# Squadron

Squadron is an agents-as-config tool that lets you build, run, and version multi-agent AI workflows safely and reproducibly. This includes low-level components like individual agents, tools, and models, as well as high-level components like multi-step missions, conditional routing, and scheduled pipelines.

```hcl
mission "research" {
  commander { model = models.anthropic.claude_sonnet_4 }
  agents = [agents.researcher, agents.analyst]

  task "gather" {
    objective = "Find the top 5 papers on ${inputs.topic}"
    agents    = [agents.researcher]
  }

  task "analyze" {
    depends_on = [tasks.gather]
    objective  = "Read each paper and extract the key findings"
    agents     = [agents.analyst]

    router {
      route {
        target    = tasks.deep_dive
        condition = "Findings warrant deeper investigation"
      }
      route {
        target    = tasks.summarize
        condition = "Findings are routine"
      }
    }
  }

  task "deep_dive" {
    objective = "Investigate the most promising lead in detail"
  }

  task "summarize" {
    objective = "Write a one-page summary"
  }
}
```

```bash
squadron mission research -c ./config --topic "post-quantum cryptography"
```

That's the entire workflow. No Python. No glue code. No state machines. Just config.

## Why this matters

Every other agent framework asks you to write code: orchestration logic, retry loops, branching, state serialization. You end up with 500 lines of Python wrapping 50 lines of actual prompt — and six months later nobody can read it.

Squadron is declarative from top to bottom. Your entire workflow — agents, tools, how they collaborate, the data flowing between them, the conditions that fire branches, what happens when things crash — is **described up front in one file you can diff in a pull request.**

- **Readable.** A non-engineer can review a mission file. Workflow changes show up in code review like any other config change.
- **Composable.** Define agents and tools once, reuse them across missions. Mix Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, and Ollama in the same run.
- **Resilient.** State is persisted to SQLite as missions run. Crashes resume from where they failed.
- **Branchable.** Conditional routing, unconditional fan-out, parallel iteration over datasets — all first-class.
- **Typed data flow.** Tasks declare structured output schemas. Downstream tasks query that data with filters and aggregations instead of replaying conversation history.

## How it works

Two tiers of LLMs, doing different jobs:

- **Commanders** orchestrate. They break tasks into subtasks, delegate to agents, interpret results, and decide which branch to take next. They reason about *what* needs to happen.
- **Agents** execute. They pick up objectives and use their tools until the job is done. They reason about *how* to do it.
- **Missions** wire it together: a graph of tasks, structured outputs flowing between them, and conditional branches the commander chooses at runtime.

Use a fast model for routing, a capable one for the hard stuff. Each role can use a different provider in the same mission.

## What's in the box

- **[Model providers](/config/supported-models)** — Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Ollama for local models, all out of the box; mix and match per agent or even per task
- **[Web command center](/cli/engage)** — visualize your mission graph, watch it run live, browse past runs
- **[Schedules & webhooks](/missions/schedules)** — run missions on a cron, or trigger them from an incoming HTTP request
- **[Plugins](/config/plugins)** — the primary way to extend agents: fast, typed, native Go plugins for browser automation, shell, APIs, or anything you want to build
- **[MCP tools](/config/mcp_tools)** — also supported, for when you want to pull in something from the MCP ecosystem; drop in a two-line block and Squadron auto-installs the server
- **[MCP host](/config/mcp_host)** — plug Squadron itself into Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or Cursor so they can see your missions, kick off runs, and browse your config
- **Single binary** — one command to install, no runtime dependencies, Docker images on every release

## Get started

- [Install](/getting-started/installation) — one command, single binary
- [Quick start](/getting-started/quickstart) — first mission in 5 minutes
- [Missions](/missions/overview) — the full workflow model
- [Configuration](/config/overview) — every block, every field