squad-help

# Skill: squad-help > **Quick reference.** If you're reading this because a user said "use squad" or "squad" or "set up a squad", you're in the right place — read on for the correct invocation paths. --- ## Squad coordinator and squad menu skill The Squad framework registers a **custom Copilot CLI agent** at `.github/agents/squad.agent.md`. The agent is named **`Squad`** and its description is *"Your AI team. Describe what you're building, get a team of specialists that live in your repo."* Copilot CLI agents and skills are different things: | Thing | How to invoke | Example | |---|---|---| | **Menu skill** | Host skill tool, natural-language match, or exposed skill command | `skill(squad)` when available | | **Agent** | `task` tool with `agent_type=<name>` | `task(name="...", agent_type="Squad", prompt="...")` | | **Slash command** | Host-dependent built-in command or exposed user-invocable skill | `/squad` when the host exposes the installed menu | The `Squad` agent performs coordination; the separate `squad` menu skill lives at `.github/skills/squad/SKILL.md` and declares `user-invocable: true`. They are not interchangeable. Slash-command availability is **host-dependent**: use `/squad` only where the host exposes that skill as a command. Otherwise use its natural-language triggers or the host's skill picker/tool, when available; invoke the coordinator agent for actual orchestration. --- ## How to actually use Squad Pick the path that matches the user's intent: ### A) Invoke the Squad coordinator agent (most common) The Squad coordinator orchestrates a team of specialists. It routes work to the right agent, scaffolds a team if none exists, and enforces handoffs. ```text task( name="<short-task-name>", agent_type="Squad", prompt="<what you want the team to do>" ) ``` Use this when the user says things like: - *"Use Squad to build X"* - *"Set up an AI team for this project"* - *"Have the Squad coordinator design Y"* - *"Spawn Squad"* / *"Squad, help me with ..."* ### B) See what Squad commands exist The `squad` skill is a categorized catalog of common Squad operations. The coordinator presents it as an interactive menu. Trigger by natural-language match: `"squad commands"`, `"what can squad do"`, `"show me squad options"`, `"slash commands"`, `"what commands are available"`. Use this when the user says things like: - *"What can Squad do?"* - *"Show me the squad commands"* - *"squad help"* ### C) Initialize Squad in a fresh project `squad init` is a **shell command**, not a tool call. The user runs it in their terminal in a project that has no `.squad/` directory yet. ```bash squad init ``` Do **not** try to invoke this from inside an existing Copilot session — `.squad/` is already initialized if you're reading this file. --- ## What NOT to do - ❌ Do not use the menu skill as a substitute for the `Squad` coordinator agent. - ❌ Do not assume `/squad` is exposed by every host, or universally unsupported; check host discovery and use the natural-language menu fallback. - ❌ Do not call `task(agent_type="Squad", …)` for tiny tasks the current agent can handle directly. Squad is for work that needs orchestration; trivial edits do not. --- ## How this skill was discovered This repository installs managed help at `.github/skills/squad-help/SKILL.md`. Discovery in a picker, tool or command menu depends on the host's repository-skill support and settings. This narrow Waza correction is not pristine upstream text; preserve its coordinator/menu distinction and source-contract regression on upgrade. If you removed this skill on purpose, the model will fall back to its own reasoning and may make the lookup mistakes described above. --- ## See also - `.github/agents/squad.agent.md` — the actual Squad coordinator agent - `.github/skills/squad/SKILL.md` — the separate command catalog and interactive menu