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Your agents run on your own AI accounts. You connect a subscription or an API key from one of 13 providers, and your provider bills you for model usage. Squad does not sell model usage. The credentials are stored on your workspace computer. You connect your first provider during setup. After setup, you add, replace, and remove accounts in AI Tokens. You can connect more than one provider and more than one account per provider.

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Before you start

  • An account with one of the providers below, on the plan or key type in the table.
  • For Claude and Claude Code only: a terminal on your own computer, to run the command that creates a setup token. The npx command needs Node.js.
  • For ChatGPT only: in ChatGPT, open Settings > Security and turn on Enable device code authorization for Codex.

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Providers and what they bill

The cards appear in this order on the setup page and in AI Tokens. For the credits that Squad charges for research tools, see What Squad costs and what uses credits. Credits never pay for model usage.

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Connect during setup

On the setup page, you pick one card under Choose your AI provider, tick the Terms box, and click Launch my squad. When you connect depends on the card:
  • Claude and Z.ai: you paste the token or key on the setup page, before you click Launch my squad. For Claude, the Terms box and Launch my squad appear only after you paste a token.
  • ChatGPT · Codex and MiniMax: the connection starts by itself on the success screen, after the build finishes.
  • All other cards show “Connects after setup”. On the success screen, click Connect followed by the provider name. The same window as in AI Tokens opens. Follow the steps for your provider below.
On the success screen, Skip for now and Skip to Dashboard let you continue without a connection. Your agents cannot work until you connect an account in AI Tokens. The card that you pick at setup also sets your workspace’s default model.

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Connect or add an account in AI Tokens

1

Open AI Tokens

Open AI Tokens. Use the key icon at the bottom of the sidebar, the account menu, or Settings > AI Tokens.
2

Choose the provider

  • If the provider has no account yet, click its card under ADD A PROVIDER.
  • If the provider already has an account, click ＋ Add account on its card.
3

Name the account

In Token name, type a name for this account, for example personal or work. The part before the colon is fixed. Use a different name for each account of the same provider.
4

Complete the provider steps

Complete the steps for your provider in the next section.
The window closes when the account is connected. The account appears as a row on the provider’s card.

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Steps for each provider

  1. In ChatGPT, turn on Enable device code authorization for Codex in Settings > Security, if you did not do it before.
  2. On the ChatGPT · Codex card, click Connect OpenAI account.
  3. Under 1 · Copy this code, copy the code.
  4. Under 2 · Open this link and paste the code there, open the link, paste the code, and approve.
The window shows Waiting for you to authorize… until you approve. The code is valid for 5 minutes. The connection renews by itself. The account row shows when it expires and renews automatically.

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Replace or remove an account

To reconnect an account, for example after it expired:
  1. On the account’s row, click Replace.
  2. Complete the steps for the provider. The window is titled Replace followed by the account name. The name is locked, so the new login overwrites exactly this account.
To remove an account, click Disconnect on its row.
Disconnect removes the account at once. There is no confirmation step. If it was the only account for a provider, runs that use that provider’s models fail until you connect an account again.

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Use more than one account

Each provider card can hold several accounts. With two or more accounts, the card lists them highest first, and Squad tries them in that order. Use the up and down arrows to change the order, then click Save changes. The order is the fallback order inside that provider. Claude Code is different: one account is active at a time, and the next account takes over when the active one reaches its usage limit. If every Claude Code account is at its limit, Claude Code cannot serve runs until one resets. Runs then move to the next model in Model routing, if you set a fallback. For how long an account is skipped, see Limits and defaults. Connecting an account does not change which model your agents use. To run your agents on a newly connected provider, set one of its models as the default or as a fallback. See Choose models and manage AI accounts.

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Check that it works

  • The account appears as a row on the provider’s card with a status word, for example CONNECTED or IN USE. See Statuses and what they mean.
  • Send a message to your lead in chat. A reply means your agents can reach the model.

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Troubleshooting

The window shows “Authorization timed out. Please try again.” Cause: you did not approve the device code within 5 minutes. Fix: close the window and start again. You get a new code. The ChatGPT connection does not complete after you paste the code. Cause: device code authorization can be off in your ChatGPT account. Squad asks you to turn it on before you connect. Fix: in ChatGPT, open Settings > Security and turn on Enable device code authorization for Codex. Then connect again. The name field says the account “is already connected. Connecting would overwrite it.” Cause: an account with the same token name exists on this card. Fix: type another name, or click Replace on the existing account. Claude says “Token must start with sk-ant-oat01-”. Cause: you pasted something other than a setup token, for example an API key or a partial token. Fix: run the setup-token command again and copy the whole token. Claude Code refuses the token. Cause: Claude Code accepts only a setup token that starts with sk-ant-oat01-. It refuses API keys. Fix: run claude setup-token and paste its output. A red banner says a provider “is signed out on your workspace”. Cause: the login for that provider stopped working. Runs that use it fail. Fix: click Replace on the account and sign in again. A ChatGPT row says “automatic renewal failed - reconnect this account”. Cause: the ChatGPT login can no longer renew itself. Fix: click Replace on that row and connect again. Chat shows “Your AI connection expired. Replies will fail until you reconnect.” Cause: the account that serves your agents expired. Fix: click Reconnect or Reconnect in AI Tokens, then Replace the expired account. You skipped the connection at setup and your agents do not reply. Cause: no AI account is connected. Fix: connect an account in AI Tokens with the steps on this page. For other setup errors, see Fix setup problems.