Insider Program

Get early access to Squad development builds and shape the future of the project.

What Is the Insider Program?

The Insider Program gives you continuous access to development builds of Squad. Insiders run code published from the dev branch — the bleeding edge where new features land first. It’s a lightweight, honor-system program designed for developers who want to:

Try new features early — Before they ship in a release
Help catch bugs — Report issues before they reach stable versions
Shape the roadmap — Your feedback directly influences what we build next
Move fast — No waiting for monthly releases; updates flow as commits land

How It Works

Insider builds are published from the dev branch to the npm insider dist-tag via a manual workflow dispatch. There is no separate insider branch — dev is the single source of truth for all development.

dev (development)  → npm @insider tag (on demand)
  ↓
preview (staging)  → release candidate validation
  ↓
main (stable)      → npm @latest tag

How to Install and Upgrade

Install Insider Build

npm install -g @bradygaster/squad-cli@insider

Upgrade Existing Repo to Insider

npm install -g @bradygaster/squad-cli@insider
squad upgrade

This updates Squad-owned files (squad.agent.md, workflows, templates) to the latest insider build. Your .squad/ team state (agents, decisions, casting, history) is always preserved.

Self-Upgrade to Insider

squad upgrade --self --insider

What to Expect

You’ll Get

Continuous updates — Insider publishes from dev whenever maintainers trigger it
New features — Preview functionality before stable releases
Direct access — Install latest with a single command
Community input — Your feedback shapes prioritization

You Might Hit

Rough edges — Features may not be fully polished
Occasional bugs — Development builds are less tested than releases
Breaking changes — API surface may shift between insider versions
Missing documentation — New features may not have guides yet

This is expected. The insider program trades stability for speed.

Reporting Issues

Found a bug? We want to hear about it.

Open a GitHub issue with:

Version — Full version from squad --version
What happened — Clear description of the bug
Steps to reproduce — Exact steps to trigger it
Environment — CLI or VS Code, Node version, OS

Label it with [INSIDER] so we can track insider-specific issues.

Opting Out

Want to go back to stable releases?

npm install -g @bradygaster/squad-cli@latest

This installs the latest stable version. Your .squad/ state is safe — it’ll work with any version.

FAQ

Q: Will insider builds break my project?

A: Unlikely, but possible. Insider builds from dev are tested via CI, but less stable than releases. Make sure you can roll back if needed.

Q: Can I switch between insider and stable builds?

A: Yes. Insider builds are backward compatible with stable installs. Your .squad/ directory works with any version.

Q: How often do insider builds update?

A: Whenever maintainers trigger the insider publish workflow from dev. Run npm install -g @bradygaster/squad-cli@insider again to fetch the latest.

Q: Will my team state be preserved?

A: Yes. .squad/ is never overwritten on upgrade. All your agents, decisions, and histories are safe.

Q: What if an insider build has a bad bug?

A: Roll back immediately:

npm install -g @bradygaster/squad-cli@latest   # Back to stable
squad upgrade                                   # Apply stable version

Then report the issue.

Thank You

Insiders help us ship better software. Your bug reports, feature requests, and feedback make Squad stronger. Thank you for being part of the journey.

Have questions? Start a discussion.