# Your first squad: create, run and accept a multi-agent team

> A squad in Tallos is a leader agent that splits your objective across member agents, supervises them and brings you the result to approve. To run your first one, open Squads, describe the objective, pick a template such as Build + review, set the leader and members, and click Start squad. The leader only interrupts you for questions, and nothing is merged until you click Accept.

- Canonical: https://runtallos.com/learn/your-first-squad
- Português: https://runtallos.com/pt/aprenda/seu-primeiro-squad.md
- Updated: 2026-09-29
- Section: Learn

## Key facts

- 4 templates: Build + review, 3 attempts, Leader divides, Custom
- Defaults: 5 rounds, 4 members at once (max 20 and 12)
- Any agent, model and effort per member
- Final review: Accept or Discard, results by worktree

## What is a squad in Tallos?

A **squad** is a team of AI coding agents with one **leader** and one or more **members**. The leader plans the work, hands out tasks, checks the results and reports back to you. It does not implement the work itself. Members do the work, each in its own worktree, with the agent, model and effort you choose. It is [multi-agent development](https://runtallos.com/multi-agent-development) with a supervisor you do not have to be.

The leader runs in rounds (plan, dispatch, check) until the objective is met or the round limit is reached. It asks you questions through Tallos when it needs a decision and stops at the end with a final report. You review the changes and click **Accept** or **Discard**. See the [squads feature page](https://runtallos.com/features/squads) for the full picture.

## What do I need before creating my first squad?

- **Tallos with at least one connected agent.** Squads can use one agent for every role; two different agents make reviews more useful. See [connect your agents](https://runtallos.com/learn/connect-your-agents).
- **A project added to Tallos**, with a clean base branch.
- **One finished solo task.** If you have not run the basic loop yet, do the [first-task guide](https://runtallos.com/learn/first-task) first; squads build on it.
- **A small, well-defined objective.** A feature with a clear done state, a bug with a reproduction, or a test-coverage gap.

## How do I create and run my first squad, step by step?

1. **Open Squads** — Click **Squads** in the sidebar. The page has three parts: **New squad**, **Running & history** and **Saved squads**.
2. **Write the objective and choose the project** — Under **What should the squad do?**, describe the result in plain words, for example “Add a dark mode toggle to the settings page”. Pick the **Project**. Optionally name the squad and paste a **Task link** from GitHub, GitLab, Linear or Jira so the leader gets the ticket's context.
3. **Pick how the squad should work** — Choose a template under **How should the squad work?** For a first run, **Build + review** is the easiest to follow: one member builds, another reviews, and they go back and forth until the reviewer approves. Templates only prefill the form; you can edit everything.
4. **Set the leader** — Pick the leader's agent, model and effort. **Agent's default model** uses whatever that agent is configured with. Add **Leader instructions** if you want to steer how it runs the squad.
5. **Set the members** — For each member, describe its job (“writes the tests”), then choose agent, model, effort and **How many** copies. Mixing agents works well: for example Claude Code builds and Codex reviews. Use **Add member** for more roles.
6. **Check the limits and the plan** — **Max rounds** defaults to 5 and **Max members at once** to 4 (up to 20 and 12). Read the plan summary under the form: it states who leads, how many members work at the same time and that everything happens in a new, separate workspace.
7. **Start the squad** — Click **Start squad**. Click **Save as squad** first if you want to reuse this team later. The run opens with the leader planning.
8. **Watch and answer the leader** — The run shows each member's status (Working, Needs you, Done, Failed, Stuck) and progress: rounds, tasks started, succeeded and failed, and an estimated cost when one is available. When **The leader needs your answer** appears, pick an option or write your own. **Stop squad** halts everyone; work already done stays in its worktrees.
9. **Review, then accept or discard** — When the status turns to **Ready for your review**, read the **Final report** and the **Results by worktree**. The leader may mark one result as **Recommended**. Click **View changes** to read each diff, then **Accept** or **Discard**.
10. **Ship the accepted work** — After accepting, click **Open to create PR** on the worktree you want to ship, review its diff once more and open the pull request, or merge it yourself.

> Run your first squad on a real ticket. Get Tallos. → https://runtallos.com/signup

## Which squad template should I start with?

Start with **Build + review** for most tasks, **3 attempts, pick the best** when you are unsure how to solve something, and **Leader divides the work** when the objective splits into independent parts. **Custom** starts from a blank roster.

| Template | How it works | Good first use |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Build + review | One agent builds, another reviews; they iterate until the reviewer approves | A small feature or bug fix. See [build and review](https://runtallos.com/squads/build-and-review) |
| 3 attempts, pick the best | Three agents try the same objective in separate worktrees; the leader compares and recommends one | A tricky fix with several possible approaches. See [best of three](https://runtallos.com/squads/best-of-three) |
| Leader divides the work | The leader splits the objective into parts, gives each to a worker and combines the results | A feature with separate API, UI and test parts. See [ship a feature](https://runtallos.com/squads/ship-a-feature) |
| Custom | You define every member and its job | Your own workflow, once you know the others |

_The four squad templates in Tallos_

## What happens when I accept or discard a squad's result?

**Accept** marks the run as accepted; the changes stay in their worktrees and you open one to create a pull request or merge it. Nothing is merged automatically. **Discard** marks the run as discarded and keeps the worktrees, unless you tick the option to also delete the members' worktrees, which drops their uncommitted changes.

> **Nothing is merged until you decide** — Even when the reviewer member approves and the leader recommends a result, the squad stops at the final review. Read the diff with the [AI code review checklist](https://runtallos.com/learn/review-ai-generated-code) before you accept.

## How do I save, reuse and schedule a squad?

Click **Save as squad** in the form to keep the team. Saved squads show the leader, members and limits, and offer **Use** (fills the form), **Rename**, **Duplicate**, **Schedule** and **Delete**. Deleting a saved squad keeps its past runs.

**Schedule** runs the squad on a recurring basis, like an [automation](https://runtallos.com/features/automations): every hour, every day, weekdays, every week or a custom schedule, with a project and an objective for each run. Every finished run lands in **Running & history** with its status, rounds and member tally. A nightly maintenance run is a good fit; see [scheduled maintenance](https://runtallos.com/squads/scheduled-maintenance).

## Troubleshooting: why won't my squad start or finish?

- **“One of the chosen agents is not installed or is turned off.”** Install or sign in to that agent in Settings → Connections, or pick another one.
- **“Describe every member's job.”** Each member needs a job description; the leader never assigns work outside it.
- **Members wait instead of starting.** The leader hit **Max members at once** and waits for one to finish. Raise the limit (up to 12) if your machine and plan can take it.
- **The run stopped before finishing.** The round limit was reached. The leader reports what it has; raise **Max rounds** (up to 20) or narrow the objective.
- **The squad could not finish.** Open the leader terminal to see what happened. Work already done stays in its worktrees.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can the leader and members use different AI agents?

Yes. Every role has its own agent, model and effort, so Claude Code can lead while Codex and Gemini CLI work as members.

### How many agents can a squad run at the same time?

By default 4 members at once, and you can raise it to 12. The round limit defaults to 5 and goes up to 20.

### Does a squad merge code automatically?

No. The squad stops at a final review, and even after you click Accept you open a worktree to create the pull request or merge it yourself.

### How does the leader ask me questions?

The leader calls `tallos squad ask` from its terminal, and the question appears in the run panel. You pick an option or write your own answer.

### Can I link a squad to a GitHub issue or Jira ticket?

Yes. Paste a GitHub, GitLab, Linear or Jira link in Task link and the leader receives the ticket as its source task.

### Can I run a squad on a schedule?

Yes. Save the squad, then use Schedule to run it every hour, every day, on weekdays, every week or on a custom schedule.

### What does the estimated cost in a squad run mean?

When shown, it is an estimate computed from the run's recorded usage, not a bill. Your actual spend is billed by each agent's vendor under your own subscription or API key.

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**Run your agents in parallel with Tallos** — Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and 30+ agents — each in its own workspace, with squads, chat, terminals and review in one app. Uses the subscriptions you already have.

https://runtallos.com/signup (macOS 13+ · Windows 10+)