SquadSquad

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 through a manual workflow dispatch. Each run creates an immutable GitHub prerelease, publishes npm insider, updates the squad-insider Homebrew cask, and opens or updates the bradygaster.Squad.Insider WinGet package. There is no separate insider branch — dev is the single source of truth for all development.

dev (development)       → insider prerelease + npm/Homebrew/WinGet (on demand)
dev (release candidate) → preview prerelease + npm/Homebrew/WinGet (on demand)
main (stable)           → stable release + npm/Homebrew/WinGet (automatic)

preview is a release channel, not a branch. Stable promotion sanitizes and merges dev directly into main.

How to Install and Upgrade

Install Insider Build

Choose one method:

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

brew tap bradygaster/squad
brew install --cask squad-insider
winget install --id bradygaster.Squad.Insider --exact

Upgrade Existing Repo to Insider

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

For Homebrew or WinGet, upgrade the squad-insider cask or bradygaster.Squad.Insider package, then run 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:

  1. Version — Full version from squad --version
  2. What happened — Clear description of the bug
  3. Steps to reproduce — Exact steps to trigger it
  4. 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

Homebrew users switch from squad-insider to squad; WinGet users switch from bradygaster.Squad.Insider to bradygaster.Squad. Uninstall the insider package first because each channel provides the same squad command.

Your .squad/ state is safe — it works 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. Upgrade through npm, Homebrew, or WinGet to fetch the latest snapshot.

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

Homebrew and WinGet users should uninstall the insider package, install the stable package, and then run squad upgrade.

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.

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