Using Squad via MCP

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) lets you access Squad’s AI capabilities directly within Claude Desktop and other compatible applications. Query your product data and get strategic insights without leaving your workflow.Download Squad MCP

Overview

Squad’s MCP server enables AI assistants to:

Query your product strategy and roadmap
Analyze opportunities and solutions
Search through user feedback and insights
Generate reports from your Squad workspace

This guide shows how to set up and use Squad through MCP.

Why this matters for product teams

Before
After enabling Squad MCP

Copy-pasting specs between tools
Manual PRD templates
Context gaps in conversations

Ask Claude “show me every open opportunity linked to our ‘Improve retention’ outcome” and get the live list back
“Create a solution for reducing onboarding drop-off and draft the PRD” – Claude calls solution_create, fills the doc, and even generates BDD requirements for you
Claude can pull the full mission statement, knowledge-base docs and recent feedback on demand, so every reply is grounded in real product data

Bottom line: MCP turns Claude into an extension of Squad, giving PMs instant, conversational access to strategy artifacts while developers stay in sync with up-to-date requirements.

Under the hood

Our open-source squad-mcp server bundles a curated set of tools generated from the Squad API:

Tool prefix	Purpose	Typical actions
`opportunity_*`	Discover and refine product opportunities	create, list, update
`solution_*`	Generate and iterate on solutions	create, list, update
`outcome_*`	Track desired business or user outcomes	create, list
`requirement_*`	Capture detailed requirements	create, list
`knowledge_*`	Store useful references / research	create, list
`workspace_*`	Manage Squad workspaces	get, update
`feedback_*`	Send customer or analytics feedback into Squad	create

All tools conform to the MCP JSON schema format so that agents can introspect inputs and outputs automatically.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

Squad Account

Active Squad workspace with data

Claude Code or Desktop

Claude Code CLI or Claude Desktop 0.7.2+

Node.js

Version 18 or higher (for npx)

API Key

Squad API key from Settings

Choose your setup

Claude Code (CLI)
Claude Desktop (App)

Best for developers. Configure via terminal commands, no restart needed, and configs can be shared via version control.

Quick start

Step 1: Get your Squad API key

Open Squad Settings

Navigate to Workspace → API Keys in your Squad workspace

Generate API key

Click Generate New Key and copy the key

Save securely

Store this key safely - you’ll need it for configuration

Keep your API key secret. Anyone with this key can access your Squad data.

Step 2: Configure your client

Claude Code (CLI)
Claude Desktop (App)

Run this command in your terminal, replacing your-api-key-here with your actual key:

claude mcp add squad --env SQUAD_API_KEY=your-api-key-here -- npx @squadai/tools

Verify the connection:

claude mcp list

You can also use the /mcp command inside Claude Code to check connection status.

No restart needed - Squad is ready to use immediately.

Open your config file

macOS
Windows

code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Or:

nano ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

notepad %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the Squad MCP server

Add this configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "squad": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@squadai/tools"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SQUAD_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace your-api-key-here with your actual Squad API key from Step 1.

Restart Claude Desktop

Fully quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window)
Reopen Claude Desktop
Look for the 🔌 icon in the chat interface
Click it to verify Squad is connected

Example prompts

Once connected, you can query Squad data using natural language. Here are some examples to get you started:

Strategy queries

"What is our product mission?"
"Show me our current goals and progress"
"Which goals are we behind on?"

Analytics queries

"What are users complaining about most?"
"Show recent feedback about delivery times"
"What's our current NPS score?"

Report generation

"Generate a weekly status update"
"Create an executive summary of our strategy"
"What did we ship last month?"

Example workflows

These examples show how Claude can analyze your Squad data and provide actionable insights.

Strategy review

Prompt: “Can you review our current product strategy and identify gaps?”Example response:

Based on your data:

CURRENT STRATEGY:
- Mission: "Make food delivery faster and more affordable"
- Active goals: 3 (1 on track, 2 behind)
- Opportunities in backlog: 12
- Solutions in development: 4

KEY GAPS IDENTIFIED:
1. Delivery time goal is 7 minutes behind target
   - Root cause: Restaurant prep delays (8,234 mentions)
   - No active solution addressing this

2. Low user retention (2.1 orders/week vs 3.0 target)
   - Missing lunch-time availability
   - Limited restaurant variety in suburbs

3. Unaddressed opportunities:
   - Group ordering (3,892 requests, no solution)
   - Dietary filters (2,156 requests, no solution)

RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Prioritize restaurant prep time optimization
2. Expand lunch partnerships
3. Add group ordering to Q3 roadmap

Feedback analysis

Prompt: “Analyze user feedback from the last 30 days and identify trends”Example response:

FEEDBACK ANALYSIS (Last 30 days):
Total feedback items: 4,827

TOP THEMES:
1. Delivery delays (1,243 mentions, ↑23% from previous)
   - "Food arrives cold"
   - "Waited over an hour"
   - Concentrated in downtown areas

2. Payment issues (892 mentions, ↑45% from previous)
   - "Payment failed but still charged"
   - "Can't save payment method"
   - Spike started after latest app update

3. Restaurant variety (634 mentions, →0% change)
   - "Same restaurants every time"
   - "No healthy options"
   - Consistent complaint, not growing

EMERGING ISSUES:
- App crashes on Android 14 (127 mentions, new)
- Promo codes not applying (89 mentions, ↑200%)

SENTIMENT TREND:
- Overall: 3.8/5 (↓ from 4.1/5)
- Critical driver: Payment failures

Roadmap planning

Prompt: “Based on our data, what should we build next quarter?”Example response:

Q3 ROADMAP RECOMMENDATIONS:

MUST DO (High impact, addresses critical issues):
1. Fix payment processing bugs
   - Impact: 892 users affected monthly
   - Effort: 1 sprint
   - Reduces churn by ~15%

2. Restaurant prep time prediction
   - Impact: 7-minute delivery reduction
   - Effort: 3 sprints
   - Addresses top complaint

DO NEXT (High value, strategic):
3. Group ordering
   - Impact: $45 AOV increase
   - Effort: 2 sprints
   - 3,892 requests

4. Lunch partnerships
   - Impact: +0.8 orders/week/user
   - Effort: 2 sprints
   - Unlocks new daypart

CONSIDER (Nice to have):
5. Dietary filters
6. Advanced routing v3
7. Loyalty program expansion

Best practices

Be specific

Ask for particular metrics or date ranges for better results

Cross-reference

Combine multiple data sources for comprehensive analysis

Regular reviews

Schedule weekly strategy reviews with Claude + Squad

Action-oriented

Always end with “What should we do about this?”

Troubleshooting

Claude Code
Claude Desktop

Squad not connecting

Check connection status:

claude mcp list

Or use /mcp inside Claude Code to see server status.Common fixes:

Re-add the server: Remove and re-add with correct API key

claude mcp remove squad
claude mcp add squad --env SQUAD_API_KEY=your-key -- npx @squadai/tools

Check Node.js: Ensure Node 18+ is installed (node --version)
Verify API key: Make sure the key is active in Squad settings

Connection closed errors (Windows)

On Windows, you may need to use the cmd /c wrapper:

claude mcp add squad --env SQUAD_API_KEY=your-key -- cmd /c npx @squadai/tools

Squad not showing in Claude

Check these common issues:

Config file syntax: Ensure valid JSON (check commas, quotes)
API key: Verify key is correct and active
Claude restart: Must fully quit and reopen (not just close window)
Node.js: Ensure Node 18+ is installed

Can't find config file

The config file may not exist yet. Create it at:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Start with this minimal config:

{
  "mcpServers": {}
}

Queries not working

If Squad queries fail in either client:

Verify the MCP server shows as connected
Check your API key has correct permissions in Squad
Ensure your Squad workspace has data to query
Try simpler queries first (e.g., “What is our mission?”)

Rate limiting

If you see rate limit errors:

Squad MCP allows 100 requests per minute
Complex queries may use multiple requests
Wait 60 seconds if you hit limits
Consider upgrading your Squad plan for higher limits

Security considerations

Important security notes:

API keys are stored locally on your machine
Claude Desktop: Never share your claude_desktop_config.json file
Claude Code: Don’t commit .mcp.json files containing API keys to version control
Rotate API keys regularly in Squad settings
Use read-only API keys when you only need to query data

For Claude Code in team projects, consider using environment variables instead of hardcoding keys. Each team member can set SQUAD_API_KEY in their shell profile.

Advanced usage

Custom queries

Squad MCP supports complex analytical queries:

"Compare our user retention to industry benchmarks and suggest 
improvements based on what's working for competitors"

"Generate a board presentation covering our Q2 performance, 
Q3 roadmap, and key risks to address"

"Analyze which features correlate with highest user LTV and 
recommend where to double down"

Workflow automation

Combine Squad MCP with other tools:

Daily standup prep: “What changed in our metrics since yesterday?”
Sprint planning: “Which backlog items align with this sprint’s goal?”
Investor updates: “Generate a monthly progress report”

Removing Squad MCP

Claude Code
Claude Desktop

claude mcp remove squad

Remove the squad entry from mcpServers in your claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Getting help

Squad MCP GitHub

Report issues or contribute

MCP Docs

Learn more about MCP

Squad Support

Contact the Squad team

Introduction

Guides

Features

Integrations

Overview

Why this matters for product teams

Under the hood

Prerequisites

Squad Account

Claude Code or Desktop

Node.js

API Key

Choose your setup

Quick start

Step 1: Get your Squad API key

Step 2: Configure your client

Open your config file

Add the Squad MCP server

Restart Claude Desktop

Example prompts

Strategy queries

Analytics queries

Report generation

Example workflows

Best practices

Be specific

Cross-reference

Regular reviews

Action-oriented

Troubleshooting

Security considerations

Advanced usage

Custom queries

Workflow automation

Removing Squad MCP

Getting help

Squad MCP GitHub

MCP Docs

Squad Support

Introduction

Guides

Features

Integrations

​Overview

​Why this matters for product teams

​Under the hood

​Prerequisites

Squad Account

Claude Code or Desktop

Node.js

API Key

​Choose your setup

​Quick start

​Step 1: Get your Squad API key

​Step 2: Configure your client

​Open your config file

​Add the Squad MCP server

​Restart Claude Desktop

​Example prompts

​Strategy queries

​Analytics queries

​Report generation

​Example workflows

​Best practices

Be specific

Cross-reference

Regular reviews

Action-oriented

​Troubleshooting

​Security considerations

​Advanced usage

​Custom queries

​Workflow automation

​Removing Squad MCP

​Getting help

Squad MCP GitHub

MCP Docs

Squad Support

Overview

Why this matters for product teams

Under the hood

Prerequisites

Choose your setup

Quick start

Step 1: Get your Squad API key

Step 2: Configure your client

Open your config file

Add the Squad MCP server

Restart Claude Desktop

Example prompts

Strategy queries

Analytics queries

Report generation

Example workflows

Best practices

Troubleshooting

Security considerations

Advanced usage

Custom queries

Workflow automation

Removing Squad MCP

Getting help