diff --git a/internal/cmd/crew.go b/internal/cmd/crew.go
index 0d9f4761..523f0cc3 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/crew.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/crew.go
@@ -239,27 +239,29 @@ var crewPrevCmd = &cobra.Command{
 }
 
 var crewStartCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "start [name...]",
-	Short: "Start crew workspace(s) (creates if needed)",
-	Long: `Start one or more crew workspaces, creating them if they don't exist.
+	Use:   "start <rig> [name]",
+	Short: "Start crew worker(s) in a rig",
+	Long: `Start crew workers in a rig, creating workspaces if they don't exist.
+
+Takes the rig name as the first argument. Optionally specify a crew member name
+to start just that worker, or use --all to start all crew members in the rig.
 
-This is an alias for 'gt start crew'. It combines 'gt crew add' and 'gt crew at --detached'.
 The crew session starts in the background with Claude running and ready.
 
-The name can include the rig in slash format (e.g., greenplace/joe).
-If not specified, the rig is inferred from the current directory.
-
-Role Discovery:
-  If no name is provided, attempts to detect the crew workspace from the
-  current directory. If you're in <rig>/crew/<name>/, it will start that
-  workspace automatically.
-
 Examples:
-  gt crew start joe                         # Start joe in current rig
-  gt crew start greenplace/joe                 # Start joe in gastown rig
-  gt crew start beads/grip beads/fang       # Start multiple crew members
-  gt crew start joe --rig beads             # Start joe in beads rig
-  gt crew start                             # Auto-detect from cwd`,
+  gt crew start gastown joe       # Start joe in gastown rig
+  gt crew start gastown --all     # Start all crew in gastown rig
+  gt crew start beads             # Error: specify name or --all
+  gt crew start beads grip fang   # Start grip and fang in beads rig`,
+	Args: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		if len(args) < 1 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("requires at least 1 argument: the rig name")
+		}
+		if len(args) == 1 && !crewAll {
+			return fmt.Errorf("specify a crew member name or use --all to start all crew in the rig")
+		}
+		return nil
+	},
 	RunE: runCrewStart,
 }
 
@@ -294,7 +296,7 @@ func init() {
 	crewRestartCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&crewAll, "all", false, "Restart all running crew sessions")
 	crewRestartCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&crewDryRun, "dry-run", false, "Show what would be restarted without restarting")
 
-	crewStartCmd.Flags().StringVar(&crewRig, "rig", "", "Rig to use")
+	crewStartCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&crewAll, "all", false, "Start all crew members in the rig")
 	crewStartCmd.Flags().StringVar(&crewAccount, "account", "", "Claude Code account handle to use")
 
 	// Add subcommands
diff --git a/internal/cmd/crew_lifecycle.go b/internal/cmd/crew_lifecycle.go
index c2398970..d652ecc6 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/crew_lifecycle.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/crew_lifecycle.go
@@ -216,48 +216,57 @@ func runCrewRefresh(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// runCrewStart is an alias for runStartCrew, handling multiple input formats.
-// It supports: "name", "rig/name", "rig/crew/name" formats, or auto-detection from cwd.
-// Multiple names can be provided to start multiple crew members at once.
+// runCrewStart starts crew workers in a rig.
+// args[0] is the rig name (required)
+// args[1:] are crew member names (optional, or use --all flag)
 func runCrewStart(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-	// If no args, try to detect from current directory
-	if len(args) == 0 {
-		detected, err := detectCrewFromCwd()
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("could not detect crew workspace from current directory: %w\n\nUsage: gt crew start <name>", err)
-		}
-		name := detected.crewName
-		if crewRig == "" {
-			crewRig = detected.rigName
-		}
-		fmt.Printf("Detected crew workspace: %s/%s\n", detected.rigName, name)
+	rigName := args[0]
+	crewNames := args[1:]
 
-		startCrewRig = crewRig
-		startCrewAccount = crewAccount
-		return runStartCrew(cmd, []string{name})
+	// Get the rig manager and rig
+	crewMgr, r, err := getCrewManager(rigName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
-	// Process each name
-	var lastErr error
-	for _, name := range args {
-		// Handle rig/crew/name format (e.g., "gastown/crew/joe" -> "gastown/joe")
-		if strings.Contains(name, "/crew/") {
-			parts := strings.SplitN(name, "/crew/", 2)
-			if len(parts) == 2 && parts[0] != "" && parts[1] != "" {
-				name = parts[0] + "/" + parts[1]
-			}
+	// If --all flag, get all crew members
+	if crewAll {
+		workers, err := crewMgr.List()
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("listing crew: %w", err)
 		}
+		if len(workers) == 0 {
+			fmt.Printf("No crew members in rig %s\n", rigName)
+			return nil
+		}
+		for _, w := range workers {
+			crewNames = append(crewNames, w.Name)
+		}
+	}
 
-		// Set the start.go flags from crew.go flags before calling
-		startCrewRig = crewRig
+	// Start each crew member
+	var lastErr error
+	startedCount := 0
+	for _, name := range crewNames {
+		// Set the start.go flags before calling runStartCrew
+		startCrewRig = rigName
 		startCrewAccount = crewAccount
 
-		if err := runStartCrew(cmd, []string{name}); err != nil {
-			fmt.Printf("Error starting %s: %v\n", name, err)
+		// Use rig/name format for runStartCrew
+		fullName := rigName + "/" + name
+		if err := runStartCrew(cmd, []string{fullName}); err != nil {
+			fmt.Printf("Error starting %s/%s: %v\n", rigName, name, err)
 			lastErr = err
+		} else {
+			startedCount++
 		}
 	}
 
+	if startedCount > 0 {
+		fmt.Printf("\n%s Started %d crew member(s) in %s\n",
+			style.Bold.Render("✓"), startedCount, r.Name)
+	}
+
 	return lastErr
 }