Chat with your teammates

Chat is the fastest way to give a teammate work or to get an answer. You can talk to one teammate, to a group of teammates, or to the whole squad in the Squad chat. Squad for Mac shows the same conversations. Where the Mac differs, a short note in each section says how. For a project’s folder on the Mac, see Give a project a folder on your Mac.

What you can do here

You want to	Go to
Ask one teammate something	Start a direct chat
Find an earlier conversation	Find and switch conversations
Keep a conversation, task, doc, email, or routine one click away	Pin things to the sidebar
Bring a teammate in, run a skill, or point at a doc	Use the composer
Answer a question or a request that a teammate puts in chat	Answer chat cards
Talk to several teammates at once	Start a group chat or Use the Squad chat
Keep all the conversations about one client or job together	Group conversations into projects
Copy a reply, try another direction, or change what you sent	Copy, fork, or edit messages
Stop a reply that is going the wrong way	Stop a reply in progress
Fix a message that failed	Retry a message that failed
Start over with one teammate	Reset a conversation
Clear old conversations out of the list	Archive or delete a conversation
Remove a file that you sent by mistake	Delete a file that you sent

For when to use chat and when to create a task, see Give your squad work that it can finish.

Start a direct chat

Pick a teammate

In the sidebar, under Your squad, select the teammate. Their chat opens. If you talked before, it opens the conversation that you had open last.

Start a new conversation

Select the pencil (New conversation) next to Conversations. When the teammate has only one conversation, the list does not show: select New Conversation in the conversation’s header instead. The screen says A new conversation with and the teammate’s name, with three starter prompts. Select a prompt to put it in the composer.

Type and send

Type your message in the composer (Message and the teammate’s name). Press Enter, or select Send. Send stays grey until there is something to send.

A message that you send from a new conversation (A new conversation with and the teammate’s name) starts a new conversation with that teammate. While the teammate works, the conversation shows Working on it, or what the teammate is doing right now. Then the reply arrives in the conversation. Other ways to open a chat:

Press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows) and type the teammate’s name. See Search and keyboard shortcuts.
Press C to open the chat.
On a teammate’s About page, select Chat at the top. See Add, change, and pause teammates.
On a phone or a narrow window, the top row has a message icon (Your conversations). When you have replies that you have not read, it shows a count. Select it to see them under Replies to you. When you are caught up, it opens your chat.

Today has no composer. You talk to a teammate in their chat. A conversation with replies that you have not read opens at the first of them, so that you read a long reply from its start. A conversation that a teammate started opens at its first message when that message is new to you. With too many new replies, it opens at the newest instead, because what you have read is kept for each browser. See Limits and defaults. A reply that arrives while you read does not move the view, unless you were at the end. On Squad for Mac:

A teammate’s chat opens the conversation that a link sent you to, else the one that you had open last on this Mac, else the newest one.
A conversation with replies that you have not read opens at the first of them with its day line, also in the notch. A conversation in a closed or hidden window does not mark replies as read. See Limits and defaults.
You can also open a chat from Go > Next New Reply (⌥⌘↓), from the bell, or from the notch. See Keyboard shortcuts and Use the notch and the menu bar.
To start a conversation, select the compose button above the conversation list, or New conversation in the list’s ⋯ menu. When the list does not show, select New Conversation in the conversation’s header, as on the web. The list then shows once the new conversation is sent. The new conversation says “Brief” and the teammate’s name “like a new hire: the goal, what to read, and what done looks like.” Press Return to send. The conversation shows in the list with “Sending…”, then “Sent”.

Where a conversation opens

On a window that is at least 1024 pixels wide, the chat shows three parts side by side: the list of Conversations, the open conversation, and, when the conversation made something, the In this conversation panel. On a narrower window, you see the list or a conversation. A new conversation has Conversations at the top to go back to the list, and an open one has a back arrow (Close thread). When the teammate has only one conversation, with none archived and no older ones to load, the list does not show. The conversation fills the chat, with no back arrow, and its header has New Conversation. The list shows again while you write a second conversation, and stays from then on. A Viewer does not see New Conversation. The chat header has these controls:

Control	What it does
The teammate’s face, name, and role	A dot that circles the face means the teammate is working. See Statuses.
Chat and About	Switch between the teammate’s chat and their About page. See Add, change, and pause teammates.
Watch	Opens the teammate’s computer. It shows here while no conversation is open, and in the conversation’s own header while one is open. See Watch or take over a teammate’s computer.
In this conversation	Shows or hides the panel of what the conversation made. It shows only when the conversation made something.
More (⋯)	Holds Start a fresh conversation. See Reset a conversation.

Watch shows only to the owner and Administrators, unless the computer screen is turned off for your squad. More shows only to the owner and Administrators.

Work with conversations

The open conversation’s header shows its name. In a project, the project’s name comes first. Select it to open the project. See Group conversations into projects. Select More (⋯, More for this conversation) in the conversation’s header for these actions:

Action	What it does
Pin to sidebar or Unpin from sidebar	Adds the conversation to Pinned in the sidebar, or removes it.
Rename, or Name this conversation for a conversation with no name	Type a name, then select Save or press Enter. Press Esc to cancel. For the longest name, see Limits and defaults.
Move to project… or Move to another project…	Moves the conversation into a project, or out of one. See Move a conversation into a project.
Archive	Takes the conversation out of the list. See Archive or delete a conversation.

The teammate names a direct conversation on its own as soon as the topic is clear, and renames it when the topic moves. A name that a person gave always stays. When someone already named the conversation, a line under the header says the teammate suggests another name. Select Use this name to take it, or Keep current name to keep yours. Squad remembers the names that you turned down most recently in a conversation and does not offer them again. See Limits and defaults. Teammates do not rename group chats.
If you clear the name, the teammate can name the conversation again, and Squad forgets the names that you turned down there.
Above the replies, the conversation shows how many replies it has. To see earlier replies in a long conversation, select Show earlier replies.

What you type in a composer stays there if you move to another screen, and so do files that you attached. Squad keeps the draft for each conversation until you send it or close the browser tab. You can copy a teammate’s reply, fork a conversation, and edit a message that you sent. See Copy, fork, or edit messages. You cannot delete a single message. To stop a reply in progress, see Stop a reply in progress.

Conversations on Squad for Mac

Click the conversation’s title to rename it. Type the name, then press Return or select Save. Esc cancels.
The conversation’s ⓘ⋯ menu (Conversation actions) has Pin to Sidebar (owner only), Move to Project (not in an email conversation), Copy Link to This Conversation, Open on the Web, and Archive Conversation.
When the teammate suggests a name, quiet text beside the title says so. Click the title, then select Use followed by the name, then Save. Or select Not this one, and the name is not offered again. You see the suggestion only where you can rename the conversation.
For the owner and Administrators, Watch keeps the teammate’s browser in a small window above your other apps. See Watch or take over a teammate’s computer.
Squad keeps what you type in each conversation, with its chips and files, also when you quit. When you open the conversation again, “Your unsent draft is back.” shows with Discard. Squad drops old drafts, and clears all drafts when you sign out. See Limits and defaults.

How a teammate remembers a conversation

A teammate remembers each conversation for as long as it goes on. Conversations do not reset on their own, so you can come back to a conversation the next day and continue where you stopped. When a conversation gets long, the teammate shortens its working memory of the older part. This is the same for your conversations with teammates on Telegram, Discord, and Slack. On a Claude Code account, Claude Code on your cloud computer keeps each conversation for as long as Squad shows it, also when nobody writes in it for months. Before November 4, 2026, Claude Code deleted its copy of a conversation that nobody used for 30 days. If a conversation lost its copy that way, your next message there starts the teammate’s memory of it again. The teammate answers your message. It is told that it cannot see the earlier messages, and to ask you for what it needs from them instead of guessing. You still see the whole conversation, and the teammate remembers it from that message on. Each conversation is separate. The teammate does not remember another conversation word for word. It has what is in its files and what the squad’s memory holds. While the memory switches are on, that memory learns lasting facts from conversations and gives the teammate what bears on your request, so a fact from one conversation can come up in another. See How your squad learns. A conversation in a project also carries the project’s name and notes. The teammate reads them with each of your messages there. A fork and a new version of an edited message start a new conversation for the teammate. When the teammate has no memory of a conversation yet, for example in a fork or a new version, Squad gives it the conversation so far with your next message. A long conversation is shortened. See Limits and defaults and Copy, fork, or edit messages. To delete one conversation, archive it, then delete it. See Archive or delete a conversation. To delete all your direct conversations with a teammate and their context, see Reset a conversation.

See what a conversation made

When a conversation made something, the In this conversation panel opens on the right by itself. It lists, newest first:

The files in the conversation, with their kind and size.
The tasks that the conversation started.
The docs, emails, and lists that were written in it.

On Squad for Mac, the panel is the side panel. Its button sits beside Chat and About (Show the side panel or Hide the side panel). Select a file to preview it in Quick Look, or right-click it for Preview, Open, and Copy Link. When the window is too narrow, the panel stays closed. Group chats have no side panel. Select an item to open it. Select the x (Close the panel) to close the panel. Your browser remembers that you closed it. To open it again, select In this conversation in the header. Drag the panel’s left edge to resize it, and double-click the edge to reset its width. A conversation that made nothing has no panel. The panel does not show on a narrow window.

Find and switch conversations

The Conversations list beside the open conversation holds your conversations with this teammate, newest first. It shows from the second conversation on, or when one is archived or older ones can load. Group chats do not count. See Where a conversation opens. Each row shows the conversation’s name, or its first line when it has no name, and the time of the last message.

A small spinner means the teammate works on that conversation now.
A blue dot and a bold name mean a reply that you have not read. See Which replies are new for you.
Under your conversations, Group chats lists the group chats that this teammate is in. The Squad chat is not in this list. Open it from the sidebar.
At the bottom, Show older conversations loads older ones, and Archived conversations shows the archived ones.

To find a conversation, type in Search conversations. The list matches conversation names. To empty the field, select the x (Clear the search). To group the list, select More (⋯, Group by) next to Conversations, then pick:

Option	What the list shows
None	One list, newest first.
State	Working, then Unread, then Earlier. Empty sections do not show.
Project	One section for each project, in the sidebar’s order, then No project. Select + next to a project’s name (New conversation in and the project’s name) to start a conversation in it. Archived projects have no +.

Your browser remembers your choice. Point to a row and select More (⋯) for these actions. You can also press the letter while the row has keyboard focus. The letters do not work while you type.

Action	Letter
Pin or Unpin	P
Mark as read (only for an unread reply)	U
Rename	R
Move to project…	None
Fork	F
Archive	A

Rename turns the row into a name field. Press Enter to save, or Esc to cancel. You can also double-click a row to rename it. Fork starts a new conversation from the teammate’s last reply. It shows only when the conversation can be forked and no reply is on its way. Mark as read clears the blue dot in the list and in the sidebar, the same as opening the conversation.

The conversation list on Squad for Mac

The list shows once the teammate has more than one conversation, or an archived one, and while you write a second conversation, as on the web. A mark at the left of each row says its state:

Mark	Meaning
Spinner	Working: the teammate works in this conversation.
Orange dot	Needs you: the conversation waits on you.
Blue dot	New reply: a reply that you have not seen.
None, or a ticket or envelope symbol for a question or email conversation	Nothing new.

Search conversations finds conversations by title or by the text of the last message.
The ⋯ menu (Conversation list options) has New conversation, Show previews (the last line of each conversation), Group by, Open and the name’s chat on the web, and, for the owner and Administrators, Start fresh with and the name …. See Reset a conversation.
Archived with the count holds the archived conversations.

To act on a row, right-click it, or point to it and select ⋯ (More). The letters work as on the web, with these differences:

Letter	Command on the Mac	Who can use it
P	Pin to Sidebar or Unpin from Sidebar	Only the owner. Not for email conversations.
U	Mark as Read or Mark as Unread. Mark as Unread keeps a blue dot until you open the conversation again on this Mac.	Every role.
R	Rename…	Everyone except a Viewer. Only the owner renames an email conversation.
F	Fork Conversation. When the teammate has not replied yet, a message says that there is nothing to fork from.	Everyone except a Viewer, in a plain one-to-one conversation. Not for a question’s conversation.
A	Archive. A message says where the conversation went, with Undo. If it was open, the next conversation opens.	Everyone except a Viewer. Only the owner archives an email conversation.

Move to Project in the same menu also has New Project… and Remove from Project. A question’s conversation can move to a project. An email conversation cannot. The Pinned section of the sidebar keeps tasks, docs, emails, routines, and conversations one click away. Your pins follow you. A pin that you add on your computer shows on your phone and in every other browser where you sign in. To pin something:

What	How
A conversation	In the conversation’s header, select More (⋯), then Pin to sidebar. Or point to its row in Conversations, select More (⋯), then Pin.
A task	On Tasks, select ⋯ on the card, then Pin to top. The message Pinned to sidebar shows.
Anything	Press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows) and select Pin a task, Pin a doc, Pin an email, Pin a reminder, or Pin a conversation. Then select Pin next to the item.
Anything, after your first pin	Select + (Pin something) next to Pinned, then pick Task, Doc, Email, Reminder, or Conversation.

A reminder is a routine. The Pinned section shows only when you have at least one pin. The picker for conversations lists each teammate’s recent conversations. To pin an older one, open it and use More in its header. People that you invited, Administrators included, can pin only tasks and docs from ⌘K and the + menu. To open a pinned item, select it in the sidebar. To remove a pin, point to it and select the x (Unpin). Each pin takes one line. A pinned conversation shows the teammate’s face and its current name, so it updates when you rename the conversation. Point to a pin to see what it is, for example “Chat with Tai”. When you delete a conversation, its pin is removed too. A pin shows in the sidebar after Squad saves it, which usually takes a moment. If a pin does not show, the save failed. Pin it again.

Pin to top on a doc is different. It pins the doc to the top of the Docs screen, not to the sidebar. See Find and manage your squad’s docs.

After a squad reset, the Pinned section starts empty. On Squad for Mac, select + (Pin something) beside Pinned, choose what to pin under Pin a…, then search, select the item in Pin to the sidebar, and select Done. The + shows after your first pin. Before your first pin, use Pin a task or Pin a doc in the command palette, or Pin to Sidebar in an item’s menu. Pinned shows the first few pins, then Show all with the count. To unpin, point to the pin and select the x, or right-click it and choose Unpin. Pins sync with the web dashboard and your other Macs. For the numbers, see Limits and defaults.

Use the composer

Every composer works the same way: in a new conversation, in an open conversation, and in a group chat. The Squad chat and task comments have a smaller set of features. See the table at the end of this section.

To	Do this
Send	Press Enter, or select Send.
Add a new line	Press Shift+Enter.
Mention a teammate	Type @. See Mention teammates.
Run a skill	Type /. See Run a skill.
Point at a task, a doc, or an app	Type #. See Point at tasks, docs, and apps.
Attach files	Select the paperclip (Attach files), paste a file, or drag files onto the chat. See Attach files.
Start a group chat	In a new conversation, select Add teammates. See Start a group chat.
Start the conversation in a project	In a new conversation, select Project. See Start a conversation in a project.
Reuse a message you sent	With the cursor at the start of the text, press ↑. Press ↑ again for older messages and ↓ to step back. In an open conversation, ↑ steps through your messages in it. In a new conversation, it steps through your messages in all your conversations with that teammate. Up to 50 messages.

The @, /, and # pickers open only at the start of a word. A line at the top of the picker says what it lists, for example Teammates and people. Keep typing to filter; Enter mentions your pick. Use the arrow keys to move, press Enter or Tab to pick, and press Esc to close it.

Composer	@	/	#	Files
A teammate’s chat and a group chat	Teammates, then people	Skills	Tasks, docs, and apps	Yes
Squad chat	Teammates, Everyone (@all), and people	No	Docs only	Yes
Task comment	Teammates, then people	No	Apps	Yes

In the @ list, people come after the teammates, with a person icon. The list shows only the people in your squad who can open that place, and never you. See Mention a person. On Squad for Mac, the composer works the same way, with these keys and differences:

Key	What it does
Return or ⌘Return	Sends the message. With a picker open, Return picks the highlighted row.
Shift-Return or Option-Return	Adds a new line.
⌘⇧A	Opens Attach, to pick files.
↑	At the very start of the box, shows your earlier messages in this conversation. ↓ goes back toward the newest, then to what you typed.

When you select a # chip, it shows what it sends, with Open and Details.
The / list shows your skills, then packs, research tools, and apps.
The composer has no model or teammate picker.

Mention teammates

Type @, then type part of a name. Press Enter to insert the mention.

Where you type the mention	What it does
A reply in a direct conversation	Invites the teammate and turns the conversation into a group chat. The teammate that you were talking to gets the message too and answers with the others. See Turn a direct chat into a group chat.
The first message of a new conversation	Starts a group chat with the teammates that you mention.
A group chat	Only the teammates that you mention get the message, and they read it as addressed to them. With no mention, every teammate in the group gets it and decides whether to speak.
The Squad chat	Only the teammates that you mention wake. @all reaches every teammate.
A task comment	Wakes the mentioned teammate. A note from a person also wakes the teammate who has the task, without a mention. Other teammates read it on their next run. A teammate’s mention does not wake the teammates it names when the newest notes on the task are a long run of teammates’ notes with no person in between, as Limits and defaults says. See Track work on Tasks.

An @ inside an email address, such as name@example.com, or before a domain, such as @example.com, is not a mention. It shows no chip and wakes or notifies no one. A full stop or a comma right after a name still ends the name, so “thanks @Nina.” mentions Nina. To mention a person in your squad in any of these places, see Mention a person. Each message that wakes a teammate starts a run on your connected AI account. For what uses credits, see What Squad costs and what uses credits.

Run a skill

Open the skill list

In a composer, type /.

Filter the list

Type part of a skill name to filter the list.

Insert the skill

Press Enter or Tab to insert the skill as /skill-name.

Add instructions and send

Add your instructions and send the message.

The list shows your squad’s skills first, then skill packs, then scrapers and app integrations. Each row shows where the skill comes from. The list does not show skills that are off or that need repair. For more, see Add and manage skills.

Point at tasks, docs, and apps

Type #, then pick an item. The list has tasks, docs, and apps. Apps that you have not connected show Not connected yet. Your pick goes with your message as a chip. Select a chip (See what this sends) to see what it sends: the item, Sent with your message, and Open it. The teammate gets the reference and reads the rest itself. To remove a chip before you send, select its x. In a teammate’s reply or in the Squad chat, a doc link written as # and the doc title in lowercase with hyphens (for example #weekly-report) opens the doc. The link must match the whole title. A number such as #101 never links to a doc, because teammates use numbers for issues and pull requests.

Attach files

Select the paperclip (Attach files) to pick one or more files.
Paste a file into the composer.
Drag files onto a conversation, a new conversation, or a group chat. While a file is over it, it says “Drop to attach to your message”.

The paperclip shows Uploading… while a file uploads. A file chip shows in the composer when its upload is finished. A picture’s chip shows a small copy of the picture. To remove a file, select the x on its chip (Remove and the file name). You can send files with no text. Send waits until every upload is finished. Files in a conversation show as chips. Select a chip to download the file with its own name and extension. While it downloads, the chip shows how much is done. To open the file in a new tab instead, Cmd-click it (Ctrl-click on Windows). If a download fails, a message says so, for example We could not download report.pdf. Try again. If an upload fails, no file chip shows, and the paperclip says Upload failed · Try again. Check that there is a chip for each file before you send. On Squad for Mac:

Select Attach (the paperclip), or press ⌘⇧A. You can also paste files, paste an image, or drag files onto the box.
A pasted image is attached as “Pasted image” with the time. It attaches as a picture also when the app that copied it put a name or link beside it as text. A picture dragged from a browser onto the box attaches too.
Each file shows as a chip with “Uploading” while it uploads. Select the x on a chip to remove the file.
Folders are skipped. If one file fails to upload, a message says so, and the other files still attach.
Images in a conversation show as thumbnails. Other files show as chips with the name and size. Click a file to preview it in Quick Look. Right-click it for Preview, Open (in its own app), Save to Downloads, Copy Link, and Delete File… where you can delete it.

A task comment can carry up to 10 files, and a task can carry up to 40 files in total. See Limits and defaults.

Delete a file that you sent

If you sent the wrong file, you can delete it without deleting the conversation.

Find the file

In your message, point to the file and select the trash icon (Delete this file).

Confirm

The dialog Delete this file? says what happens. Select Delete file.

Squad deletes the file from Squad, and every exact copy of it from your cloud computer, so no teammate can open it again from Squad. A changed copy, for example a resized image or text taken from a PDF, is not found and stays. A file that a git repository on the computer tracks is kept. The message stays, and the file’s place shows Attachment deleted. Copies of the message, for example in a fork or another version, show the same. A teammate that already read the file may still remember what it said in this conversation. You cannot undo this. You can delete files that you sent. The owner and Administrators can delete any file that a person sent in a chat. Files that a teammate sent cannot be deleted this way. On Squad for Mac, point to the file and select the trash button (Delete this file), or right-click it and choose Delete File…. Confirm with Delete File. A Viewer cannot delete files.

Send a message while the teammate is busy

A teammate works on one message at a time in each conversation. If you type while the teammate is replying, the composer says that the teammate is still replying and that your message will queue and be answered next. The message shows Queued. The teammate answers it next. To hand the queued message to the run in progress, select Steer now (Hand this to the run in progress instead of waiting). The label changes to Steering…. The run takes your message at its next step, and its reply covers both messages. When the run takes it, the conversation says “Handed to the run in progress. The reply will cover this too.” When the run ends before it can take your message, the message is not lost. The teammate answers it next, as an ordinary message, after the reply. On a Claude Code account, the run can also stop unexpectedly while your message is already in it. The teammate may have acted on it, so Squad does not send it again. The conversation says “This message reached the run in progress, but that run stopped before answering it. Check the replies above before sending it again.” Read the replies, then select Retry if you still need it. A message that reaches a teammate on a Claude Code account while it works in the same conversation waits for the run in progress. It does not end that run. When the run is done, the teammate answers the message with everything that the run did. See Limits and defaults.

Sending states on Squad for Mac

When you send, your message leaves the box at once and shows faded with “Sending…”, then “Sent”. If it fails, it shows “Not sent” with the reason and two buttons:

Retry sends it again. A message that already went through is not sent twice.
Edit puts the words and files back in the box.

A message that turns a conversation into a group chat stays in the box with “Sending…” until it goes. If it fails, your message stays in the box. Steer now works only while your squad’s live connection is up.

Copy, fork, or edit messages

Point to a message to show its tools. On a phone or a touch screen, they always show. The version arrows always show.

Tool	Where it is	What it does	Who can use it
Copy (Copy)	Under a teammate’s reply	Copies the text of the reply. The button shows Copied, or Could not copy if the browser did not allow it.	Everyone who can read the conversation
Fork (Fork from here)	Under a teammate’s reply in a direct conversation	Starts a new conversation with everything up to that reply.	You, Administrators, and Collaborators
Edit (pencil, Edit)	Under a message that you sent, in a direct conversation	Starts a new version of the conversation from that message.	The person who wrote the message, except a Viewer
Version arrows, for example 1/2	Under a message where a version starts	Shows another version of the conversation.	You, Administrators, and Collaborators. A Viewer sees the number but no arrows.

Fork, Edit, and the version arrows work only in a direct conversation with one teammate. They are not in group chats, the Squad chat, conversations between teammates, or email conversations. For other cases where they do not show, see When Fork and Edit are not available.

Read and act on replies on Squad for Mac

The buttons under a reply always show under the newest reply, and when you point to an earlier one. Copy copies the whole reply as Markdown. Read aloud reads the reply aloud. Select it again to stop.
Code blocks show in a panel with no copy button. Select the code and press ⌘C, or use Copy under the reply.
Hover over a time to see the full date. Group chats and the Squad chat show only their newest messages.
To edit your message, select the pencil, change it, then select Send or press ⌘Return.
A link to a picture (png, jpg, gif, or webp) or a video (mp4, mov, or m4v) at an https address shows in place, where it was linked. Click a picture to open it larger in your browser. A video shows its first frame under a play button, and plays only when you click it. When it does not load, the box says “This picture didn’t load.” or “This video didn’t load.”, and a click opens the link in your browser. Right-click it for Open in Browser and Copy Link. In the bell, in Activity, in a research result from a web page, and in a reply that is still arriving, the link stays a link. Other links, a WebM video among them, stay links too.

Select text in a message, and a bar shows over the selection:

Quote in reply puts the words at the top of your draft as a quote.
Ask about this, on a teammate’s reply, sends “Tell me more about this:” with the words in this conversation. When the message cannot go out on its own, for example to a paused teammate, the question goes into your draft instead.
Copy copies the words as plain text.

Right-click a selection for Quote in Reply and Ask About This. ⌘C and dragging the text out copy it too. Esc clears the selection. Quoting never pings the teammates who are mentioned in the words. A Viewer gets only Copy.

Fork a conversation

Fork when you want to try another direction and keep the first one.

Find the reply

Point to the teammate’s reply where the new conversation should start from.

Fork

Select the fork icon (Fork from here). The button shows Forking…. To fork from the last reply, you can also use Fork in the conversation’s row menu in Conversations.

Continue in the fork

Squad opens the new conversation. Type your next message there.

The fork:

Is named Fork of and the name of the original conversation, until the teammate gives it a name of its own. A name that you type stays.
Has the messages up to and including that reply, with their files. Failed messages and system lines are not copied.
Shows email drafts that were waiting for your review as discarded, and cards that nobody answered as dismissed. Nothing in a fork can be sent or answered a second time.
Ends with a line that says Forked from and the original name, with a button to open the original.

The original conversation does not change. When you send your first message in the fork, the teammate gets the conversation so far with it.

Edit a message that you sent

Open the editor

Point to your message and select the pencil (Edit).

Change the text

Change the text. The editor says Sending starts a new version of the conversation from here. The arrows under it switch back.

Send

Select Send, or press Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows). To keep the message as it was, select Cancel or press Esc.

The messages after the one that you edited move to the earlier version, and the teammate answers your new text. Files that you attached to the message stay with it. Under your message, the arrows show the new version, for example 2/2 after the first edit and 3/3 after the next.

Switch between versions

Under the message where a version starts, select ‹ (Show the previous version) or › (Show the next version). The messages after that point change to the other version. Each version is its own conversation for the teammate. When you continue in a version, the teammate remembers that version only.

When Fork and Edit are not available

Fork, Edit, and the version arrows do not show in some older conversations, or when your cloud computer does not run a recent enough version of Squad. Copy always shows.

Message	Cause	Fix
Wait for the reply to finish. when you point to the tool, or “Wait for the reply to finish, or stop it, then try again.”	A reply is on its way in this conversation.	Wait for the reply, or stop it.
”This conversation is too long to fork or edit.”	The conversation has more messages than Squad can fork or edit. See Limits and defaults.	Start a new conversation.
”Forking and editing need your cloud computer on the latest version. Try again after it updates.”	Your cloud computer has not updated yet.	Try again later. The computer updates on its own.
”This conversation was edited or forked, and continuing it needs your cloud computer on the latest version. Send it again after it updates.”	Your message is in a fork or an edited conversation, and the computer cannot continue it now.	Send the message again later.
”This conversation was edited or forked, so it continues only over your squad’s chat channel, which this squad isn’t using right now. Start a new conversation to keep going.”	The squad is not on the live chat channel.	Start a new conversation.

Stop a reply in progress

Before you start: you must be the owner or an Administrator. Collaborators and Viewers do not see Stop.

Find the working message

In the conversation, find the teammate’s working message under your message.

Select Stop

Select Stop beside it.

Confirm

Select Stop the run. To let the teammate continue, select Keep going.

Stopping… shows until the run ends. The conversation then shows “This run was stopped before the agent replied. Anything it already saved stays.” The teammate keeps the conversation, and you can send your next message. Stop in a conversation stops only the run of that conversation. The same teammate’s work in another conversation goes on. If the teammate finished its reply before the stop arrived, the reply stays. For what Stop does, and what to do when it does not go through, see Stop a run.

Answer chat cards

A teammate can put a card in a chat when it needs you to act, or when a card shows its work better than text. Some cards have buttons. The card remembers what you did, on every device. In the dashboard, the words on a card read like a chat message, with bullets, bold text, tables, and line breaks. The text in a draft card shows exactly as it will be sent.

Card header or look	What the teammate needs	What you do
Paused for your answer with option buttons	A choice	Select an option. Your pick goes to the teammate as your reply. Some of these cards also show Not now. After you answer, the card shows your pick and Answered, the time, and sent to the teammate, or Dismissed and the time.
Connect and the app name	Access to an app	Select Connect and the app name, then finish the sign-in in your browser. The header changes to Connecting · finish sign-in, and the button to Open the sign-in again. If the app has not confirmed the sign-in a few seconds after you come back to Squad, or some minutes after you started it, the header says Not connected yet and the button Start the sign-in again. A sign-in that was only slow still updates the card by itself. See Limits and defaults. If other people are in your squad, the card also shows Share this account with everyone in this squad. See Who can use an account. When the app is connected, the card shows a check and the app. If the connection expired, the card shows Connection expired and Reconnect in Apps.
An app connection to add	A new MCP server	Check the name and URL, then select Add server. If the server needs a sign-in, a new tab opens for it. When it is done, the card shows added and Open in Apps, which opens Custom integrations.
A key to add	An API key or secret	Paste each value and select Save to vault. The card says Goes straight to your squad’s vault. The chat never sees it. When it is done, the card shows saved to the vault.
A question card	An answer to a question	Answer in the card. A question for another person says “Waiting on” and their name. Ask someone else passes the question to another person. See Answer questions in Needs you and Ask someone else.
Form to fill and a site	Values only you know for a page, such as a sign-in	Fill the fields and select Fill the form, or select I can’t fill this. See Fill a form that a teammate sends you.
Add a card to your Wallet, or a purchase card	A payment card in your card vault, or your approval of a purchase	See Let your teammates pay with your card.
Your computer needs you	You to act on the teammate’s computer, for example to sign in	Select Take over to use the computer. The card shows You have the keyboard. When you finish, select I’m done.
Task created	Nothing. It tells you the teammate created a task.	Select the card to open the task. It shows the title, the priority, and Owned by and the teammate’s name.
A link card with an icon	Nothing. It points at a doc, a list, or an email, and says which kind it is.	Select the card to open it.
used and tool names	Nothing. It lists the tools the teammate used.	Nothing.
A draft in a box	Nothing. It shows text the teammate proposes.	Read it. The card has no buttons. Reply in the conversation to change it.

The choice, connect, MCP server, and key cards have Not now. It dismisses the card, and the card records that you dismissed it. Only the owner can act on the connect, MCP server, key, and form cards. Other people see them without buttons. On the computer card, the owner and Administrators can select Take over, which opens the computer screen. On Squad for Mac, a Viewer sees a question, choice, connect, MCP server, key, computer, or add-card card without its buttons, with “Your access is view-only, so someone who can act takes this one.” In a group chat, a teammate can post only the option card without Not now and the cards with no buttons. It cannot post the other cards there. If a card shows “This message includes a” card name and “Refresh the page to interact with it”, reload the page. For more about app connections and MCP servers, see Connect apps and Add an MCP server or an API key. For the computer, see Watch or take over a teammate’s computer.

Email conversations in chat

When you discuss an email with a teammate, the conversation shows in that teammate’s Conversations. A new one says About and the email’s subject, and that the email goes with your message. Open the email to approve a draft. See Give a teammate an email inbox. Only the owner can reply, rename, or archive in an email conversation. Other people see “Only the squad owner can reply in this email conversation.” in the composer. A teammate’s email draft, escalated email, or failed send in a chat message shows as a card with To, Subject, and the words. An escalated email also shows why it needs you and From. A draft that waits has Send now and Discard. An escalation that waits has Open in Email, which opens the conversation in the teammate’s inbox, and Dismiss. Only the owner or an Administrator can act. Other people see “The squad’s owner or an Administrator sends or discards this draft.” or “The squad’s owner or an Administrator handles this email.” When it no longer waits, the card says “No longer waiting on you.” Squad says this only when it can tell. When very many emails wait on you at once, the card says nothing about an email that it does not find. See Limits and defaults. In the dashboard, a draft that waits shows as it is now, with every change made in Email and its Cc and Bcc, because that is what Send now sends. If Squad refused the send before anything went out, the card says why, for example “This inbox is paused, so nothing was sent. Resume the inbox in Settings › Email, then send it again.” See Review drafts. If Send now fails for another reason, the card says “Couldn’t confirm it was sent. Check Email before you try again.” Look in the Sent tab of Email before you try again.

Start a group chat

Before you start:

You need at least two teammates.
Your squad must be on the live chat channel. Squad moves a new squad to it on its own, shortly after setup. There is no setting for it in the dashboard. If the squad is not on it, Squad shows Group chats need the live chat channel, which this squad isn’t on yet.
Every teammate in the group must be set up. A teammate that is still being set up cannot join a group.

Start a new conversation

Open a teammate’s chat and select the pencil (New conversation).

Select Add teammates

Select Add teammates under the composer.

Pick the other teammates

Under Group with:, select the other teammates.

Send the first message

Type the first message and send it.

Squad creates the group chat with that message. You can also type @mentions of other teammates in the first message of a new conversation. If you select Add teammates and pick nobody, Squad shows Pick at least one teammate for the group. The group chat shows in the sidebar under Group chats, and in the Conversations list of each teammate in it. In a group chat, the composer says Message the group. If your squad is not on the live chat channel, an @mention in a new conversation sends a normal direct message instead.

Turn a direct chat into a group chat

Mention another teammate

In a direct conversation, type a reply that @mentions another teammate.

Read the warning

Read the line under the composer: Sending will invite the teammate and turn this into a group chat with the recent messages carried over.

Send the reply

Send the reply.

Squad copies the last 30 messages into the group chat. Your message goes to the teammates that you invited and to the teammate whose chat it was. Each of them reads it as addressed to them, so the teammate that you were talking to stays in the conversation and answers too. A paused teammate is not woken. From the next message on, the group chat works like any group chat: only the teammates that you mention get the message.

Add a teammate to a group chat

The header of a group chat shows the faces of the teammates in it.

Open the group chat

Open the group chat.

Select Add a teammate

Select + (Add a teammate) next to the faces.

Pick the teammate

Under Add to this conversation, select the teammate.

You cannot add a teammate to the Squad chat, to a conversation between two teammates, or to an email conversation. A Viewer cannot add teammates. If you are limited to some teammates, the menu lists only those. You cannot remove a teammate from a group chat.

Rename, archive, restore, or delete a group chat

The sidebar lists the Squad chat first, then your group chats with the newest message first. It shows 5 rows, the Squad chat included. Select All group chats to see the rest, and Show fewer to go back.

To rename a group chat, open it, select More (⋯) in its header, then Rename. If you clear the name, the group gets an automatic name.
To archive a group chat, point to it in the sidebar and select the x (Archive this group chat).
To see archived group chats, select Archived at the bottom of Group chats. Select Restore to bring one back.
To delete an archived group chat, select the trash icon, then select Delete? to confirm.

Delete removes the group chat and its whole conversation permanently. You can delete only archived group chats.

Group chats on Squad for Mac

When your squad cannot run group chats yet (it is not on the live chat channel, or the tools on your cloud computer are too old for group chats) and you select Add teammates, the box says “Group chats aren’t available for this squad right now.” When your squad has group chats but is not answering, it says “Your squad isn’t answering right now, so a group chat can’t start. Try again in a few minutes.” An @mention then does not start a group chat, and the message goes to the one teammate.
A group chat’s ⋯ menu (More for this conversation) has Rename…, Pin to Sidebar (owner only), Move to Project, and Archive.
Archived group chats are under Archived with the count, with Restore, and with the trash button for the owner and Administrators.
Group chats have no side panel.
A teammate’s face joins the row once Squad has added it. The + (Add a teammate) shows only to people who can write in the group chat, and only when a teammate is left to add.
When you @mention a teammate in a new conversation, a note says that sending will start a group chat with the teammates you named.
The Squad chat’s box says “Message the squad”.

Use the Squad chat

The Squad chat is one standing room for all your teammates. The Squad chat row shows in the sidebar under Group chats when you have at least two teammates and your squad can run group chats. It stays there while your teammates are busy and while your cloud computer restarts. You cannot rename, archive, or delete it.

Open the Squad chat

In the sidebar, select Squad chat.

Type your message

Type your message. Type @ to mention a teammate, Everyone (@all), or a person in your squad. Type # to link a doc.

Send

Select Send ↵.

The header shows how messages reach your teammates:

Header text	What it means
Everyone · live	A message with no mention wakes every teammate at once. A message with mentions wakes only the teammates you mention.
Everyone · async channel	The banner says: Squad chat is async: teammates see new messages on their next run, not instantly. Mentioned teammates get a notification.
Everyone	Your cloud computer has not contacted Squad for a while, or it is restarting. The banner says: Your squad isn’t answering right now, so new messages can’t reach your teammates. Try again in a few minutes. A message that you send then stays in the box with “Your squad isn’t answering right now, so this message didn’t reach your teammates. Try again in a few minutes.” Send it again in a few minutes. See Limits and defaults.

The header also has Chat with and your chief of staff’s name, which opens their chat. A teammate can be mentioned by its full name, its first name, or its short handle. A message with a mention shows notified and the number of teammates it mentions. Messages from a teammate that you removed show Former teammate.

Tell the whole squad

@all: [the change] starts [when]. What this means for you: [one line for each affected area]. If you are working on a task that this changes, note it in the task. Send questions to me as questions, not guesses.

Read conversations between teammates

Teammates also talk to each other in pairs. On the Squad chat screen, the Between teammates list shows these conversations (select Conversations on a narrow window). Each row shows the two teammates. Open a conversation to read it. The header says Teammate conversation · they talk here on their own. Select Squad chat to go back. The sidebar also folds the conversations between two teammates that you have not joined under Between teammates at the end of Group chats, with their number. They never count as unread. If you type in a conversation between teammates, your message joins that conversation and wakes both teammates. Each teammate reads only the conversations it is part of, plus the Squad chat room. The list shows the newest conversations between teammates, up to a limit. See Limits and defaults. On Squad for Mac, open Between teammates at the end of Group chats in the sidebar, then select a conversation to read along. To step in, type in Join this conversation and send. The conversation then moves into your group chats. When your squad isn’t answering, the Squad chat says “Your squad isn’t answering right now, so new messages can’t reach your teammates. Try again in a few minutes.” A message that you send there shows “Not sent: Your squad isn’t answering right now, so this message didn’t reach your teammates. Try again in a few minutes.” with Retry and Edit. A squad that cannot run group chats shows “Your teammates see new messages here the next time they work, not at once.” instead.

Group conversations into projects

A project keeps all the conversations about one client or job in one place, with any teammate. Projects show in the sidebar under Projects, between Your squad and Group chats. The owner, Administrators, and Collaborators can make, rename, change the notes of, archive, bring back, and delete projects, move conversations in and out, and start conversations in them. A Viewer can only open them. A person who can use only some teammates sees only the direct conversations with those teammates, plus the project’s group chats. When such a person can delete a project, they can also delete one that holds other conversations: those conversations stay. A teammate can do the same for you when you ask, unless you are a Viewer: make, rename, change the notes of, archive, bring back, and delete projects. It can also move the dashboard conversation that you have with it into a project, or out of one, from inside that conversation. It cannot move a group chat, or a conversation on Telegram, Discord, Slack, or email. See Your squad’s settings. Before each of your messages in a project’s conversation, the teammate gets a short block: “[Project] This conversation is part of the project” and the project’s name, then “About it:” and the notes, then the folder line when the project has a folder on your Mac. See Give a project a folder on your Mac.

Make a project

Open New project

In the sidebar, select + (New project) next to Projects.

Name it

Type a Name. Optional: type Notes for your teammates, for example who the client is and where things stand.

Save

Select Make project.

The project’s page opens. For the longest name and notes, see Limits and defaults. The sidebar shows the five projects worked in most recently, ordered by their newest conversation. The project that you have open always shows. Select All projects to see the rest, and Show fewer to go back. A blue dot on a project means one of its conversations has a reply that you have not read. Archived projects fold under Archived, with their count. Show older loads more of them. The command palette finds projects, open and archived, by name or notes, and has New project (not for a Viewer). Two open projects cannot have the same name, whatever the letter case. On Squad for Mac, an orange dot on a project means a conversation in it waits on you. The New project box asks only for a name, with Create.

Read a project’s page

A project’s page shows:

Its name and its notes. To change them, select Project menu (⋯), then Rename, or Add notes for your teammates (Edit the notes for your teammates when it has notes). Each change saves when you select Save.
Its folder. A project’s folder can be set only in Squad for Mac. See Give a project a folder on your Mac. Without one, the page says No folder yet. Pick one in Squad on your Mac.
Its conversations with every teammate, newest first. Each row shows the teammate’s face (or the group’s), the conversation’s name, the teammate’s name, the last words, and the time. A blue dot means a reply that you have not read. Select a row to open the conversation in the teammate’s chat.

On Squad for Mac, right-click a row on the project’s page, or point to it and press X, for Remove from Project. In a conversation that belongs to a project, the header shows the project’s name before the title. Select it to go back to the project’s page.

Start a conversation in a project

On the project’s page, select New conversation. It starts with the teammate you used last in the project, otherwise your chief of staff. To pick someone else, select the arrow (Choose who to start with), then a teammate under Start with.
In a teammate’s chat, start a new conversation, select Project under the composer, and pick the project. To take it out again, pick No project.
In a teammate’s conversation list grouped by project, select + (New conversation in and the project’s name) beside the project’s heading. To group the list, select ⋯ > Group by > Project (the other choices are None and State). The groups follow the order of the sidebar, then the archived projects, then No project.

The composer shows the project’s name. Your first message puts the conversation in the project. A group chat that you start this way goes into the project too. On Squad for Mac, the Project chip sits beside Add teammates. When you change the project, what you typed and attached stays in the box.

Move a conversation into a project

Open the menu

In the conversation’s header, select More (⋯), then Move to project…. Or point to its row in Conversations, select More (⋯), then Move to project….

Pick the project

Select a project. The project that the conversation is in has a check.

In the header’s menu, New project… makes a project and moves the conversation into it at once. Remove from project takes the conversation out. The Squad chat cannot move into a project. Which conversations can join a project:

Not the Squad chat, and not a conversation about an email.
A question’s conversation can. On the project’s page it keeps its “About” name until you rename it.
An archived group chat has no Move to project.
A fork of a project’s conversation stays in the project, and so does a group chat started from a project’s conversation.

On Squad for Mac, Move to Project > New Project… makes a project, moves the conversation into it, and you stay where you are.

Archive or delete a project

Select Project menu (⋯) on the project’s page. In the sidebar, you can also right-click the project, or press R (rename), A (archive), B (bring back), or D (delete) while its row has keyboard focus.

Archive moves the project to Archived at the end of Projects. An archived project’s page says This project is archived, and you cannot edit it or start conversations in it. Select Bring back to make it active again. While a project is archived, teammates no longer get its details, and you cannot move conversations into it or edit its notes or folder. Bring back is refused when an open project has the same name, or when you are at the limit of open projects. See Limits and defaults.
Delete project… asks first, for example “Delete “Leeds bakery”?”. Select Delete project to confirm. The conversations stay where they are, with their teammates and in their group chats, in no project. A folder on your Mac stays shared. Back does not return to the deleted project’s page. You cannot undo this.

Retry a message that failed

Squad tries again two times on its own when it could not reach the teammate. If the message still fails, the conversation shows the error, with an alert icon and in red, and a button.

What you see	Cause	What to do
Retry under the message	The run failed or ended with no reply, for example “No reply arrived”	Select Retry to send the message again.
Reconnect	Your AI connection expired. The composer also says Your AI connection expired. Replies will fail until you reconnect. with Reconnect. Only the owner and Administrators who work with every teammate see the button.	Select the button and reconnect your AI subscription on AI. Then select Retry. See Connect your AI subscription.
Open AI settings	The failure points to Settings > AI, for example a usage limit, an AI account out of credits, or no AI account connected for the teammate’s model. Only the owner and Administrators who work with every teammate see the button.	Select Open AI settings and fix the account. Then select Retry. See Chat failure messages.
Choose a model	Your AI provider refused the teammate’s model. The message says “[name]’s model isn’t available on your AI account. Choose another model for [name], then Retry.”, “Your Z.AI plan does not include this AI model. Pick another AI model for this teammate, or upgrade your plan on z.ai.”, or “Your Google AI key is on Google’s free plan, which doesn’t include this AI model. Set up billing for the key in Google AI Studio, or pick another AI model for this teammate.” Only the owner and Administrators see the button, and never on a shared conversation page.	Select Choose a model. The teammate’s Setup opens. Pick another model and save. Then go back to the conversation and select Retry, which shows beside the button. In a group chat there is no Retry, so send the message again.
A system line with Ask for a summary	The teammate finished its turn without a reply. A card that the teammate posted for your message, or a file or message that it sent into the conversation, counts as its reply, so the line does not show then. Right after your cloud computer restarts, Squad holds your message for a short time until the chat is back, so that a card still counts. When the chat takes longer, Squad sends the message another way, and a card alone can then show this line. A conversation that was edited or forked waits for the chat instead. See Limits and defaults.	Select Ask for a summary. The teammate is asked to summarize in the chat what it did for your message, and not to do the work again.
”[name] is paused. Resume [name] to send a message.”	You, an Administrator, your chief of staff, or the teammate itself paused the teammate. The dashboard does not send messages to a paused teammate.	Resume the teammate, then send the message again. See Add, change, and pause teammates.
A system line with Open the conversation	The conversation continued in another conversation, for example a group chat	Select Open the conversation to go to it.
”This run was stopped before the agent replied. Anything it already saved stays.”	You or an Administrator stopped the run	Nothing. This is not a failure, so there is no Retry. Send a new message if you want the teammate to continue.
”[name] was interrupted by a restart and is picking up where it left off.”	Your cloud computer restarted during the run. Squad gives the message back to the teammate, and the teammate continues from where it stopped. It is told not to repeat what is already done. If someone wrote to the teammate from a chat app since your message, the teammate reads that conversation first. If it stops or changes your request, the teammate does that instead and says so in its reply.	Nothing. Wait for the reply.
”Your cloud computer restarted again while your teammate was finishing this message, so it stopped partway. Check what is already done, then send it again if anything is missing.” Older messages say “The workspace runtime restarted again while the agent was finishing this message”.	The computer restarted again while the teammate continued, more often than Squad continues one message. See Limits and defaults.	Check what is done, then send the message again if anything is missing.
”Your cloud computer restarted while handling this message, so it may not have been processed. Send it again if nothing arrived.” Older messages say “The workspace runtime restarted while handling this message”.	The computer restarted during the run, and Squad could not give the message back to the teammate.	Check whether the work was done, then send the message again.
”This message was not run because the conversation changed before it started. Send it again if you still need it.”	Squad updated or reloaded the chat connection on your cloud computer before the teammate started on the message, and you had stopped the message, or reset or archived the conversation, by then. The teammate did not work on it.	Send the message again if you still need it.
A failure message with Retry, for example “Your AI account hit its usage limit before Nina could finish.”	The run failed. Squad shows a plain sentence about the cause instead of the raw error. In a teammate’s own chat, the sentence names the teammate.	Follow what the message says. See Fix a teammate that is stuck or failing.
”This conversation is too long for [name]’s model. Start a new conversation, or pick a model that reads more at once.” with Start a new conversation and Retry	The conversation no longer fits the teammate’s model.	Select Start a new conversation. It opens a new conversation with the teammate, with your message in the composer. Words that you already typed there stay. Or pick a model that reads more at once, then select Retry. Start a new conversation does not show in a group chat or to a Viewer.
The error and Your message was kept in the composer.	The send failed before it reached Squad	Send the message again.

Before you select Retry, check whether the teammate already did the work. A failed run can still send an email or create a task, and a retry runs the request again.

For more failures, see Fix a teammate that is stuck or failing. On Squad for Mac, a failed reply shows in red with the reason:

Retry sends your message again. When there is nothing to send again, Continue shows instead, only on the newest failed reply. It sends “Please continue where you left off. Don’t redo what’s already done.” These buttons show in one-to-one conversations, but not to a Viewer, and not when your AI connection expired.
When your AI connection expired, the owner and Administrators get Reconnect. When the failure points to Settings > AI, for example a usage limit, they get Open AI settings.
When your AI provider refused the teammate’s model, or your Z.AI plan does not include it, the owner and Administrators get Choose a model. It opens the teammate’s setup on their page, as on the web. See The setup on Squad for Mac.
When the conversation is too long for the teammate’s model, Start a new conversation works as on the web. Your failed words go in the box when Squad still has them loaded.

Archive or delete a conversation

You can archive a direct conversation with a teammate.

To archive a conversation, open it, select More (⋯) in its header, then Archive. Or point to its row in Conversations, select More (⋯), then Archive, or press A. It leaves the list.
To see archived conversations, open Archived conversations at the bottom of the teammate’s Conversations. Select Restore to bring one back.
A new reply in an archived conversation brings it back to the list.
To delete an archived conversation, select the trash icon, then select Delete? to confirm. Only the owner and Administrators can delete conversations. Collaborators can archive and restore them. A Viewer cannot. An email conversation is different: only the owner can archive, restore, or delete it.

Delete removes the conversation and all its versions permanently. You can delete only archived conversations.

Archiving is not the same as a reset. A reset clears the teammate’s context for your direct conversations. See Reset a conversation.

See the helpers your teammates start

A teammate can hand part of a job to a helper (a subagent) that works on that part on its own. The conversation shows what the teammate asked its helpers in one line, in the teammate’s words, at the moment it started them:

One helper: for example “Asked a helper to draft the reply”, or “Asked a helper: Docs audit” when the helper’s name is not an order.
Several helpers that a teammate started one after another: one line, for example “Asked 3 helpers to check the evidence, match the times and export the texts”. The line names up to three helpers and counts the rest. A helper with no name is counted, not named. For how close together they must start, see Limits and defaults.
While the helpers work, the teammate’s working message and its line in the sidebar say what the helpers work on, for example “Working on Docs audit with a helper” or “Working on Pricing research, Docs audit and more with helpers”. The line names up to two helpers and never counts them. When no helper has a name to show, it says “Working with a helper” or “Working with helpers”. Only the helpers of the run in progress count.
The newer line shows: when the teammate reports what it does after it started its helpers, its own words show again. When the helpers are done, the teammate’s own line comes back.
When a helper did not finish as asked, a sentence follows the line, for example “2 ran out of time.” or “Docs audit didn’t report back.” When Squad knows why a helper failed, it says so in one of these sentences, never in the helper’s own words:
- “It stopped on a sign-in problem.”
- “It ran out of time.”
- “It ran out of room before it finished.”
- “It hit a usage limit.”
- “It was stopped.”
- “It stopped before it finished.”
Squad shows a helper’s name only when it is a short line of plain words. A name that names a credential or a sign-in shows no name, also an ordinary one such as “Fix the login page”. So does a name with an email address or a long number in it. See Limits and defaults.
The line does not show what the teammate asked the helper or what the helper said.
In a group chat, the helpers of every teammate in the chat show. A person limited to some teammates sees only the helpers of the teammates that they can see.
While a helper works, the conversation’s row in Conversations shows the spinner.
A line stays with the message that led to it. When you edit that message or switch to another version, the line shows only in the version that has that message.

For each helper’s state and run, open History. See See helper runs. On Squad for Mac, the helpers line has no box, no spinner, and nothing to open. While the helpers work, the teammate’s line under Your squad in the sidebar, in the notch, and in the menu bar says what they work on, as on the web. A helper whose name is an order reads as what it is doing, for example “Drafting the summary letter with a helper”. The working line right under the helpers line says only “Working on it”, because the helpers line already says what they work on. When the teammate reports something newer, its own words show there. It never counts the helpers that the teammate waits on. Stop is beside the working line, or under the reply while it comes in. A helper with no name shows “Asked a helper”. The teammate’s name and face show once above its helpers. VoiceOver says the teammate’s name first. Every teammate is told to speak for its helpers only from what they did: to say once what it set them on, and then in a line or two what they found. It is told not to say that a helper still works unless it started it in the same turn and the helper has not reported back. When a helper stopped before it finished, it is told to say so and what it does instead. A teammate on a Claude Code account can also start helpers of its own. They show in the same line. Helpers are not stopped after 10 idle minutes. The teammate’s run stays open, and its reply arrives, once its helpers finish. The reply is the teammate’s answer to your message, followed by what it said after each helper reported back, in that order. A run time limit from an earlier setting, or a routine’s time limit, still ends the run and its helpers. See Time limits. When a helper was stopped, its work may be unfinished. Ask the teammate to continue it. A helper keeps the limits of the person that the work is for. See Teammates work within the person’s role.

Reset a conversation

Reset deletes your direct conversations with one teammate and starts a fresh context. You must be the owner or an Administrator.

Open the teammate's chat

Open the teammate’s chat.

Open More

Select More (⋯) in the header, then Start a fresh conversation.

Read the confirm bar

Read the confirm bar: Start a fresh conversation? This deletes the current threads and their messages. You cannot undo this.

Confirm

Select Reset, or Cancel to keep the conversations.

On Squad for Mac, choose Start fresh with and the teammate’s name … in the conversation list’s ⋯ menu, then confirm with Reset. A card that the teammate was still sending to the old conversation when you reset or edited it does not show in the new one.

Reset permanently deletes every direct conversation with this teammate and the conversation names. This includes the conversations where you discussed an email or a question with the teammate. You cannot restore them. The teammate also forgets the conversation context. Group chats, the Squad chat, and the teammate’s memory files are not changed. Facts that the squad’s memory learned from these conversations stay in memory. To remove one, use Forget. See Review and correct memories.

Chat when other people are in your squad

When you invite people, chat is shared. See Invite people to your squad.

A person reads the full chat history of each teammate that they can see, including your messages. They can send their own messages, except a Viewer.
Your own messages show on the right, with no name. Another person’s messages show their name above them.
The teammate knows who wrote each message. It answers a person by name and reports back to that person. Messages from Telegram, Discord, Slack, and email are not part of this.
A Viewer sees a view-only notice instead of the composer, for example “Your access is view-only, so you can read these conversations but not send messages.” On Squad for Mac, it says “this conversation” when it is about one conversation.
In an email conversation, people other than the owner see “Only the squad owner can reply in this email conversation.”
If you limit a person to some teammates, the other teammates’ chats are not shown to them. They see This chat is not available when a link points to one.
Anyone who can read a conversation can copy a reply. You, Administrators, and Collaborators can fork a conversation and switch versions. Each person can edit only their own messages. A Viewer can copy replies but cannot fork, edit, or switch versions. You can edit your messages from before other people joined.
Only you and Administrators can stop a run or reset a teammate’s conversations. See Stop a reply in progress.

Which replies are new for you

A reply counts as new for you only in a conversation that you are in. Everyone can still open and read every conversation that they can see.

You are in a conversation when you sent a message in it or forked it. A conversation that no person wrote in yet counts as the owner’s.
A reply in another person’s conversation that you did not write in shows no blue dot in the sidebar or in Conversations, and no count on the phone’s message icon, for you.
When you fork a conversation, the fork is yours. The people who wrote in the copied part are in it too.
When you edit a message, a person who wrote only in the messages after it is no longer in the conversation. Switching back to the earlier version brings them back.
A Viewer cannot send messages, so a Viewer gets new replies only in conversations that they wrote in before they became a Viewer.
Group chats and the Squad chat are not part of this.
A conversation open in a browser tab that you cannot see does not mark replies as read. They stay new until you show the tab again.

Reply notifications in the bell follow the same rule: each person gets them only for the conversations that they are in. On Squad for Mac, the counts in the sidebar, the bell, the notch, the menu bar, and the Dock follow the same rule, and also include the group chats that you take part in. In the Mac’s bell, each row under Replies to you names who replied and the conversation, for example “Nina in Spring menu”, then the reply. A group chat’s row shows the group chat’s name, then the newest message. A row that says someone mentioned you in a group chat opens that group chat. Mark all as read clears every row there. See Reply notifications. For how many conversations count, see Limits and defaults.

Mention a person

Wherever you can mention a teammate, you can also mention the owner or a person who joined by invite: in a conversation with one teammate, a group chat, the Squad chat, a conversation between two teammates, and a task’s comments. The person gets a notification in their bell. When they have not seen it after a while, they also get one email that opens the place. See Mentions.

Pick the person in the @ list, after the teammates. Or type @ and the person’s first name, for example @Tibo, or their full name. For a full name with a space, put it in quotes, for example @"Tibo Smith".
Only people who can open the place are offered and notified. A person limited to other teammates is not notified about a conversation or a task of a teammate that they cannot see.
When two people, or a person and a teammate, answer to the name that you typed, no person is notified. Type the person’s full name instead.
@all, @everyone, and @squad reach teammates only. They do not notify people.
Teammates can mention people too. When a teammate names you in a group chat or in a conversation with one teammate, you get the same notification. The people already in that conversation get the reply as a reply, not as a mention.
Mentioning a person does not change which teammates get the message.
A mention of a person shows in bold, whether a person or a teammate wrote it. It is not a link, because a person has no page. A name that does not point to one person, for example a first name that two people share, stays plain text. Bold text does not mean that the person was notified: the rules above decide that.

On Squad for Mac, the @ list shows people in the same places, after the teammates and without you: a conversation with one teammate, a group chat, the Squad chat, a conversation between two teammates, and a task’s notes. The first time you type @, the list loads the people, and Return and Tab wait until it has them. A bell row for a mention in a conversation with one teammate opens that conversation, and a mention in a task’s notes opens the task. When you look at a task, its mentions of you count as seen. A person that you mention gets a bell row, and @all does not notify people. When a teammate mentions a person who is limited to other teammates, that person is not notified. On the Mac, a mention of a person shows in bold too, as on the web.

What teammates can do in chat

Reply in your conversations, and post cards: the choice, connect, MCP server, key, question, form, and computer cards, plus the task, link, tools, and draft cards.
Talk to another teammate in a conversation between teammates, and post in the Squad chat.
Create tasks from a chat request. The Task created card shows in the conversation.

Ask any teammate

When you need a decision from me in chat, give me buttons to pick from instead of an open question.

Common questions

Does a teammate forget a conversation overnight?

No. Conversations do not reset on their own. A teammate remembers each conversation for as long as it goes on. See How a teammate remembers a conversation.

Can I undo an edit?

Yes. Use the arrows under your message to show the earlier version again. The earlier version and its replies are kept. See Switch between versions.

What happens if I close the browser tab?

Your conversations are saved. Text that you typed but did not send is lost, because Squad keeps unsent drafts only until you close the tab.

What happens if I send a message while the teammate is paused?

The message is not sent. The chat shows “[name] is paused. Resume [name] to send a message.” Resume the teammate, then send the message again. In a group chat, a paused teammate is not woken. See Add, change, and pause teammates.

Where did the chat panel on the right of other screens go?

It is gone. A conversation opens only in its teammate’s chat. To keep a conversation one click away, pin it to the sidebar. See Pin things to the sidebar.

Can I see which teammates read a Squad chat message?

No. The notified count shows how many teammates the message mentions. It does not show whether they read it.

Does the teammate see my attached files?

Yes. The teammate gets each file with your message. For a teammate on a Claude Code account, Squad saves the files on your cloud computer, up to a limit. See Limits and defaults.

Check that it works

The teammate shows Working on it, then replies in the conversation.
When a reply arrives in a conversation that you are in and you are not looking at it, the teammate’s row in the sidebar and the conversation’s row in Conversations show a blue dot.
In a group chat, only the teammates you mention reply. With no mention, a teammate replies only when it has something to add.
A pin that you add shows in the Pinned section on your other devices too.

Troubleshooting

Add teammates shows, but the group chat does not start. Cause: your squad is not on the live chat channel, your cloud computer is not answering, or a teammate is still being set up. Fix: read the error under the box. If a teammate is still being set up, wait and try again. If the error names the live chat channel, or says “Your squad isn’t answering right now”, wait a few minutes and try again. You cannot change the chat channel in the dashboard. If the error stays, send direct messages and see Get help.
The Squad chat row is not in the sidebar. Cause: you have fewer than two teammates, or your squad cannot run group chats yet (it is not on the live chat channel, or the tools on your cloud computer are too old). Fix: add a teammate. See Add, change, and pause teammates. If you have two teammates, see Get help.
The Squad chat says “Your squad isn’t answering right now, so new messages can’t reach your teammates. Try again in a few minutes.” Cause: your cloud computer has not contacted Squad for a while, or it is restarting. Long work does not cause this, because the cloud computer still contacts Squad while your teammates are busy. See Limits and defaults. Fix: wait a few minutes, then send your message again. Your message stays in the box. If it lasts, see Still stuck. In other group chats, no banner shows. A message that you send stays in the box with “Your squad isn’t answering right now, so this message didn’t reach your teammates. Try again in a few minutes.”
A skill is not in the / list. Cause: the skill is off, needs repair, or was added a moment ago. Fix: open Skills and check the skill. Then type / again after 30 seconds.
Project does not show under the composer. Cause: you have no open project, or you are a Viewer. Fix: make a project first. See Make a project.
A # link in a message does not open a doc. Cause: the link does not match the doc’s whole title, or it is a number. Fix: pick the doc from the # list instead of typing it.

​What you can do here

​Start a direct chat

​Where a conversation opens

​Work with conversations

​Conversations on Squad for Mac

​How a teammate remembers a conversation

​See what a conversation made

​Find and switch conversations

​The conversation list on Squad for Mac

​Pin things to the sidebar

​Use the composer

​Mention teammates

​Run a skill

​Point at tasks, docs, and apps

​Attach files

​Delete a file that you sent

​Send a message while the teammate is busy

​Sending states on Squad for Mac

​Copy, fork, or edit messages

​Read and act on replies on Squad for Mac

​Fork a conversation

​Edit a message that you sent

​Switch between versions

​When Fork and Edit are not available

​Stop a reply in progress

​Answer chat cards

​Email conversations in chat

​Start a group chat

​Turn a direct chat into a group chat

​Add a teammate to a group chat

​Rename, archive, restore, or delete a group chat

​Group chats on Squad for Mac

​Use the Squad chat

​Read conversations between teammates

​Group conversations into projects

​Make a project

​Read a project’s page

​Start a conversation in a project

​Move a conversation into a project

​Archive or delete a project

​Retry a message that failed

​Archive or delete a conversation

​See the helpers your teammates start

​Reset a conversation

​Chat when other people are in your squad

​Which replies are new for you

​Mention a person

​What teammates can do in chat

​Common questions

​Check that it works

​Troubleshooting

What you can do here

Start a direct chat

Where a conversation opens

Work with conversations

Conversations on Squad for Mac

How a teammate remembers a conversation

See what a conversation made

Find and switch conversations

The conversation list on Squad for Mac

Pin things to the sidebar

Use the composer

Mention teammates

Run a skill

Point at tasks, docs, and apps

Attach files

Delete a file that you sent

Send a message while the teammate is busy

Sending states on Squad for Mac

Copy, fork, or edit messages

Read and act on replies on Squad for Mac

Fork a conversation

Edit a message that you sent

Switch between versions

When Fork and Edit are not available

Stop a reply in progress

Answer chat cards

Email conversations in chat

Start a group chat

Turn a direct chat into a group chat

Add a teammate to a group chat

Rename, archive, restore, or delete a group chat

Group chats on Squad for Mac

Use the Squad chat

Read conversations between teammates

Group conversations into projects

Make a project

Read a project’s page

Start a conversation in a project

Move a conversation into a project

Archive or delete a project

Retry a message that failed

Archive or delete a conversation

See the helpers your teammates start

Reset a conversation

Chat when other people are in your squad

Which replies are new for you

Mention a person

What teammates can do in chat

Common questions

Check that it works

Troubleshooting