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Install squads-cli and Run Your First Agent

Three commands, copy-paste. At the end, an agent has run and saved its output to memory.

Before you start: Requires Node.js 18+ and an AI provider (Claude, GPT, Gemini, or Ollama).

1

Install squads-cli

terminal
$ npm install -g squads-cli

Installs the squads command globally.

2

Initialize in your project

terminal
$ cd your-project $ squads init

You'll be asked about your business and which AI provider to use.

Output:
What should your agents research first?
> Our market position, top competitors, and biggest growth opportunity
Select your AI assistant:
> Claude Code (recommended)
Seed planted
your-project's squads are ready.
Created:
  .agents/squads/company/  5 agents
  .agents/squads/research/ 4 agents
  .agents/memory/         Persistent state
What was created:
.agents/
squads/
company/ manager, dispatcher, tracker, eval, critic
research/ researcher, analyst, eval, critic
memory/ persistent state per agent
skills/ CLI operations manual
CLAUDE.md operating manual (if using Claude)
3

Run your first agent

terminal
$ squads run company/manager

The manager agent reads your business brief, analyzes your project, and starts planning work.

What happens:
$ squads run company/manager
Running company/manager...
Agent reads .agents/BUSINESS_BRIEF.md
Agent scans project files for context
Agent writes initial plan to memory
Done. Results saved to .agents/memory/company/manager/

That's it. Your agent analyzed your project, wrote findings to memory, and is ready for the next run. Each run builds on previous context.

What's Next

See your squads

squads status

Dashboard of all squads, agents, and recent activity.

Run the research squad

squads run research

Run all research agents. They'll analyze your domain and write insights to memory.

Add more squads

squads add engineering

Add engineering, marketing, customer, or any domain squad.

All commands

Full CLI reference

Real examples

Production squad configs