Context

Use this skill when a user wants to enlist a repository into Squad through GitHub Agentic Workflows (gh aw) — e.g. "set up Squad agentic workflows", "enlist this repo in Squad", or "install Squad gh-aw workflows". The end state is the /squad slash command being live on the repo, delivered as a human-reviewed bootstrap pull request — never an auto-merge.

This skill operationalizes the supported bootstrap path. It does not summarize it: each step below is a gate with explicit success evidence and STOP conditions. The authoritative source is docs/src/content/docs/guide/gh-aw.md (mirrored at https://bradygaster.github.io/squad/docs/guide/gh-aw/). If that guide and this skill ever disagree, the guide wins — re-read it before proceeding.

Portability contract: resolve every repository identifier (owner, repo, default branch) at runtime. Never hardcode a placeholder like {owner}/{repo}. The only fixed identifier is the Squad source itself — bradygaster/squad/workflows/...@dev — because that is where the workflows are published.

Idempotency contract: the bootstrap is re-runnable. Never clobber existing workflows, prefer detecting prior state over duplicating it, and stop clearly on any unsafe or ambiguous condition rather than guessing.

Patterns

Run these steps in order. Treat every "STOP" as a hard halt: report the exact condition and wait for a human decision — do not work around it.

0. Preflight — verify before you touch anything

# gh is authenticated
gh auth status

# Capture repository identity and default branch AT RUNTIME
owner_repo="$(gh repo view --json nameWithOwner --jq '.nameWithOwner')"
default_branch="$(gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq '.defaultBranchRef.name')"
echo "Repo: ${owner_repo}  Default branch: ${default_branch}"

# The gh-aw extension must be installed (install once if missing)
gh extension list | grep -q 'github/gh-aw' || gh extension install github/gh-aw

# Git state must be understood and clean enough to isolate the install
git status --short

Portability — extension check: the grep -q above is bash/Git Bash. On Windows PowerShell use: if (-not (gh extension list | Select-String -Quiet 'github/gh-aw')) { gh extension install github/gh-aw }

• STOP if gh auth status is not logged in, or is logged in as the wrong identity for this repo (see the gh-auth-isolation skill to operate as a specific account without switching the global default).
• STOP if owner_repo or default_branch cannot be resolved.
• STOP if the working tree has unrelated uncommitted changes you cannot account for — the bootstrap must land as an isolated, reviewable change.
• Confirm Copilot is enabled for the repository where checkable; the activation run and the requested @copilot review both depend on it.

1. Allow Actions-created PRs while keeping the default token read-only

Squad opens PRs through GitHub Actions. Enable that without widening the default workflow token:

gh api --method PUT "repos/${owner_repo}/actions/permissions/workflow" \
  -f default_workflow_permissions=read \
  -F can_approve_pull_request_reviews=true

Without this, Squad still pushes the generated branch but falls back to an issue with a manual PR link — and a self-authored PR cannot be self-approved. Keep default_workflow_permissions=read; do not set it to write.

2. Isolate the install on a bootstrap branch (preserve existing workflows)

git switch -c chore/squad-gh-aw-bootstrap

• If the branch already exists (a re-run), switch to it instead of recreating it.
• Never overwrite an existing .github/workflows/*.md or *.lock.yml that is not part of the Squad set. gh aw add is additive; if you see it about to replace an unrelated workflow, STOP.

3. Install the six supported workflows — in order, dispatcher first

gh aw add \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-implement-worker.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-review.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-deps-worker.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-retro.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-improvement-worker.md@dev

Keep squad.md first: gh aw add discovers its worker/reviewer dependencies while compiling it, and the explicit entries confirm the full surface without creating duplicates. The installed top-level set is exactly:

• squad.md + squad.lock.yml
• squad-implement-worker.md + squad-implement-worker.lock.yml
• squad-review.md + squad-review.lock.yml
• squad-deps-worker.md + squad-deps-worker.lock.yml
• squad-retro.md + squad-retro.lock.yml
• squad-improvement-worker.md + squad-improvement-worker.lock.yml

squad-improvement-worker is part of the standard, coherent install above — not a separate opt-in add-on. It stays dormant until a maintainer approves a governance-scoped retrospective proposal (see the gh-aw guide's retrospective auto-implementation section); installing it alongside the other five keeps the full stack consistent and avoids a second bootstrap pass later.

Report/proposal-only is the default. Ordinary fixes require the explicit "squadRetroAutoImplement": "allow" setting in .squad/config.json; five action issues and three dispatches per wakeup remain separate caps. An improvement requires /squad approve-improvement, Approved-Revision: and exact Approved-Path: lines from a human with write/maintain/admin access. The dispatcher sends nested issue and approval-comment IDs to the worker; manual retries use those same IDs. /squad revoke-improvement is reserved without dispatch and is rechecked before outputs. Draft PRs and human merge remain mandatory; closed-unmerged PRs never cause automatic replacements. See the guide for content-hash calculation and the one-retry recovery policy.

@dev is intentional — it tracks the branch where new modes and fixes land first.

4. Review the first-install safe-update report — approve ONLY the documented entries

On a clean repo, gh aw add reports these expected safe updates and nothing else:

• Restricted secrets: SQUAD_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY and SQUAD_GITHUB_TOKEN
• Action: bradygaster/squad/.github/actions/squad-init

These are referenced names, not prerequisites. gh aw add lists the secrets the workflows reference so you can approve that surface — it is not asking you to supply them. Both secrets are optional, they need not exist, and neither is required to enlist a repository. Single-repo activation runs on the built-in github.token. Configure them only for cross-repo access or elevated permissions. Auth precedence: GitHub App token, then the PAT, then github.token. Never block an enlistment waiting for a credential.

If — and only if — the report contains exactly those documented entries, complete the one-time approval:

gh aw compile --strict --approve   # first install only, when the safe-update warning appears

• STOP if the report lists any other secret or any other action. Do not approve. Report the unexpected entry verbatim and wait for a human.
• This --approve step is only the first-install unblock. It is not a substitute for the final strict compile in the next step.

5. Always run the final strict compile WITHOUT --approve

gh aw compile --strict

This must run after any first-install approval and before committing. Success criteria:

• All six workflows compile successfully.
• The only permitted warning is the known squad.md bot-trigger warning: it configures both slash-command and github-actions[bot] triggers, and the bot trigger is required for controlled worker-continuation dispatches.
• STOP on any error, or on any additional warning beyond that single documented one.

6. Require all six source/lock pairs to exist

for workflow in squad squad-implement-worker squad-review squad-deps-worker squad-retro squad-improvement-worker; do
  test -f ".github/workflows/${workflow}.md"      || { echo "MISSING ${workflow}.md"; exit 1; }
  test -f ".github/workflows/${workflow}.lock.yml" || { echo "MISSING ${workflow}.lock.yml"; exit 1; }
done

• STOP and rerun gh aw compile --strict if any .lock.yml is missing. Do not open or merge the bootstrap PR until all twelve files exist and strict compilation passes.

On Windows PowerShell, the for/test -f loop above is POSIX. Use an equivalent guard (e.g. Test-Path) or run it under Git Bash; the logic — all twelve files must exist — is what matters.

7. Inspect generated files, then stage only the documented surfaces

Downloaded workflow audit data is local diagnostic output — do not commit it. If .github/aw/logs/ lacks a .gitignore, add one there:

# Ignore all downloaded workflow logs
*

# But keep this file
!.gitignore

gh aw add may also create .vscode/settings.json (enables Copilot for Markdown workflow files). This is an optional editor setting — the stage command below intentionally leaves it untracked. Delete it if unwanted, or stage it explicitly if your team wants to share it. Decide deliberately; do not stage it by accident.

Stage only the documented generated surfaces, then verify the staged set:

git add -- .gitattributes .github/aw/ .github/workflows/ .github/skills/
git diff --cached --stat
# No deletions should be staged:
test -z "$(git diff --cached --diff-filter=D --name-only)" || { echo "STOP: staged deletions"; exit 1; }

• STOP if the staged diff shows unexpected deletions, unexpected secrets, edits to unrelated files, or committed log/diagnostic output. Re-scope with explicit git add -- <path> — never git add ., git add -A, or git commit -a.

8. Commit, push, and open the bootstrap PR to the captured default branch

git commit -m "ci: add Squad agentic workflow"
git push -u origin HEAD
gh pr create \
  --base "${default_branch}" \
  --title "ci: add Squad agentic workflow" \
  --body "Installs and strictly compiles the supported Squad GH-AW workflows."
gh pr edit --add-reviewer @copilot
gh pr checks --watch

• Open the PR against the runtime-captured ${default_branch}, not a hardcoded main.
• Request Copilot review, address feedback, and wait for required checks.

9. Never auto-merge — and explain what comes next

• Never merge the bootstrap PR yourself. Merge happens only after human approval.
• Make the two-PR flow explicit to the user: /squad cast runs only after the bootstrap PR merges. Casting analyzes the codebase and opens a separate, human-reviewed Cast PR containing the team, routing, charters, the Copilot agent, and meet-the-squad.md. If a work command (/squad implement, /squad review) is run before a team exists, it auto-opens that Cast PR first — merge it and rerun the original command; do not start a second cast.

Examples

✓ Correct: runtime-resolved identity, allowlist honored, human-reviewed

owner_repo="$(gh repo view --json nameWithOwner --jq '.nameWithOwner')"
default_branch="$(gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq '.defaultBranchRef.name')"

gh api --method PUT "repos/${owner_repo}/actions/permissions/workflow" \
  -f default_workflow_permissions=read -F can_approve_pull_request_reviews=true

git switch -c chore/squad-gh-aw-bootstrap
gh aw add \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-implement-worker.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-review.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-deps-worker.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-retro.md@dev \
  bradygaster/squad/workflows/squad-improvement-worker.md@dev

# Safe-update report shows ONLY the two documented secrets + squad-init → approve once
gh aw compile --strict --approve
gh aw compile --strict           # final, no --approve; only the bot-trigger warning remains

git add -- .gitattributes .github/aw/ .github/workflows/ .github/skills/
git commit -m "ci: add Squad agentic workflow"
git push -u origin HEAD
gh pr create --base "${default_branch}" \
  --title "ci: add Squad agentic workflow" \
  --body "Installs and strictly compiles the supported Squad GH-AW workflows."
gh pr edit --add-reviewer @copilot   # then wait for review + checks; DO NOT merge

✓ Correct: STOP on an undocumented safe-update entry

gh aw add reports a third secret: `ACME_DEPLOY_KEY`.
→ This is NOT in the allowlist (SQUAD_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY, SQUAD_GITHUB_TOKEN)
  and is NOT the squad-init action. Do NOT run `--approve`.
  Halt, report "unexpected safe-update entry: ACME_DEPLOY_KEY", and wait.

✗ Incorrect: hardcoded target and blanket staging

# BAD: hardcoded owner/repo and default branch
gh api --method PUT "repos/acme/widgets/actions/permissions/workflow" ...
gh pr create --base main ...        # wrong if the default branch isn't `main`

# BAD: stages logs, .vscode settings, and anything else that changed
git add -A
git commit -m "add squad"

✗ Incorrect: skipping the final strict compile or auto-merging

gh aw compile --strict --approve    # approved first install...
# ...then committed WITHOUT the final `gh aw compile --strict` (no --approve). WRONG.
gh pr merge --squash                # auto-merge before human review. NEVER.

Anti-Patterns

• ❌ Hardcoding repository identifiers. Always resolve owner/repo and the default branch at runtime with gh repo view.
• ❌ Blanket staging (git add . / -A / git commit -a). Stage only .gitattributes, .github/aw/, .github/workflows/, .github/skills/, by path.
• ❌ Approving unknown safe updates. Approve ONLY SQUAD_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY, SQUAD_GITHUB_TOKEN, and bradygaster/squad/.github/actions/squad-init. Anything else is a STOP.
• ❌ Treating --approve as the final compile. Always finish with a plain gh aw compile --strict (no --approve).
• ❌ Tolerating extra warnings. Only the squad.md bot-trigger warning is allowed; every other warning or error halts the run.
• ❌ Committing diagnostics. Never commit .github/aw/logs/ output; add the log .gitignore if missing.
• ❌ Clobbering existing workflows. The install is additive; preserve unrelated .github/workflows/ files.
• ❌ Widening the default token. Keep default_workflow_permissions=read.
• ❌ Auto-merging. The bootstrap PR and the later Cast PR are both human-reviewed. /squad cast runs only after the bootstrap PR merges.
• ❌ Opening the PR before all twelve files exist and strict compile passes.