Squad Pings You

Try this to get notified on completion:

Notify me when the build finishes

Try this to stay in the loop:

Ping me on Teams when you need my input

Your squad sends you instant messages when they need input, hit an error, or complete work. Works with Teams, Discord, Slack, webhooks — whatever you configure.

How It Works

Your squad can send you instant messages when they need your input. Leave your terminal, get pinged on your phone.

How It Works

Squad ships zero notification infrastructure. Instead, it uses skills — reusable knowledge files — to teach agents when and how to ping you. You bring your own notification delivery by configuring an MCP notification server in your Copilot environment.

The flow:

Skill (human-notification) tells agents when to ping — blocked waiting for input, decision needed, error hit, work complete
Agent calls the skill, which invokes your configured MCP server
Your MCP server (Teams, iMessage, Discord, webhook, etc.) sends the actual message to your device

This means Squad works with any notification service. Pick your favorite messaging platform, configure it once, and your squad has a direct line to you.

Quick Start: Teams (Simplest Path)

Option A: Teams Incoming Webhook (No Auth Setup)

Teams webhooks are the fastest setup — just a URL.

In Teams, create a channel for your squad:
- Create a new Team called “My Squads” (or reuse an existing one)
- Add a channel, e.g., #squad-myproject
Set up the webhook:
- Right-click the channel → “Manage channel” → “Connectors”
- Search “Incoming Webhook” → “Configure”
- Give it a name (e.g., “Squad Notifications”)
- Copy the webhook URL

Configure Squad:

Create or edit .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notifications": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/teams-webhook-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "TEAMS_WEBHOOK_URL": "https://outlook.webhook.office.com/webhookb2/..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Use it:
- Start a Squad session with copilot squad
- When an agent needs input, your Teams channel lights up

Option B: Microsoft’s Official Teams MCP Server (Full Auth)

For integration with your Azure tenant and full Teams API access:

Register an Azure AD app:
- Go to https://portal.azure.com → “Azure Active Directory” → “App registrations”
- New registration: name it “Squad Notifications”
- Copy the Application (client) ID
Set up credentials:
- “Certificates & secrets” → “New client secret”
- Copy the secret value
Grant permissions:
- “API permissions” → “Add a permission” → “Microsoft Graph”
- Add Chat.Send, ChannelMessage.Send
- Grant admin consent

Configure Squad:

Install Microsoft’s Teams MCP server: https://github.com/microsoft/IF-MCP-Server-for-Microsoft-Teams
Configure in .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "teams": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/teams-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "AZURE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-secret",
        "AZURE_TENANT_ID": "your-tenant-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Quick Start: iMessage (Mac Only)

iMessage is built into macOS. If you’re on a Mac, this is the fastest personal setup.

Check requirements:
- macOS with Messages.app
- Copilot running on the same Mac
- System allows Copilot to control Messages (grant permission when prompted)
Install the iMessage MCP server:
- Get it from https://mcpmarket.com/server/imessage
- Follow its setup steps

Configure Squad:

Edit .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/imessage-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "IMESSAGE_TARGET": "your-phone-number-or-email"
      }
    }
  }
}

Test:
- Start a Squad session
- When agents need input, it appears in Messages on your phone

Limitation: iMessage only works on Mac. If you use Windows, Linux, or CI environments, use Teams or webhook instead.

Quick Start: Discord

Discord is flexible and works everywhere (web, mobile, desktop).

Option A: Using mcp-notifications (Simplest)

https://github.com/zudsniper/mcp-notifications supports Discord, Slack, Teams, and custom webhooks.

Get your Discord webhook:
- In Discord, right-click a channel → “Edit channel” → “Integrations” → “Webhooks”
- “New Webhook” → name it “Squad”
- Copy the webhook URL

Configure Squad:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notifications": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/mcp-notifications.js"],
      "env": {
        "DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL": "https://discord.com/api/webhooks/..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Option B: Using Discord Official MCP

For more advanced Discord integrations, search Discord’s MCP marketplace.

Quick Start: Custom Webhook

For any HTTP endpoint (custom service, Zapier, IFTTT, etc.):

Get your webhook URL from your service

Use mcp-notifications or build a thin wrapper:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notifications": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/webhook-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "WEBHOOK_URL": "https://your-service.com/notify"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your endpoint receives POST:

{
  "agent": "Keaton",
  "message": "Blocked: waiting for your decision on architecture approach",
  "context": {
    "reason": "decision_needed",
    "issue": "123",
    "link": "https://github.com/..."
  }
}

What Triggers a Notification

Agents ping you when:

Trigger	Example
Blocked on input	“Keaton needs your decision on which API approach to use (Issue #42)”
Decision needed	“Verbal hit a design choice and needs your call on error handling strategy”
Error hit	“McManus got an authentication error and needs credentials for the staging API”
Work complete	“Fenster finished the test suite — 142 tests passing, 3 flaky (check the logs)”
Review feedback	“Your PR review on #78 needs a response before Keaton can merge”

You control which triggers send notifications (see Configuration below).

Notification Format

Notifications are agent-branded, context-rich, and actionable.

Example notification message:

🏗️ Keaton needs your input

Blocked: Design decision required for API error handling strategy.
Follow the conversation in Issue #42.

→ Review issue: github.com/myorg/myrepo/issues/42

Another example:

✅ Fenster finished the test suite

142 tests passing. 3 marked as flaky — review them in the terminal output.

Session still running. Come back to the terminal to decide next steps.

Anatomy:

Agent emoji + name — who pinged you (matches your squad’s cast)
Context — why (decision, blocked, complete, etc.)
What to do — specific action (check issue, review logs, come back to terminal)
Link — clickable GitHub issue, PR, or breadcrumb to your session

Configuration

Choosing What Triggers Notifications

By default, agents ping on all triggers. To be selective, set environment variables:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notifications": {
      "env": {
        "NOTIFY_BLOCKED": "true",
        "NOTIFY_DECISION": "true",
        "NOTIFY_ERROR": "false",
        "NOTIFY_COMPLETE": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

This is useful if you only care about being pinged when blocked (not for every decision or completion).

Quiet Hours (Optional)

If your MCP server supports it, configure quiet hours to suppress notifications during off-hours:

{
  "env": {
    "QUIET_HOURS_START": "18:00",
    "QUIET_HOURS_END": "09:00",
    "QUIET_HOURS_TZ": "America/New_York"
  }
}

During quiet hours, notifications queue locally and are batched into a morning digest instead of waking you up.

Testing Your Setup

To test without running a full Squad session:

# Once your MCP server is configured, trigger a test notification:
copilot squad test-notification --agent Keaton --reason blocked

This fires a sample notification through your configured server so you can verify delivery and formatting.

Troubleshooting

Notifications aren’t arriving

Verify the MCP server is running:
- Check your .vscode/mcp.json syntax
- Restart Copilot
Check the webhook URL:
- Paste the URL in your browser (or curl). If it 404s, the webhook is invalid or expired.
- For Teams/Discord webhooks, regenerate them if they’re old
Verify environment variables:
- Ensure all secrets (API keys, webhook URLs) are set in your shell before starting Copilot
- Copilot reads .vscode/mcp.json at startup — changes require a restart
Check agent logs:
- In your Squad session, ask agents to log the notification call: check the human-notification skill logs
- This surfaces any errors from the MCP server

Notifications are too frequent

Use the NOTIFY_* environment variables (see Configuration above) to disable notifications for non-critical triggers like NOTIFY_COMPLETE or NOTIFY_DECISION.

Wrong channel or user receiving notifications

Teams webhook: Ensure the webhook points to the correct channel
iMessage: Verify the IMESSAGE_TARGET phone number or email matches your device
Discord: Double-check the webhook URL points to your intended channel

“MCP server failed to start”

Ensure the MCP server command in .vscode/mcp.json points to a valid executable
Check that all env variables are set and accessible
Review the Copilot startup logs for the actual error

Architecture Notes

The human-notification skill lives in .ai-team/skills/squad-human-notification/SKILL.md. Agents read it before working and decide whether to ping you. You can edit the skill directly if you want to:

Add custom notification logic for your team
Change when agents decide to ping (e.g., always notify on errors)
Add metadata to notifications (e.g., priority levels)

For advanced use cases, you can also:

Create a custom MCP server that combines multiple notification channels (Teams + Slack)
Route notifications based on agent and trigger type (errors to you, completions to your manager)
Add intelligent rate limiting (don’t ping for 30 minutes if already pinged once)

Sample MCP Configs

Below are complete, copy-pasteable .copilot/mcp-config.json examples for each notification platform. Pick the one that matches your setup and copy the entire mcpServers block into your config file.

Teams Webhook (Simplest)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notifications": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/teams-webhook-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "TEAMS_WEBHOOK_URL": "https://outlook.webhook.office.com/webhookb2/YOUR_WEBHOOK_URL_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Setup: Get your webhook URL from Teams channel settings (right-click channel → Manage → Connectors → Incoming Webhook).

iMessage (Mac Only)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notifications": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/imessage-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "IMESSAGE_TARGET": "+1234567890"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace +1234567890 with your phone number or email address registered in iCloud.

Discord Webhook

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notifications": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/discord-webhook-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL": "https://discord.com/api/webhooks/YOUR_WEBHOOK_ID/YOUR_WEBHOOK_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Setup: In Discord, right-click channel → Edit Channel → Integrations → Webhooks → New Webhook → copy the URL.

Generic Webhook (Zapier, Custom Endpoint, etc.)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notifications": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/webhook-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "WEBHOOK_URL": "https://your-service.com/notify",
        "WEBHOOK_AUTH_HEADER": "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
        "WEBHOOK_CONTENT_TYPE": "application/json"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your endpoint receives POST requests with agent name, message, and context.

Sample Prompts

configure Teams webhook for notifications

Guides you through setting up Microsoft Teams as the notification channel.

test my notification setup

Sends a sample notification to verify your MCP server configuration is working.

disable completion notifications

Configures the notification system to only ping on blocks and errors, not completions.

what's my current notification status?

Shows which notification triggers are enabled and what channel is configured.

set quiet hours from 6pm to 9am

Configures the notification system to queue messages during off-hours instead of sending immediately.

Squad Pings You

How It Works

How It Works

Quick Start: Teams (Simplest Path)

Option A: Teams Incoming Webhook (No Auth Setup)

Option B: Microsoft’s Official Teams MCP Server (Full Auth)

Quick Start: iMessage (Mac Only)

Quick Start: Discord

Option A: Using mcp-notifications (Simplest)

Option B: Using Discord Official MCP

Quick Start: Custom Webhook

What Triggers a Notification

Notification Format

Configuration

Choosing What Triggers Notifications

Quiet Hours (Optional)

Testing Your Setup

Troubleshooting

Notifications aren’t arriving

Notifications are too frequent

Wrong channel or user receiving notifications

“MCP server failed to start”

Architecture Notes

Sample MCP Configs

Teams Webhook (Simplest)

iMessage (Mac Only)

Discord Webhook

Generic Webhook (Zapier, Custom Endpoint, etc.)

See Also

Sample Prompts