> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.meetsquad.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Actions
> The concrete next steps Squad suggests off the back of an insight. What to do, in order.
An action is a concrete next step Squad suggests off the back of an insight. Most are plain
tasks ("message engineering for an estimate", "confirm the SSO scope"). Some carry a chat
prompt so you can start working them with Squad in one click. Turning an action into a
brief is optional.
## What an action carries
| Field | What it holds |
| - | - |
| **Title** | The one-line task. |
| **Description** | A short paragraph of what to do. |
| **Why it matters** | Squad's rationale for suggesting it (shown only when present). |
| **Priority** | **P0**, **P1**, or **P2**, highest first. |
| **Effort** | **Low**, **Medium**, or **High**. |
| **Category** | Operational, Product, Comms, Strategic, or Workspace. |
| **Owner** | The workspace member on the hook, shown as an avatar. |
| **Notes** | A free-text scratchpad you can edit on the detail page. |
| **Linked** | Every insight the action addresses (`IN-4`, `IN-9`, …) and any brief it produced (`BR-7`). The first linked insight remains the primary reference. |
Every action has an ID like `AC-12`. You'll see it on cards, in search, and at the top of the
detail page.
## Where actions appear
Actions show up in three places. Start, complete, or reprioritise one anywhere and every
surface updates on its own:
The **Prioritized Actions** widget lists your highest-priority open actions across the
workspace.
The full list, reached from **Actions** in the sidebar.
Under **Squad recommends**, the actions relevant to that insight. The same `AC-` action can
appear under several insights when it addresses the same need.
## The Actions page
Tabs split the list into **All**, **Suggested**, **In progress**, **Done**, and
**Dismissed**. Rows are sorted by priority (P0 → P1 → P2). Each row shows the `AC-` ID, title,
the primary source insight (`IN-`) plus a `+N` count for additional linked insights, a priority
chip, a status chip, and the owner's avatar. Use the
search box (**Search actions or AC-…**) to filter by title or ID.
You can act on a row without opening it:
* Change **Priority** or **Status** inline from the chips.
* Assign an **Owner** from the avatar cell.
* The arrow button on the right is **Start with Squad** (or **Continue with Squad** once the
action is in progress). It only appears while there's something to work.
* The **⋯** menu holds the rest: **Mark done**, **Snooze 3 days**, **Dismiss**,
**Generate PRD** / **Generate decision brief**, jump to the linked insight or brief, and
**Copy** the `AC-` ID.
Click anywhere else on a row to open the action's detail page.
## The action detail page
Opening `AC-12` gives you the **Description**, **Why it matters**, and a **Notes** editor you
can type into freely. A right-hand **Info** panel lets you change
**Status**, **Priority**, **Effort**, **Category**, and **Owner**, and shows what the action is
**Linked** to. Use the link picker to add more insights or attach a brief; removing one
insight leaves the action linked to the others.
With the [Linear integration](/integrations/linear) connected, the panel also carries a **Linear**
row. Click **Link**, paste an issue URL or an identifier like `ENG-123`, or search your issues and
pick one. The pill that appears shows the identifier, the state Linear last reported, and a click
through to the ticket, with its own remove button to unlink. One issue links to one Squad action or
brief, and the state shown is as of the last event Linear sent rather than a live read.
Two buttons sit below the panel:
* **Start with Squad** (or **Continue with Squad** if the action is already in progress).
* **Create brief**, which opens a menu to **Generate PRD** or **Generate decision brief**.
This is hidden once the action has already produced a brief.
The `⋯` menu in the top corner mirrors the row menu.
## Statuses and the lifecycle
An action moves through four states:
Freshly proposed by Squad, waiting on you.
You've started it (or set it yourself).
Completed. It drops off the dashboard and the open lists, and the dashboard's **Actions
completed** count ticks up.
Set aside as not worth doing.
The lifecycle is `Suggested → In progress → Done`, with **Dismissed** available at any point.
Generating a brief is a command on the action, not a status.
## Starting, finishing, and dismissing
* **Start with Squad** opens the chat, seeds it with the action's prompt (with the action
referenced), and sends it. The action moves to **In progress**. Every action can be started.
If it has no author-written prompt, Squad builds one from its title, description, and
rationale.
* **Mark done** completes the action.
* **Snooze 3 days** hides it for three days.
* **Dismiss** removes an action that isn't worth doing. On an insight, dismissed actions collapse
under a **Show dismissed** toggle so you can still see what was passed over.
## Owners and assignment
Every action can have one owner. Click the avatar (on a row) or the **Owner** field (on the
detail page) to open the member list, then pick someone, or choose **Unassign** to clear it.
Unassigned actions show a dashed placeholder avatar. The owner's face follows the action
everywhere it appears.
## Turning an action into a brief
When an action's real job is a written artefact (a spec, a recommendation), Squad can draft it.
Choose **Generate PRD** (product requirements) or **Generate decision brief** (a
build/defer/research recommendation) from the row menu, the detail page, or the **Squad
recommends** list.
Squad drafts from the action plus all of its linked insights, deduplicating their evidence and
using the 15 strongest signals across the set. It drafts in the background: the action shows a
**Building…** badge, then a green `BR-` badge linking to the finished draft. If drafting fails,
you'll see a **Failed** badge. Each action produces at most one brief. Once it has, the
generate options disappear and the menu offers **Open brief** instead. See
[Briefs](/briefs) for what happens next.
## Squad recommends (on insights)
On an insight's detail page, the **Squad recommends** panel lists the actions tied to that
insight, sorted by priority, each with its `AC-` ID and priority chip. If an insight has no
actions yet, you can trigger Squad to rank and propose some. The panel shows a working state
while it thinks, then fills in as actions arrive. Dismissed suggestions hide behind a
**Show dismissed** toggle.
Before saving a recommendation, Squad checks open actions across the whole workspace. If a
suggestion is semantically the same as an existing **Suggested** or **In progress** action,
Squad links that existing `AC-` record to the current insight instead of creating or rewriting
an action. Its title, description, rationale, owner, priority, notes, status, prompt, and snooze
remain unchanged. Recently dismissed matches are suppressed for 30 days; completed actions do
not block a fresh recommendation. Squad can prepare recommendations for several insights at
once, but queues the final check and save per workspace so two insights cannot create the same
action at the same time.
## Cookbook
**From insight to done.** Open a high-scoring insight, read its **Squad recommends** list, and
pick the action that matters. Hit **Start with Squad** to hand it to the chat with full context.
Work it through, then come back and **Mark done**. The action leaves your open lists.
**Clear the deck each morning.** Open the dashboard and scan **Prioritized Actions** top to bottom.
Assign an **Owner** to the ones that belong to a teammate, **Start** the P0 you'll tackle first, and
**Dismiss** anything that's no longer worth doing.
**Draft a spec from an action.** On an action whose job is to write something up, choose
**Generate PRD** (or **Generate decision brief**). Watch for the **Building…** badge, then click
the green `BR-` badge when it turns up to open and edit the draft. From there it's a
[brief](/briefs) with full version history.
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