Squad Init

Initialise the squad in this repository

Create .squad/ and tailor it to the project actually present. A generic constitution is worse than none: agents follow it literally, so wrong test commands and wrong language conventions produce confidently wrong work.

Procedure

1. Refuse to overwrite silently

If .squad/config.json already exists, read it, report the current profile and stage counts, and ask whether to re-tailor or leave it. Never clobber an existing .squad/ that has stories in it.

2. Detect the project

Establish, from evidence in the repository rather than assumption:

• Language and package manager — pyproject.toml + uv.lock, package.json, Cargo.toml, go.mod, deps.edn, Gemfile.
• Test command — the one CI actually runs. Read .github/workflows/*.yml, Makefile, justfile, bb.edn, or the [tool.*] sections of pyproject.toml. Prefer what CI runs over what a README claims.
• Lint and typecheck commands — same sources.
• House rules — CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, and any nearest-scoped instructions in the subtree being worked on. In a monorepo, the per-project instructions outrank the root.

When the repository is a monorepo of independent projects, ask which subtree the squad will work in and detect against that subtree, not the root.

3. Confirm what was found

Present the detected commands and ask for correction before writing. A wrong test command is the single most damaging thing this skill can record.

4. Write config.json

{
  "profile": "four-pack",
  "gates": { "plan": true, "gherkin": true, "qa_procedure": true },
  "isolation": "parallel-only",
  "verify": { "test": "...", "lint": "...", "typecheck": "..." },
  "models": {}
}

Record only the gates whose owning stage the chosen profile contains — a gate no stage owns is noise that contradicts the state contract. Use the profile given as an argument, else four-pack. See ../squad-pipeline/references/pipeline.md for what each profile contains.

5. Write constitution.md

.squad/constitution.md is read by every agent before it writes anything. Keep it short and specific to this project. Include only rules that change behaviour:

• The language, package manager, and how to run a single test.
• The exact verify commands, and that results are reported verbatim.
• Directory conventions the project already follows, stated as observed facts.
• House rules extracted from CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md that constrain code — comment policy, naming policy, style guides, forbidden directories.
• What is off limits: paths agents must not touch.

Do not restate the pipeline in the constitution; agents get that from their own prompts. Do not invent rules the project does not hold. Record numbers as references to where they live, not as prose values.

6. Create directories and ignore state

mkdir -p .squad/backlog .squad/stories .squad/approvals .squad/blockers

Ask whether .squad/ should be committed or ignored. Committed is the default — the story record is the point — but a repository whose instructions bar documents from commits may want it in .gitignore instead. Do not decide this silently.

7. Report

State the profile, the stages it implies, the gates that will pause, the verify commands recorded, and the next step: /swarmforge:squad-backlog.