Squads

Squads are teams of agents under a Leader who delegates work to members. Assign a Task to a Squad and the Leader breaks it down, distributes sub-tasks…

Squads are teams of agents under a Leader who delegates work to members. Assign a Task to a Squad and the Leader breaks it down, distributes sub-tasks, and synthesizes results.

Concept

Task → Squad Leader → delegates to Members → each = child Run
                              ↓
                        synthesizes → single result

Each delegation is a first-class child Run — auditable, usage-tracked, own chat/logs.

Creating a Squad

1. Squads page → New Squad (page header) — the Create Squad dialog opens in Manual mode
2. Fill in:
   • Name — e.g., “Frontend Team”, “Migration Squad”
   • Description — What this squad handles
3. Select Leader — Must be an Agent (receives Task, delegates)
4. Add Members — One or more Agents (execute delegated work)
5. Create Squad

Exporting and Importing a Squad

• Export — Open the menu on a squad card → Export Squad. You get a .ao file with the squad and all its member agents (with their skills and settings). Agent secrets are never included.
• Import — New Squad → Import .ao → Choose File. A preview is shown; press Import to create the squad and all its member agents in this Workspace.
• Imported agents arrive disabled. Enable each one — and make sure it has a runtime — before the squad can run.

Squad Detail

Click a squad (from Agents page or Squad Detail link) to open:

Org Chart (Desktop)

Visual leader→members tree:

• SVG canvas — Pan (drag), zoom (wheel), Bezier connectors
• Node cards — Agent avatar + name + role
• Click node → Navigate to Agent Detail

Phone View

Flat deletable member list (org chart hidden on mobile).

Overview Panel

• Description
• Leader readout (always visible)

Activity Tab

All Runs from Tasks assigned to this squad — same as Agent Activity.

Assigning Tasks to Squads

From Task Board

1. New Task → Assignee: Squad → select squad
2. Or existing task → Assign → Squad → select

From Task Detail

Click Assignee chip → Squad → select squad.

How Delegation Works

1. Task assigned to Squad → creates Leader Run
2. Leader analyzes → breaks work into sub-tasks
3. Leader delegates → delegate_to_member tool → creates child Runs
4. Members execute → in parallel, each in own Run
5. Members complete → results flow back to Leader
6. Leader synthesizes → combines into single result
7. Leader completes → Task moves to Review

Status Cascade

• Only Leader Run controls Task status
• Member completions = mid-pipeline (don’t move Task)
• Leader completes → Task → Review
• Leader fails → Task → Failed

Cancel Cascade

• Stop on Task → cancels Leader + all child Runs
• Broadcasts run.status_changed / task.status_changed → UI updates live

Member Output Visibility

Leader can access member results:

• Auto-injected — Leader’s synthesis sees member outputs
• Manual fetch — collect_results tool pulls specific child Run outputs
• Files — Member artifacts copied to Leader’s workdir under member_outputs/<member>_<run8>/

Squad Permissions

Squads vs. Individual Agents

Recent Updates

• Agent Squads — Team-based delegations with leader and members
• Org Chart — Visual SVG tree with pan/zoom
• Status Cascade — Only Leader moves Task status
• Cancel Cascade — Stop cancels entire delegation tree
• Member Output Visibility — Leader accesses all child results