Consult Squad’s file ownership and authority rules to decide where state belongs, who may read or write it, and which source takes precedence. Distinguish authoritative configuration from append-only histories and reference material.
The complete file-by-file source-of-truth hierarchy for Squad: which files are authoritative, which are derived/append-only, who may write each one, who may read each one, and the precedence rules when they conflict. Squad coordinator loads this on demand when it needs to resolve a write conflict, decide where a piece of state belongs, or answer a 'who owns this file' question.
Review the instructions the agent will receive before you install.
Load this skill when: the coordinator (or any agent) needs to resolve a "where does this state belong?" or "who is allowed to write this file?" question — e.g., when about to write
.squad/decisions.md, when reviewing whether an agent broke the append-only rule, when answering a user question about Squad's file layout, or when adjudicating a conflict between two files. The short summary insquad.agent.mdis for routing; this skill is the full reference.
Files below marked as "Derived / append-only" are mutable state — agents access them with runtime state tools (squad_state_read, squad_state_write, squad_state_append, squad_state_delete, squad_state_list). The runtime decides whether the configured backend stores them on disk, git-native state, or an external provider. Files marked as "Authoritative" are static config and always live on disk regardless of backend.
| File | Status | Who May Write | Who May Read |
|---|---|---|---|
.github/agents/squad.agent.md | Authoritative governance. All roles, handoffs, gates, and enforcement rules. | Repo maintainer (human) | Squad (Coordinator) |
.squad/decisions.md | Authoritative decision ledger. Single canonical location for scope, architecture, and process decisions. | Squad (Coordinator) — append only | All agents |
.squad/team.md | Authoritative roster. Current team composition. | Squad (Coordinator) | All agents |
.squad/routing.md | Authoritative routing. Work assignment rules. | Squad (Coordinator) | Squad (Coordinator) |
.squad/ceremonies.md | Authoritative ceremony config. Definitions, triggers, and participants for team ceremonies. | Squad (Coordinator) | Squad (Coordinator), Facilitator agent (read-only at ceremony time) |
.squad/casting/policy.json | Authoritative casting config. Universe allowlist and capacity. | Squad (Coordinator) | Squad (Coordinator) |
.squad/casting/registry.json | Authoritative name registry. Persistent agent-to-name mappings. | Squad (Coordinator) | Squad (Coordinator) |
.squad/casting/history.json | Derived / append-only. Universe usage history and assignment snapshots. | Squad (Coordinator) — append only | Squad (Coordinator) |
.squad/agents/{name}/charter.md | Authoritative agent identity. Per-agent role and boundaries. | Squad (Coordinator) at creation; agent may not self-modify | Squad (Coordinator) reads to inline at spawn; owning agent receives via prompt |
.squad/agents/{name}/history.md | Derived / append-only. Personal learnings. Never authoritative for enforcement. | Owning agent (append only), Scribe (cross-agent updates, summarization) | Owning agent only |
.squad/agents/{name}/history-archive.md | Derived / append-only. Archived history entries. Preserved for reference. | Scribe | Owning agent (read-only) |
.squad/orchestration-log/ | Derived / append-only. Agent routing evidence. Never edited after write. | Scribe | All agents (read-only) |
.squad/log/ | Derived / append-only. Session logs. Diagnostic archive. Never edited after write. | Scribe | All agents (read-only) |
.squad/templates/ | Reference. Format guides for runtime files. Not authoritative for enforcement. | Squad (Coordinator) at init | Squad (Coordinator) |
.squad/rai/policy.md | Authoritative RAI policy. Check categories, terminology standards, and opt-out rules. | Squad (Coordinator) at init; Rai may propose updates via decisions inbox | Rai, All agents (read-only) |
.squad/rai/audit-trail.md | Derived / append-only. RAI review evidence log. Redacted — never contains raw secrets or harmful content. | Rai (append only) | Rai, Squad (Coordinator) |
.squad/fact-checker/policy.md | Authoritative verification + Devil's Advocate policy. Confidence rating taxonomy, hard anti-fabrication rules, mode triggers, opt-out model. | Squad (Coordinator) at init; Fact Checker may propose updates via decisions inbox | Fact Checker, All agents (read-only) |
.squad/fact-checker/audit-trail.md | Derived / append-only. Verification verdicts + DA brief evidence log. Succinct — verdict + citation, never raw source material. | Fact Checker (append only) | Fact Checker, Squad (Coordinator) |
.squad/plugins/marketplaces.json | Authoritative plugin config. Registered marketplace sources. | Squad CLI (squad plugin marketplace) | Squad (Coordinator) |
squad.agent.md and any other file conflict, squad.agent.md wins. It is the only file with hard governance authority..squad/decisions.md.No reviews yet. Tell others what you thought.
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Coordinate work across AI agents with shared rules for locating team files, recording decisions and their reasons, and requesting help. It also defines who owns revisions after a reviewer rejects an artifact.
Set shared development rules for an agent team: keep specific agent names out of product code, tests, and CI configuration, verify affected tests before finishing, and record lessons learned from mistakes.
Routes requests to design, create, update, debug, or upgrade GitHub Agentic Workflows to the appropriate instructions. It helps the agent select a workflow-specific procedure and apply any additional rules defined for the repository.
Prepare architecture proposals before implementation so the team can agree on a direction. Organize evidence, technical choices, effects on existing work, risks, and the first release’s scope into a document with clear recommendations and decision owners.
Update the gh-aw-firewall version used by gh-aw, rebuild generated files, and review release notes and configuration schemas, which define valid settings. It guides related code and test updates while identifying follow-up work that remains.
Review git and gh operations in gh-aw workflows to check credential availability for each repository. Identify missing token handoffs, risky expansions of limited checkouts, and error handling needed where credentials are intentionally unavailable.