. The Rename [name] panel opens.

2. 2

   Type the new first name

   Type it in New first name and click Review.

3. 3

   Confirm

   The panel shows the old and new names with their handles, such as "Iris (@iris) → Nova (@nova)". The old handle keeps working. Click Rename agent.

   You see "Iris is now Nova". The squad member keeps its tasks, docs, chats, memory, and schedules. You rename your lead the same way.

Rules for a new name

A new name is:

• 2 to 32 characters;
• one first name, with no last name and no role;
• different from the current name. If it isn't, you see "Enter a different first name.";
• not a name or handle already in use by you or a squad member.

Rename in Chat

You can also ask any squad member in Chat to rename someone. It shows the old and new names and handles, and renames after you confirm in your next message.

Choose the model a squad member uses

Each squad member can run on its own AI model, separate from the rest of your squad.

1. Under Default Model, click the model button. The list holds the models of the AI providers you connected in Settings > Model Providers. With more than 10, Search models... shows at the top.
2. Pick a model. You see "Default model updated", or "Failed to update default model" if it didn't save.

The model runs its tasks and replies from then on. Finished work doesn't change.

Edit a squad member's instructions

Agent Files holds one file, Agent instructions: the squad member's personality, values, goals, and behavior. Your lead writes it.

1. Click Open next to Agent instructions.
2. Click Edit, change the text, and click Save. Cancel stops editing without saving.

A save that changes the name or role in the file fails. Use Rename for the name. What the squad member remembers is on Memory, not here.

What each squad member can use

Choose who checks a squad member's work

On every squad member except your lead, Checks on [name]'s work names other squad members. They add their part before [name] asks you to approve a piece of work.

1. 1

   Click Add a check

   Click Add a check under Checks on [name]'s work.

2. 2

   Pick a role

   In Squad member, pick a role. The list holds every other role in your squad and who holds it.

3. 3

   Say what they check or add

   In What they check or add, write one line of 12 to 160 characters, such as "reads every draft the way a new customer would".

4. 4

   Pick the work it covers

   Under Which work it covers, tick one or more: Articles, pages and newsletters, Posts and replies, Emails and messages, Other Docs. A new check starts with Articles, pages and newsletters and Other Docs, shown as "Covers Docs".

5. 5

   Save

   Click Add check, then Save checks. You see "Saved." Undo changes drops edits you haven't saved.

How a check works

For each piece the check covers, the squad member in the check's role adds its part on the task. Or [name] says in one line why the check doesn't apply.

A check names a role, not a person, so it works only when exactly one other squad member holds that role. Otherwise it is skipped, and says why:

To change what a check covers, click Change, tick at least one box, and click Done. To drop a check, click Remove. Then click Save checks. At 3 checks, Add a check goes away.

Helped on

Helped on lists the tasks where this squad member helped another one. Click one to open it.

Pause or resume a squad member

Pausing stops a squad member from starting new work until you resume it.

• On a card, click the pause button (Pause agent). Click it again to resume.
• In a profile, click Pause or Resume. This works for your lead too.

You see "[name] paused" or "[name] resumed". If it fails, you see "Could not change pause state".

While a squad member is paused:

• It starts no new work. Its queued tasks wait, and their cards on Tasks say "Paused · agent".
• New comments and requests for it wait until you resume it.
• A task it is already running keeps going.
• It still answers you in Chat.
• The rest of your squad keeps working.

To pause everyone at once, click Pause squad on Tasks. See Track work on Tasks.

Characters and colors

Each squad member has a small animated character, picked from its role, and a color no one else in your squad has. Your lead is a gold ball in wraparound sunglasses. A character cheers when its squad member finishes a task, and nudges while it waits on you. When your device is set to reduce motion, characters stay still.

What the Squad page doesn't do

• It has no add button. Ask your lead in Chat.
• You can't remove a squad member or your lead. Pause it instead. To start over with a new squad, see Reset your workspace.
• You can't change a squad member's role.
• You can't give one squad member different app access, or keep a saved login from one squad member.
• You can't choose a character or a color.

Related pages

• Chat with your squad
• Answer questions and approve drafts
• Manage what your squad remembers
• Connect apps through Integrations
• Store passwords and logins for your squad
• Schedule work on the Calendar
• Connect the AI account your squad runs on