Agent Profiles change the voice, habits, and prompt instructions driving the current chat.
Use a profile when you want Agent Zero to behave like a researcher, developer, security reviewer, writing partner, data analyst, or another repeatable working style.
For architecture and source-linked internals, use DeepWiki for Agent Zero.
The profile menu lives in the status bar near the chat input.
- Open a chat.
- Click the current profile name near the chat input.
- Choose the profile you want.
- Continue the chat normally.
The change applies to the selected chat. Other chats can keep their own profile.
Tip
Use Settings -> Agent Config when you want to change the default profile for new chats.
The same menu includes Create new Agent Profile.
When you click it, Agent Zero places a ready-to-send message in the chat input. Send that message and Agent Zero starts a guided profile-creation flow.
The flow is intentionally conversational:
- it asks what the new profile should be excellent at;
- it suggests sensible defaults;
- it confirms a compact summary before creating anything;
- it uses the dedicated profile-creation skill to keep the process tidy.
Good answers are practical:
This profile should help me plan YouTube scripts for technical demos. It should
ask for the target audience, keep the tone simple, and suggest a visual outline.
I want a cautious finance analyst profile. It should separate facts from
assumptions, prefer spreadsheets, and never present estimates as certainty.
These controls are related, but they solve different problems.
| Use this | When you want to change |
|---|---|
| Agent Profile | The agent's role, tone, workflow, and prompt instructions. |
| Skill | A specific procedure or capability the agent should keep available. |
| Project | Files, workspace, memories, instructions, secrets, and long-running context. |
| Model Preset | Which models are used for the chat. |
For small local models that narrate instead of calling tools, use the bundled Tiny Local profile or the project-scoped Prompt Include recipe in Local Model Tool Use.
Example:
- use a Project for a client repository;
- use an Agent Profile for "careful code reviewer";
- pin a Skill for a repeated workflow;
- choose a Model Preset for speed, cost, or maximum capability.
Most users should create profiles through the menu above.
If you edit files directly, custom profiles normally live in:
/a0/usr/agents/<profile-name>/
Custom prompts belong inside that profile's prompts/ folder. Keep direct file
edits small and documented so updates remain easy to understand later.
For deeper file layout and prompt-loading details, use DeepWiki for Agent Zero.

