The standard deployed squad is capped at four Operators. The company roster is larger: it starts with capacity for seven and can expand to a current maximum of 20. These are different limits and should not be used interchangeably. [ea-questions]

Mission squad limit

Most Tactical Missions let you deploy up to four Operators. Certain authored missions can temporarily give you control of additional characters, but that exception does not raise the normal squad cap.

Hawks must join story missions. Skirmish missions allow any valid Operator combination, so those missions give you more freedom to rotate authored characters, custom recruits, clones, or astromechs. [ea-questions]

Headquarters roster limit

The Den begins with room for seven Operators. Capacity increases through Den upgrades, story progression, and authored characters joining the company, up to the stated current limit of 20 Operators.

That makes roster depth useful even though only four usually deploy. Injuries, mission requirements, Bond development, and role coverage can all affect whom you send next.

Practical planning

Build a roster wider than one favorite squad, but avoid recruiting without a role in mind. A four-person deployment still needs enough mobility, damage, control, or recovery to handle its objective. Use the classes and weapons guide to identify missing roles, then the character guide to understand which named Operators arrive through the story.