Profiles

Profiles give EdgeCrab isolated runtime homes under ~/.edgecrab/profiles/<name>/. Each profile has its own config, personality, memory, skills, session database, plugins, hooks, and state. The default profile is still ~/.edgecrab/.

EdgeCrab now ships starter profiles and seeds them automatically on normal startup and profile commands:

work for production engineering and code review
research for evidence-heavy synthesis and comparison work
homelab for infrastructure, automation, and Home Assistant workflows

What A Profile Contains

~/.edgecrab/profiles/work/
├── config.yaml
├── .env
├── SOUL.md
├── state.db
├── memories/
│   ├── USER.md
│   └── MEMORY.md
├── skills/
├── plugins/
├── hooks/
├── mcp-tokens/
└── ...

The active sticky profile is stored in ~/.edgecrab/.active_profile.

Bundled Starter Profiles

Bundled profiles are seeded from templates compiled into the CLI crate. They are created once, skipped if you already have a profile with the same name, and never overwrite user edits.

`work`

Focus: production coding, review, and high-discipline execution.

model:
  default: "openai/gpt-5"
  max_iterations: 90

display:
  personality: "technical"
  show_cost: true
  show_status_bar: true
  tool_progress: "verbose"

honcho:
  enabled: true
  cloud_sync: false

reasoning_effort: "high"

`research`

Focus: source-backed analysis, synthesis, and comparisons.

model:
  default: "openai/gpt-5"
  max_iterations: 120

display:
  personality: "teacher"
  show_cost: true
  show_status_bar: true
  tool_progress: "verbose"

honcho:
  enabled: true
  cloud_sync: false

reasoning_effort: "high"

`homelab`

Focus: local infra, automations, containers, and Home Assistant.

model:
  default: "copilot/gpt-4.1"
  max_iterations: 90

display:
  personality: "technical"
  show_cost: true
  show_status_bar: true
  tool_progress: "verbose"

honcho:
  enabled: true
  cloud_sync: false

reasoning_effort: "medium"

YAML Format

A profile is not a special schema. It is just a normal EdgeCrab home rooted at ~/.edgecrab/profiles/<name>/, and its config.yaml uses the same AppConfig structure as the default profile.

Minimal example:

model:
  default: "copilot/gpt-4.1"
  max_iterations: 60

display:
  personality: "concise"

reasoning_effort: "medium"

Typical profile-local files:

config.yaml for models, toolsets, display, gateway, MCP, plugins, and policy
.env for profile-specific secrets
SOUL.md for profile identity and operating rules
memories/USER.md and memories/MEMORY.md for durable memory

CLI Commands

Use the binary subcommands for lifecycle operations:

edgecrab profile list
edgecrab profile show
edgecrab profile show work
edgecrab profile use work
edgecrab profile create client-acme
edgecrab profile create lab-copy --clone
edgecrab profile create audit-sandbox --clone-all --clone-from work
edgecrab profile alias work --name w
edgecrab profile rename client-acme client-acme-2026
edgecrab profile export work -o ./work-backup.tar.gz
edgecrab profile import ./work-backup.tar.gz --name work-restored
edgecrab profile delete work-restored --yes

Use -p or --profile to run under a profile without changing the sticky default:

edgecrab -p research "compare these two APIs"
edgecrab -p homelab "check the Home Assistant automations"

TUI Commands

The TUI now has first-class profile UX while still keeping Hermes-style status output.

/profile shows the active profile name and effective home directory
/profile list opens the browser in summary mode
/profile show <name> opens the browser focused on that profile in summary mode
/profile config <name> opens the browser in config.yaml mode
/profile soul <name> opens the browser in SOUL.md mode
/profile memory <name> opens the browser in memory mode
/profile tools <name> opens the browser in tool policy mode
/profile use <name> focuses that profile for live switching inside the running TUI
/profiles opens the interactive profile browser directly
/profiles use <name> works as a shorthand for switching directly

Important: /profile use <name> is a real runtime switch. The TUI rebuilds the runtime, agent, tool registry, MCP connections, skills, and session DB path immediately. This is stronger than a “next launch only” toggle.

Inside the profile browser:

Enter switches to the selected profile
C shows config.yaml
S shows SOUL.md
M shows profile memory files
T shows tool policy and toolset configuration
A writes or refreshes the default alias
E opens inline export
D opens inline delete confirmation
N opens inline profile creation
I opens inline profile import
O opens inline profile rename
Tab, Shift-Tab, Left, and Right cycle detail views without leaving the overlay
H or ? opens the profile-browser help tab
Home and End jump to the first or last visible result

Isolation Model

These are isolated per profile:

config.yaml
.env
SOUL.md
memories/
skills/
plugins/
hooks/
state.db
gateway PID/state files
MCP token storage

These remain outside profile isolation:

the edgecrab binary itself
global sticky-profile marker ~/.edgecrab/.active_profile
shared shell alias directory ~/.local/bin/
repo-local context files such as AGENTS.md

SOUL.md Example

Each profile can have a different operating stance. Example SOUL.md:

# Client Review Profile

You are operating in a client-specific profile.

- Prefer evidence from the repository over assumptions.
- Treat compatibility and migration risk as first-class concerns.
- Be concise, but never omit materially relevant risk.

Practical Patterns

Keep work as the sticky default and use -p research for one-off comparison tasks.
Use --clone for safe forks that copy identity and secrets but not the whole runtime state.
Use --clone-all only when you explicitly want sessions, skills, and local state copied too.
Export profiles for backup or handoff; imports refuse default so the base home cannot be silently replaced.