> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://squad.so/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Get started with Squad for Mac

> Sign in to Squad for Mac, get past the first screens, switch squads, learn what is the same as the web dashboard and what only the Mac has, and take a short tour.

<Note>Squad for Mac is in private beta.</Note>

Squad for Mac is a native app for your squad. It signs in to the same squad as the web dashboard and shows the same live work, with the same screens and the same words. It adds the notch, a menu bar item, a panel to hand out work from any app, voice, notifications on your Mac, and Mac access for your teammates. Your squad keeps working in the cloud while your Mac is closed. See [What is the same as the web](#what-is-the-same-as-the-web).

In this tutorial, you sign in, get to your squad, and look at the main parts of the app.

## Before you start

* A Mac with Apple silicon. Squad for Mac does not run on a Mac with an Intel processor.
* A version of macOS that the app supports. See [Limits and defaults](/docs/limits-and-defaults#squad-for-mac).
* A Squad account with an email address and a password. The app has no Google sign-in button.
* The app. Squad for Mac is in private beta and is not available to download yet. After you install it, it updates itself. See [Updates](/docs/mac/settings#updates).

## Sign in

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Squad">
    Open the Squad app. The window shows **Sign in**, with "Welcome back. Your squad is waiting."
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter your email and password">
    Type your **Email** and **Password**, then select **Sign in**. Press Return in **Password** to sign in. Your Mac's Password AutoFill can offer your saved squad.so login.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Wait for your squad to open">
    The window shows "Opening your squad…". Then **Today** opens, or one of the screens in [What happens on first launch](#what-happens-on-first-launch).
  </Step>
</Steps>

To make a new account, next to "New to Squad?", select **Create an account**. Type your email and a password, select **I have read and agree to the Terms of Service**, and select **Create account**. Squad emails you a code. On **Check your email**, type the code. The app submits it when you type the last digit. Select **Send a new code** if the code does not arrive. The password length and how long a code works are on [Limits and defaults](/docs/limits-and-defaults#setup-and-account).

If you forgot your password, select **Forgot your password?**, then **Send reset code**. On **Set a new password**, type the code from the email and a new password, then select **Reset password**.

## What happens on first launch

After you sign in, Squad checks your account and your squad before it shows the main window. Each check that needs you shows a screen. The screen moves on by itself when the problem is gone.

| Screen | When it shows | What to do |
| - | - | - |
| **Get your squad** | Your email has no Squad subscription, or the subscription ended, is paused, or is not active. | Select **Subscribe**, or **I have an invite link…** if someone invited you. If you paid with a different email, sign out and sign in with that one. |
| "This squad is paused" | You were invited to the owner's squad, and it is paused. | Ask the owner to reactivate the squad. Select **Open** and another squad's name to work there in the meantime. |
| "You no longer have access to" and the owner's squad | The owner removed you from their squad. | Ask the owner to invite you again, then select **I have an invite link…**. Or select **Get a squad of your own**. |
| A locked squad, for example "Your subscription is canceled" or "Your last payment didn't go through" | You are the owner, and the subscription has a problem. | Select the button that the screen shows, for example **Resubscribe**, **Resume subscription**, or **Update payment**. Only the owner sees these buttons. |
| **Upgrading your squad** | Squad moves your squad to a better computer. | Wait. The window moves on by itself. |
| **Set up your squad** | Your account has no squad yet, or your squad is new and is not set up yet. | Follow [Set up a new squad](#set-up-a-new-squad). |
| **Please accept our Terms of Service** | Squad needs you to accept its terms. | Select **I have read and agree to the Terms of Service**, then **Accept and continue**. |

For more about these screens, see [Troubleshooting](/docs/mac/troubleshooting).

### Set up a new squad

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick your AI">
    On **Set up your squad**, pick the AI that you already pay for: **ChatGPT** (marked **Recommended**), **Claude**, or **Gemini**. Select **Use another AI** for more choices.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Accept the terms">
    Select **I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Refund Policy**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Launch your squad">
    Select **Launch my squad**. The window shows **Building your squad** and each step as it finishes. Squad asks to send you notifications, if it did not ask before. You can close the window and keep working. When the squad is ready and Squad is not in front, a notification says "Your squad is ready". Squad must still be running, but its window can be closed. If you do not allow notifications, the card says "Your squad is here when you open Squad again." instead.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect your AI account">
    On **Connect your AI account**, sign in to the AI plan that your squad runs on, or paste your key. When the AI needs a command in Terminal, for example `claude setup-token` for Claude Code, the command shows on its own line with a copy button. You can also select **Skip for now; connect later in Settings**. See [Connect your AI](/docs/connect-your-ai).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Meet your chief of staff">
    On **Your squad is ready**, select **Chat with** and your chief of staff's name. Your chief of staff walks you through building your squad. Select **Look around first** to open the app without a chat.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Tips the first time

Squad for Mac does not open a tour by itself. It shows each tip once, at the moment it helps:

* When you first open a chat: "In a message, type @ to bring in a teammate, # for a task or doc, and / for a skill."
* After your first message: a tip that your Delegate shortcut hands over work from any app.
* The next time you open a chat: a tip that you can hold your talk shortcut and speak to your squad from anywhere.
* In the notch, the first time a teammate starts working: "Point at the notch to see who's working. Click it to chat, or drop files on it."
* In the notch, after you allow a Mac access request once: "Share a folder in Settings, Mac access, and your squad can use it without asking each time."
* After a meeting: "Squad stayed quiet during your meeting. Right-click the notch to snooze it any time."

Tips that show in the notch need the notch to be on.

To see everything that the Mac adds to the web dashboard at once, choose **Help** > **What the Mac Adds**.

## Switch squads

When you are in more than one squad, you switch between them in the app.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the squad switcher">
    Select your squad's name at the top of the sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick a squad">
    Under **Your squads**, select the squad. A checkmark marks the squad that is open. A squad that another person shared with you shows **· shared with you** after its name. A squad that is not set up yet shows **· setting up**. Each other squad shows what waits for you there, for example how many things need you and how many replies are new.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The whole window reloads for the new squad. Open items, the command palette, and the notch chat close, and **Back** starts over. If Squad cannot open the squad, an alert says "Couldn't switch squads" with the reason.

The switcher also has:

* **Join a squad with an invite link…**: opens **Join a squad**. Paste the link from your invite email in **Invite link**, select **Check invite**, then **Accept invite**. The invite says which role you join as. See [Invite people to your squad](/docs/teammates).
* **New squad team** with its price: starts the checkout for another squad. See [Costs](/docs/costs).

Your other squads keep counting in the background. The Dock badge, the menu bar, and the notch include what needs you there. See [Other squads](/docs/mac/notch-and-menu-bar#other-squads).

<span id="the-same-places-on-the-web" />

<span id="web-names-and-mac-names" />

## What is the same as the web

Squad for Mac shows the same squad as the web dashboard, live. **Today**, **Needs you**, **Tasks**, **Email**, **Docs**, **Contacts**, the **Wallet**, **Routines**, **Activity**, **History**, **Computer**, chat, projects, skills, memory, and the **Settings** for your squad work the same, with the same words: a teammate is an AI member of your squad, work is a task, work that repeats is a routine, and what a teammate asks you is a question. The web docs describe them. Where the Mac shows a different label, menu, or gesture, the web page says so in a line that starts with "On Squad for Mac (private beta)".

<span id="only-on-the-mac" />

### Only on the Mac

* **The notch and the menu bar**: who is working and what needs you, at the top of your screen, from any app. See [Use the notch and the menu bar](/docs/mac/notch-and-menu-bar).
* **Delegate, voice, Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight, and the Services menu**: hand work to your squad from any app. See [Delegate, talk, and use Siri](/docs/mac/delegate-voice-siri).
* **Mac access**: your teammates can ask for files, your browser tab, or your screen on your Mac. See [Let your teammates use your Mac](/docs/mac/mac-access).
* **A project's folder** on your Mac. See [Give a project a folder on your Mac](/docs/mac/project-folders).
* **This Mac** settings, notifications on this Mac, the Dock badge, Touch ID, updates, and crash reports. See [Settings, notifications, and updates on the Mac](/docs/mac/settings).
* **The floating window** for a teammate's browser. See [Watch a teammate's browser in a floating window](#watch-a-teammates-browser-in-a-floating-window).
* **Mac keys and menus**: the **Go** menu, ⌘ shortcuts, the find bar, Back and Forward gestures, and text size. See [Keyboard shortcuts](/docs/mac/keyboard-shortcuts).
* **Search email**: find an email across every inbox that you can see. See [Email on Squad for Mac (private beta)](/docs/email#on-squad-for-mac-private-beta).
* **Other squads** counted in the notch, the menu bar, and the Dock. See [Other squads](/docs/mac/notch-and-menu-bar#other-squads).

To see the main ones in the app, choose **Help** > **What the Mac Adds**.

### What is different on the Mac

* Sign-in has no Google button. An account that you made with Google has no password, so it cannot sign in to the Mac app.
* **Settings** opens in its own window. It has no **Tools** or **Teammates** pages. Open them in the web dashboard. **Animated teammates** is in **This Mac** > **General**, not in **You**.
* The Mac has no **Health** page. Open it in the web dashboard.
* You cannot create a pipeline, or change its stages and fields, on the Mac. See [Contacts on Squad for Mac (private beta)](/docs/contacts#on-squad-for-mac-private-beta).
* **More** in the sidebar starts folded, and a place that is new to the sidebar says **New** for its first month. See [The sidebar on Squad for Mac](/docs/what-squad-is#the-sidebar-on-squad-for-mac).
* A conversation with replies that you have not read opens at the first of them. See [Chat with your teammates](/docs/chat#open-a-teammates-chat).
* A teammate's email draft or escalated email in chat shows as a card with **Send now** and **Discard**, or **Open in Email** and **Dismiss**. See [Email conversations in chat](/docs/chat#email-conversations-in-chat).

<span id="the-window" />

## The window

Squad opens its main window when you open the app. Closing the window does not quit Squad, so the menu bar, the notch, and notifications keep working. To open the window again, click Squad in the Dock, or choose **File** > **Open Squad**. To quit, choose **Quit Squad** in the menu bar panel's **⋯** (**More**) menu.

* With **Open Squad when you log in** on, Squad starts quietly in the menu bar when you log in. The window shows only if you are signed out.
* Squad remembers the window's size and place.
* Short messages, for example a confirmation with **Undo**, show at the bottom of the window for a few seconds.
* A squad.so dashboard link in a message opens the same place in the app, not in your browser.

For the sidebar, see [The sidebar on Squad for Mac](/docs/what-squad-is#the-sidebar-on-squad-for-mac). For the **Go** menu, Back and Forward, find, and text size, see [Keyboard shortcuts](/docs/mac/keyboard-shortcuts).

## Watch a teammate's browser in a floating window

The owner and Administrators can watch a teammate's browser on your squad's computer in a small window that stays above your other apps. Your squad's computer must be on.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the floating window">
    On **Computer**, pick the teammate and select **Float while you work**. Or, in a chat with a teammate, select **Watch** in the header. On the Mac, **Watch** opens the floating window, not the full screen.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Place it">
    The window opens at the bottom right of the screen, with that teammate's browser. It stays above your other apps, on every Space and over full-screen apps. Resize it or move it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the full screen, or stop watching">
    Point to the window and select the expand button to open the full **Computer** screen in Squad. Close the window to stop watching.
  </Step>
</Steps>

One floating window shows at a time. It closes when you switch squads. It is for watching only. To use the mouse and keyboard, open **Computer** and select **Take over**. See [Your squad's computer](/docs/computer#on-squad-for-mac-private-beta).

## Take a short tour

1. Look at the sidebar. **Today** is at the top, then the places that you pinned: at first **Email**, **Docs**, and **Contacts**. **More** holds the other places. Your teammates are under **Your squad**, with your chief of staff first. Your projects, group chats, and pins follow.
2. Select **Today**. It shows who is working, what needs you, and what your squad did today. See [Use Today](/docs/today).
3. Select your chief of staff under **Your squad**. Their chat opens. Type a message and press Return to send it. See [Chat](/docs/chat).
4. Press ⌘K. The command palette opens. Type the name of a teammate, a task, or a screen, and press Return. See [The command palette on Squad for Mac](/docs/search#search-with-the-command-palette).
5. Look at the menu bar at the top of your screen. The Squad mark shows how many things need you. Click it in any app to answer quick questions without opening the window.
6. Press ⌥Space in any other app. The Delegate panel opens on top of it. Press Esc to close it. See [Delegate, talk, and use Siri](/docs/mac/delegate-voice-siri).

You now have your squad open on your Mac.

## What to read next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Use Today" icon="sun" href="/docs/today">
    Who is working, what needs you, and what your squad did today.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Needs you" icon="list-checks" href="/docs/tickets#on-squad-for-mac-private-beta">
    Answer everything that waits for you in one place.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Chat" icon="messages-square" href="/docs/chat">
    Conversations, group chats, the composer, and files.
  </Card>

  <Card title="The notch and the menu bar" icon="panel-top" href="/docs/mac/notch-and-menu-bar">
    Your squad at the top of your screen.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Settings and notifications" icon="settings" href="/docs/mac/settings">
    This Mac, notifications, Touch ID, and updates.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Keyboard shortcuts" icon="keyboard" href="/docs/mac/keyboard-shortcuts">
    Every shortcut in one place.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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