Squads Protocol Tutorial: Complete Beginner Guide.

Okay, before you dump real money into your Squads multisig, send like 0.001 SOL from your Phantom wallet. Why? Tests if everyone's keys work, approvals go smooth, and nobody's locked out. I did this once, forgot to add a member-saved my ass from a total freeze up. Super short test. Boom, confidence boost.

Now, Squads Protocol? It's Solana's multisig magic. Smart accounts that let teams control funds without one person holding the keys. No more "oops, I lost the wallet" disasters. Powers stuff for Jupiter, Backpack-big names. You're basically building a shared vault with approval rules. Sound familiar? Like a group chat that signs transactions.

Grab Your Wallet and Hit the Site

Connect Phantom or Backpack to squads.so. That's step one. Don't have one? Download Phantom, fund it with a few bucks SOL on an exchange like Binance. Gas is dirt cheap-~0.000005 SOL per tx. Click "Create Squad."

Name it something fun, like "CryptoBrosVault." Pick your threshold. 2/3 is gold for small teams-safe but not paralyzed if one guy's on vacation. Avoid 1/anything; that's solo control. And no 5/5; one lost and you're toast.

  1. Add members by pasting their wallet addresses. I usually text 'em a screenshot.
  2. Hit create. Boom, multisig address pops up.
  3. Everyone backs up their keys. Cold wallet? Even better.

The thing is, you can tweak this later-add spending limits, time locks. But changes need approvals too. Sneaky, right?

Why Thresholds Matter (Don't Skip This)

Threshold's your safety net. 3/5 means three yes votes to move funds. Lost a? Rotate it out with majority vote. In my experience, teams mess this up and funds sit forever. Why does this matter? Deadlock = panic city.

Funding It Without Freaking Out

Got your Squad address? Send SOL or tokens from Phantom, CEX, or on ramp like Sphere. But test small first. 0.01 SOL. Watch it land in the vault-not the multisig PDA itself. Wrong spot? Funds might be stuck. Happened to a buddy; had to proposal a recovery.

Deposits show under Assets tab. Squads auto creates vaults for tokens. USDC? SOL? Handles it. Fees? Squads takes a tiny cut on Business plan, but free tier's fine for starters.

Okay, funded. What's next? Propose a tx. Say, send 0.1 SOL to test address.

Your First Transaction: The Flow

  • Click "New Transaction."
  • Pick action: Transfer SOL, swap on Jupiter, whatever.
  • Members get notified. Approve in app.
  • Hit threshold? Execute.

Short and sweet. But watch for "proposer" role-that's just suggests, can't approve solo. Smart design.

Potential issue: Member offline? Time lock kicks in after X days, but default's none. Set one for safety.

SquadsX: The Wallet Extension Hack

Look, Squads app's great for treasury, but dApps like Raydium? Need SquadsX. Chrome extension. Here's the direct steps-I do this weekly.

  1. Subscribe to Squads Business Plan. Yeah, pays for extras like this.
  2. Members page > "Add SquadsX."
  3. Generate. Download extension from Chrome store.
  4. Generate access code. Copy paste into extension popup.
  5. Set password. Add that public to your Squad as "Proposer."

Now, hit a dApp. Connect SquadsX. Sign tx in popup. It queues in Squads for approval. Approved? Executes. Gas still ~0.000005 SOL. Compatible apps: Check their list-Jupiter, Drift, tons more.

In my experience, first connect feels weird. But once Squad shows in extension, it's butter. Issue? not added? Double check permissions.

Settings That Save Your Butt

Squads ain't basic multisig. Permissions, spending limits, sub accounts. Business plan unlocks 'em.

Spending limits: Member A can only approve up to 10 SOL txs. Over? Needs full threshold. Time locks: 24h delay on big moves. Sub accounts: Child vaults for projects.

I usually set 50 USDC limit per member for small stuff. Keeps things moving without full votes. Customize under Settings.

Permissions Breakdown

PermissionWhat It DoesExample Use
ProposerSuggests txsSquadsX connects
VoteApprovesDaily ops
AllEverythingAdmins only

See? Granular. Mix 'em per member. Honest tip: Review monthly. Teams change.

Common Screw Ups and Fixes

Funds to wrong address? Multisig PDA vs vault. Fix: Proposal internal transfer. But test first.

Lost? Threshold allows? Vote to remove/add new. No? You're bricked. Succession plan-write it down.

High gas? Nah, Solana's cheap. But congestion? Use devnet for practice.

DAO integration? Add DAO wallet as member. Proposals auto trigger.

One more: Program authority. Own a Solana program? Transfer upgrade auth to Squad via SAT (Safe Authority Transfer). Steps: Add CLI to Squad, create SAT tx, execute. Safer than direct handoff.

Devs: Code Your Own Squads

Not just UI. Squads Protocol v4 SDK rocks. Typescript, Rust. 10-min quickstart creates multisig, proposes tx, votes, executes.

Setup: mkdir squads_quickstart, npm init, install @sqds/multisig. Connect to localhost or devnet.

import * as multisig from "@sqds/multisig";
import { Connection, Keypair } from "@solana/web3.js";

Generate keys, airdrop SOL (1 LAMPORTSPERSOL = 1 SOL). Create multisig with members array-permissions like Permissions.all() or just Vote.

Threshold 2. Then vault tx: SystemProgram.transfer 0.1 SOL. Proposal create, approve with both keys, execute.

Full code in docs. I ran it-works flawless. Local validator for zero risk. Why code? Build apps on top. Sub accounts, payments.

Issues? Airdrop fails? Fallback to transfer from creator. dotenv your real keys for mainnet.

Advanced Plays: Business Plan Perks

Free tier good. Business? Fee relayer (sponsors gas), payments, granular roles. ~0.3% on some fees? Worth it for teams securing millions.

Sub accounts: Nested vaults. Main Squad owns kids. Time locks per sub. Multi party payments: Split sends.

I usually start free, upgrade when tx volume hits 50/week. Scales nice.

Security: Don't Be That Guy

Private keys-backup everywhere. Cold storage. No shared Google Drives.

Phishing? SquadsX codes are personal. Never share.

Audits? Squads secures $10B+. But your setup? Your job.

One hack: Rotate keys yearly. Proposal new member, remove old.

Recovery Flow If Dies

  1. Threshold met without it? Vote remove.
  2. Add new.
  3. Done.

No threshold? Pray for social recovery. Rare, but plan ahead.