Init Mode

Context

Init Mode activates when .squad/team.md does not exist, or exists but has zero roster entries under ## Members. The coordinator proposes a team (Phase 1), waits for user confirmation, then creates the team structure (Phase 2).

Patterns

Phase 1: Propose the Team

No team exists yet. Propose one — but DO NOT create any files until the user confirms.

1. Identify the user. Run git config user.name to learn who you're working with. Use their name in conversation (e.g., "Hey {user}, what are you building?"). Store their name (NOT email) in team.md under Project Context. Never read or store git config user.email — email addresses are PII and must not be written to committed files.
2. Ask: "What are you building? (language, stack, what it does)"
3. Cast the team. Before proposing names, run the Casting & Persistent Naming algorithm (see that section):
   • Determine team size (typically 4–5 + Scribe).
   • Default to descriptive names (Lead, Frontend, Backend, Tester, etc.) unless the user requests a themed universe.
   • If the user requests a specific universe (built-in or custom), allocate character names from that universe. For custom universes not in the allowlist, use your knowledge of the source material and apply spoiler-safety rules.
   • If the user asks for themed names without specifying a universe, auto-select from built-in universes using the scoring algorithm (size_fit + shape_fit + resonance_fit + LRU).
   • Scribe is always "Scribe" — exempt from casting.
   • Ralph is always "Ralph" — exempt from casting.
4. Propose the team with their cast names. Example (names will vary per cast):

🏗️  Lead         — Lead          Scope, decisions, code review
⚛️  Frontend     — Frontend Dev  React, UI, components
🔧  Backend      — Backend Dev   APIs, database, services
🧪  Tester       — Tester        Tests, quality, edge cases
📋  Scribe       — (silent)      Memory, decisions, session logs
🔄  Ralph        — (monitor)     Work queue, backlog, keep-alive

5. Use the ask_user tool to confirm the roster. Provide choices so the user sees a selectable menu:
   • question: "Look right?"
   • choices: ["Yes, cast this team", "Add someone", "Change a role"]

⚠️ STOP. Your response ENDS here. Do NOT proceed to Phase 2. Do NOT create any files or directories. Wait for the user's reply.

Phase 2: Create the Team

Trigger: The user replied to Phase 1 with confirmation ("yes", "looks good", or similar affirmative), OR the user's reply to Phase 1 is a task (treat as implicit "yes").

If the user said "add someone" or "change a role," go back to Phase 1 step 3 and re-propose. Do NOT enter Phase 2 until the user confirms.

6. Create the .squad/ directory structure (see .squad/templates/ for format guides or use the standard structure: team.md, routing.md, ceremonies.md, decisions.md, decisions/inbox/, casting/, agents/, orchestration-log/, skills/, log/).

Casting state initialization: Copy .squad/templates/casting-policy.json to .squad/casting/policy.json (or create from defaults). Create registry.json (entries: persistent_name, universe, created_at, legacy_named: false, status: "active") and history.json (first assignment snapshot with unique assignment_id).

Seeding: Each agent's history.md starts with the project description, tech stack, and the user's name so they have day-1 context. Agent folder names are the cast name in lowercase (e.g., .squad/agents/ripley/). The Scribe's charter includes maintaining decisions.md and cross-agent context sharing.

Team.md structure: team.md MUST contain a section titled exactly ## Members (not "## Team Roster" or other variations) containing the roster table. This header is hard-coded in GitHub workflows (squad-heartbeat.yml, squad-issue-assign.yml, squad-triage.yml, sync-squad-labels.yml) for label automation. If the header is missing or titled differently, label routing breaks.

Merge driver for append-only files: Create or update .gitattributes at the repo root to enable conflict-free merging of .squad/ state across branches:

.squad/decisions.md merge=union
.squad/agents/*/history.md merge=union
.squad/log/** merge=union
.squad/orchestration-log/** merge=union

The union merge driver keeps all lines from both sides, which is correct for append-only files. This makes worktree-local strategy work seamlessly when branches merge — decisions, memories, and logs from all branches combine automatically.

7. Say: "✅ Team cast. Try: '{FirstCastName}, set up the project structure'"

8. Post-setup input sources (optional — ask after team is created, not during casting):

   • PRD/spec: "Do you have a PRD or spec document? (file path, paste it, or skip)" → If provided, follow PRD Mode flow
   • GitHub issues: "Is there a GitHub repo with issues I should pull from? (owner/repo, or skip)" → If provided, follow GitHub Issues Mode flow
   • Human members: "Are any humans joining the team? (names and roles, or just AI for now)" → If provided, add per Human Team Members section
   • Copilot agent: "Want to include @copilot? It can pick up issues autonomously. (yes/no)" → If yes, follow Copilot Coding Agent Member section and ask about auto-assignment
   • These are additive. Don't block — if the user skips or gives a task instead, proceed immediately.

Examples

Example flow:

1. Coordinator detects no team.md → Init Mode
2. Runs git config user.name → "{user}"
3. Asks: "Hey {user}, what are you building?"
4. User: "TypeScript CLI tool with GitHub API integration"
5. Coordinator uses descriptive naming by default
6. Proposes: Lead (Lead), Frontend (Frontend Dev), Backend (Backend Dev), Tester (Tester), Scribe, Ralph
7. Uses ask_user with choices → user selects "Yes, cast this team"
8. Coordinator creates .squad/ structure, initializes casting state, seeds agents
9. Says: "✅ Team cast. Try: 'Lead, set up the project structure'"

Anti-Patterns

• ❌ Creating files before user confirms Phase 1
• ❌ Mixing agents from different universes in the same cast
• ❌ Skipping the ask_user tool and assuming confirmation
• ❌ Proceeding to Phase 2 when user said "add someone" or "change a role"
• ❌ Using ## Team Roster instead of ## Members as the header (breaks GitHub workflows)
• ❌ Forgetting to initialize .squad/casting/ state files
• ❌ Reading or storing git config user.email (PII violation)
• ❌ Rejecting a user's universe choice because it is not in the built-in allowlist
• ❌ Auto-selecting a themed universe when the user didn't ask for one (use descriptive names by default)