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A brief is the document at the end of the chain. You point Squad at an insight, pick a type, and it drafts a first pass that cites the evidence it used. You edit it, review it, and make the call. Every brief carries a BR- reference, a status, and a live evidence trail back to the signals, insights, goals, and documents it draws on.
Briefs
For where briefs sit in the chain, see The evidence pipeline.

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The two types

PRD

A product requirements draft covering problem, users, requirements and scope. Use it when you have decided what to build and need a spec you can refine and circulate.

Decision brief

Use it when the call is still open. It lays out the cited case for and against, records how many signals support versus counter the idea, and leads with Build, Defer, or Research. It’s the format behind the dashboard’s Briefs to review.
You pick the type when you generate. A PRD can’t become a decision brief afterwards. Decision briefs carry a Decision badge everywhere they appear, next to their recommendation.

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Generating one

Every route runs the same drafting pass. Squad reads the source evidence, drafts the body in the background, and cites what it used.
Click Create brief. Start from a template creates an editable document straight away from one of four structures: Decision Brief, PRD, Leadership Memo, or One Pager. Under Or generate with Squad, search for the insight the document should be built from, choose PRD or Decision brief, and click Generate. Squad drops you on the new page while it drafts.
While it’s building, the body shows a live drafting status over a blurred editor. Work elsewhere and come back, or press Cancel and start blank to write it yourself. If drafting fails, the body explains why (Squad could not verify the citations, or drafting timed out) and offers Retry or Start blank. A brief created from an insight, action, or prompt that still has an empty body shows a Draft panel in the sidebar. Use Generate with Squad there, or start typing.

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The lifecycle

Five statuses, shown as a badge you can click to change (except while building):
Squad is drafting. The body is locked.
The body is editable. This is where you rework Squad’s first pass.
Submitted for someone to look at. This is the state the dashboard’s Briefs to review panel watches for.
Settled and read-only until you move it back to draft. On a decision brief this same state reads Decided.
Drafting didn’t produce a usable body.
Change status from the Status row in the sidebar, the badge in the library, or the action menu. Only drafts are editable. Squad rejects edits in any other status, so the editor stays read-only until you move a document back to Draft.

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Deciding a decision brief

A decision brief is finished when you make the call, not when the body is written. On a brief, the terminal state reads Mark decided rather than “Mark as finalised”. It opens a dialog where you confirm or change the recommendation (Build, Defer, or Research) and commit. The brief moves to Decided and its badge locks to your final call. Until then the recommendation shows as Pending. Decide from the status badge, the action menu, or straight from the dashboard’s Calls to make. The row leaves that list once the call is made. The Info panel shows the evidence balance the draft was built on (“N for, N against”) and the confidence at drafting time.

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Tracking the build

The Info panel carries a Linear row once the Linear integration is connected. Click Link, paste an issue URL or an identifier like ENG-123, or search your issues and pick one. The row then shows a pill with the identifier, the state Linear last reported, and a click through to the ticket. The pill’s own remove button unlinks it. One issue links to one Squad brief or action. Squad says so if the one you picked is already taken, and the state on the badge is as of the last event Linear sent rather than a live read.

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Evidence and citations

The sidebar Evidence panel groups everything the document draws on into Goals, Insights, Signals, and Documents. Each entry is a chip that opens that entity, so you can go from a claim in the brief to the SI- quote behind it in one click. The trail is derived from the body itself. Reference an entity in the text and Squad links it as evidence. Remove the reference and the link goes with it. The panel updates live as you edit. A body that references nothing shows “No evidence linked yet.”

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Reviewing and editing

Open a brief from the library or from any linked reference. In Draft, the body is a full editor. Edit the title inline, rework the draft, add or remove references. History shows every change and a badge marks who last touched it, you or Squad. Use the action menu to Copy as markdown or Download .md to take it outside Squad, or Push to Linear to turn the brief into an issue with a sub-issue per action it produced. All three appear once there’s a body to export. Delete removes the brief.

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The library

The Briefs page lists everything in the workspace, most recently updated first. It opens as a card grid, with a list view available. Each card shows the BR- reference, the title (or “Drafting…” while building), the source insight, a clickable status badge, and when it last changed. Decision briefs also show their Decision badge and current recommendation. Search with Search briefs or BR-… and use the Status filter to pull up everything In review, or every Decided brief. Documents created or updated anywhere appear here without a refresh.

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Cookbook

Turn a strong insight into a shareable PRD. Click Create brief, search for the insight, choose PRD, and generate. Wait for it to leave Building, then tighten the requirements while it’s in Draft. Check the Evidence panel to confirm the claims trace to real signals. Move it to In review, or copy it as markdown into your spec tool. Make a Build, Defer, or Research call. On the action, choose Generate decision brief. Once drafted, read the cited case and check the “for, against” balance in Info. Edit anything you disagree with while it’s in Draft, move it to In review so it lands in Briefs to review, then click the status badge and Mark decided. Recover a draft that didn’t generate. Open a brief in Failed. The body explains what went wrong. Click Retry if the source still looks right, or Start blank to write it yourself. Either way it keeps its BR- reference and its place in the library.