# squadron quickstart

Interactive setup wizard for new Squadron projects. Picks a provider, stores your API key in an encrypted vault, and (optionally) generates a starter mission that demonstrates Squadron's core features.

## Usage

```bash
squadron quickstart
```

The wizard runs in the current working directory. There are no flags.

## What it does

1. **Validates the directory** — refuses to run inside `~`, `/`, `/tmp`, etc., and asks for confirmation if you're somewhere risky.
2. **Asks which LLM provider you want** — Anthropic, OpenAI, or Gemini.
3. **Prompts for the API key** (input is hidden).
4. **Asks if you want a starter mission** — `hn_research`, which fetches the Hacker News front page, researches the top 3 stories in parallel, and produces an executive summary.
5. **Writes `squadron.hcl`** in the current directory.
6. **Initializes the encrypted vault** at `.squadron/vars.vault` and stores your API key.

If you abort the wizard before the last step, no `.squadron/` directory is created — your filesystem is left clean.

## After Setup

```bash
# Run the starter mission
squadron mission hn_research

# Or start the command center UI
squadron engage
```

## Auto-Triggered

`squadron engage` automatically launches the quickstart wizard when you run it in a directory that has no `.hcl` files and no `.squadron/` directory. So you usually don't need to call `quickstart` directly — just `engage` in a fresh directory and it'll guide you through setup.

## See Also

- [engage](/cli/engage) — Start Squadron with the command center UI
- [vars](/cli/vars) — Manage variables after setup
- [Variables](/config/variables) — How variables work in HCL