Profile Commands Reference

This page covers all commands related to Subnaut profiles. For general CLI commands, see CLI Commands Reference.

subnaut profile

subnaut profile <subcommand>

Top-level command for managing profiles. Running subnaut profile without a subcommand shows help.

Subcommand	Description
list	List all profiles.
use	Set the active (default) profile.
create	Create a new profile.
describe	Read or set a profile's description (used by the kanban orchestrator for routing).
delete	Delete a profile.
show	Show details about a profile.
alias	Regenerate the shell alias for a profile.
rename	Rename a profile.
export	Export a profile to a tar.gz archive.
import	Import a profile from a tar.gz archive.
install	Install a profile distribution from a git URL or local directory. See Profile Distributions.
update	Re-pull a distribution-managed profile and re-apply its bundle.
info	Show distribution metadata for a profile (origin URL, commit, last update).

subnaut profile list

subnaut profile list

Lists all profiles. The currently active profile is marked with *.

Example:

$ subnaut profile list
  default
* work
  dev
  personal

No options.

subnaut profile use

subnaut profile use <name>

Sets <name> as the active profile. All subsequent subnaut commands (without -p) will use this profile.

Argument	Description
<name>	Profile name to activate. Use default to return to the base profile.

Example:

subnaut profile use work
subnaut profile use default

subnaut profile create

subnaut profile create <name> [options]

Creates a new profile.

Argument / Option	Description
<name>	Name for the new profile. Must be a valid directory name (alphanumeric, hyphens, underscores).
--clone	Copy config.yaml, .env, SOUL.md, and skills from the current profile.
--clone-all	Copy everything (config, memories, skills, cron, plugins) from the current profile. Excludes per-profile history: sessions, state.db, backups, state-snapshots, checkpoints.
--clone-from <profile>	Clone config/skills/SOUL from a specific profile instead of the current one. Implies --clone unless paired with --clone-all.
--no-alias	Skip wrapper script creation.
--description "<text>"	One- or two-sentence description of what this profile is good at. Used by the kanban orchestrator to route tasks based on role instead of profile name alone. Skip and add later via subnaut profile describe. Persisted in <profile_dir>/profile.yaml.
--no-skills	Create an empty profile with zero bundled skills enabled. Writes a .no-bundled-skills marker into the profile so future subnaut update runs won't re-seed the bundled set, and refuses to combine with --clone, --clone-from, or --clone-all (which would copy skills in anyway). Useful for narrow orchestrator profiles or sandbox profiles that should not inherit the full skill catalog. To toggle this on an already-created profile (including the default ~/.subnaut), use subnaut skills opt-out / subnaut skills opt-in.

Creating a profile does not make that profile directory the default project/workspace directory for terminal commands. If you want a profile to start in a specific project, set terminal.cwd in that profile's config.yaml.

Examples:

# Blank profile — needs full setup
subnaut profile create mybot

# Clone config only from current profile
subnaut profile create work --clone

# Clone everything from current profile
subnaut profile create backup --clone-all

# Clone config from a specific profile
subnaut profile create work2 --clone-from work

# Clone everything from a specific profile
subnaut profile create work2-backup --clone-from work --clone-all

subnaut profile describe

subnaut profile describe [<name>] [options]

Read or set a profile's description. The description is consumed by the kanban orchestrator to route tasks based on what each profile is good at, rather than guessing from the profile name alone. Persisted in <profile_dir>/profile.yaml so it survives reboots and is shared with the gateway.

With no flags, prints the current description (or (no description set for '<name>') if empty).

Argument / Option	Description
<name>	Profile to describe. Required unless --all --auto is used.
--text "<text>"	Set the description to this exact text (user-authored). Overwrites any existing description.
--auto	Auto-generate a 1-2 sentence description via the auxiliary LLM, based on the profile's installed skills, configured model, and name. Configure the model under auxiliary.profile_describer in config.yaml. Auto-generated descriptions are marked description_auto: true.
--overwrite	With --auto, replace user-authored descriptions too (default: skip profiles whose description was set explicitly).
--all	With --auto, sweep every profile missing a description.

Examples:

# Read the current description
subnaut profile describe researcher

# Set it explicitly
subnaut profile describe researcher --text "Reads source code and writes findings."

# Let the LLM generate one
subnaut profile describe researcher --auto

# Fill in descriptions for every profile that doesn't have one
subnaut profile describe --all --auto

subnaut profile delete

subnaut profile delete <name> [options]

Deletes a profile and removes its shell alias.

Argument / Option	Description
<name>	Profile to delete.
--yes, -y	Skip confirmation prompt.

Example:

subnaut profile delete mybot
subnaut profile delete mybot --yes

warning

This permanently deletes the profile's entire directory including all config, memories, sessions, and skills. The default profile (~/.subnaut) cannot be deleted — use subnaut uninstall to remove everything.

subnaut profile show

subnaut profile show <name>

Displays details about a profile including its home directory, configured model, gateway status, skills count, and configuration file status.

This shows the profile's Subnaut home directory, not the terminal working directory. Terminal commands start from terminal.cwd (or the launch directory on the local backend when cwd: ".").

Argument	Description
<name>	Profile to inspect.

Example:

$ subnaut profile show work
Profile: work
Path:    ~/.subnaut/profiles/work
Model:   anthropic/claude-sonnet-4 (anthropic)
Gateway: stopped
Skills:  12
.env:    exists
SOUL.md: exists
Alias:   ~/.local/bin/work

subnaut profile alias

subnaut profile alias <name> [options]

Regenerates the shell alias script at ~/.local/bin/<name>. Useful if the alias was accidentally deleted or if you need to update it after moving your Subnaut installation.

Argument / Option	Description
<name>	Profile to create/update the alias for.
--remove	Remove the wrapper script instead of creating it.
--name <alias>	Custom alias name (default: profile name).

Example:

subnaut profile alias work
# Creates/updates ~/.local/bin/work

subnaut profile alias work --name mywork
# Creates ~/.local/bin/mywork

subnaut profile alias work --remove
# Removes the wrapper script

subnaut profile rename

subnaut profile rename <old-name> <new-name>

Renames a profile. Updates the directory and shell alias.

Argument	Description
<old-name>	Current profile name.
<new-name>	New profile name.

Example:

subnaut profile rename mybot assistant
# ~/.subnaut/profiles/mybot → ~/.subnaut/profiles/assistant
# ~/.local/bin/mybot → ~/.local/bin/assistant

subnaut profile export

subnaut profile export <name> [options]

Exports a profile as a compressed tar.gz archive — a portable snapshot you can back up, move to another machine, or hand to someone else. auth.json and .env are always excluded.

Also available in chat as /export, and in the desktop app via ⌘K → Export profile… or a profile square's right-click menu. A desktop export additionally stages desktop.json (skin, light/dark mode, custom themes, rail color, window layout) into the archive.

Argument / Option	Description
<name>	Profile to export.
-o, --output <path>	Output file path (default: <name>.tar.gz).

Example:

subnaut profile export work
# Creates work.tar.gz in the current directory

subnaut profile export work -o ./work-2026-03-29.tar.gz

See Export and import a profile file for exactly what lands in the archive and what to check before sending one to someone else.

subnaut profile import

subnaut profile import <archive> [options]

Imports a profile from a tar.gz archive, as a new profile. Refuses to overwrite an existing profile, and cannot import as default (the built-in root profile) — pass --name in either case. A shell wrapper is created when the name doesn't collide with an existing command.

Also available in chat as /import, and in the desktop app via ⌘K → Import profile… or the import button beside the profile rail's +. A desktop import also applies any bundled desktop.json overlay (theme, layout) and switches you into the new profile.

Argument / Option	Description
<archive>	Path to the tar.gz archive to import.
--name <name>	Name for the imported profile (default: inferred from archive).

Example:

subnaut profile import ./work-2026-03-29.tar.gz
# Infers profile name from the archive

subnaut profile import ./work-2026-03-29.tar.gz --name work-restored

Distribution commands

tip

New to distributions? Start with the Profile Distributions user guide — it covers the why, when, and how with full examples. The sections below are a dry CLI reference for when you know what you want.

Distributions turn a profile into a shareable, versioned artifact published as a git repository. A recipient installs the distribution with a single command and can update it in place later without touching their local memories, sessions, or credentials.

auth.json and .env are never part of a distribution — they stay on the installing user's machine.

The recipient's user data (memories, sessions, auth, their own edits to .env) is always preserved across the initial install and subsequent updates.

info

Two ways to share a profile, and they complement each other. subnaut profile export / import (also /export and /import in chat) produce a single file — no repo, no manifest, and a desktop export carries your theme and layout too. Distribution (install / update / info) publishes a profile as a git repo so recipients can pull versioned updates later. Backup and restore is the export file's other job. See Two ways to share a profile.

subnaut profile install

subnaut profile install <source> [--name <name>] [--alias] [--force] [--yes]

Installs a profile distribution from a git URL or a local directory.

Option	Description
<source>	Git URL (github.com/user/repo, https://..., git@..., ssh://, git://) or a local directory containing distribution.yaml at its root.
--name NAME	Override the profile name from the manifest.
--alias	Also create a shell wrapper (e.g. telemetry → subnaut -p telemetry).
--force	Overwrite an existing profile of the same name. User data is still preserved.
-y, --yes	Skip the manifest-preview confirmation prompt.

The installer shows the manifest, lists required env vars, and warns about cron jobs before asking for confirmation. Required env vars go into a .env.EXAMPLE file you copy to .env and fill in.

Examples:

# Install from a GitHub repo (shorthand)
subnaut profile install github.com/kyle/telemetry-distribution --alias

# Install from a full HTTPS git URL
subnaut profile install https://github.com/kyle/telemetry-distribution.git

# Install from SSH
subnaut profile install git@github.com:kyle/telemetry-distribution.git

# Install from a local directory during development
subnaut profile install ./telemetry/

subnaut profile update

subnaut profile update <name> [--force-config] [--yes]

Re-clones the distribution from its recorded source and applies updates. Distribution-owned files (SOUL.md, skills/, cron/, mcp.json) are overwritten; user data (memories, sessions, auth, .env) is never touched.

config.yaml is preserved by default to keep your local overrides. Pass --force-config to reset it to the distribution's shipped config.

subnaut profile info

subnaut profile info <name>

Prints the profile's distribution manifest — name, version, required Subnaut version, author, env var requirements, the source URL/path, and the Installed: timestamp recorded when the distribution was last install-ed or update-d. Useful for checking what a shared profile needs before installing it, and for spotting "this profile was installed 6 months ago and hasn't been updated."

subnaut profile list also shows the distribution name and version in a Distribution column, and subnaut profile show <name> / delete <name> surface the source URL so you can tell at a glance which profiles came from a git repo vs. were created locally.

Private distributions

A private git repository works as a distribution source with no extra configuration — the install shells out to your normal git binary, so whatever authentication your shell is already set up for (SSH key, git credential helper, GitHub CLI's stored HTTPS credentials) applies transparently.

# Uses your SSH key, the same as any other `git clone`
subnaut profile install git@github.com:your-org/internal-assistant.git

# Uses your git credential helper
subnaut profile install https://github.com/your-org/internal-assistant.git

If a clone prompts for credentials interactively in your terminal during install, that prompt flows through. Set up your auth the way you'd normally use git clone against the same repo first, then install.

Distribution manifest (distribution.yaml)

Every distribution has a distribution.yaml at the root of its repository:

name: telemetry
version: 0.1.0
description: "Compliance monitoring harness"
subnaut_requires: ">=0.12.0"
author: "Your Name"
license: "MIT"
env_requires:
  - name: OPENAI_API_KEY
    description: "OpenAI API key"
    required: true
  - name: GRAPHITI_MCP_URL
    description: "Memory graph URL"
    required: false
    default: "http://127.0.0.1:8000/sse"
distribution_owned:   # optional; defaults to SOUL.md, config.yaml,
                      #   mcp.json, skills/, cron/, distribution.yaml
  - SOUL.md
  - skills/compliance/
  - cron/

subnaut_requires supports >=, <=, ==, !=, >, <, or a bare version (treated as >=). Install fails with a clear error if the current Subnaut version doesn't satisfy the spec.

distribution_owned is optional. If set, only those paths are replaced on update; anything else in the profile stays user-owned. If omitted, the defaults above apply.

Publishing a distribution

Authoring a distribution is just a git push:

1. In your profile directory, create distribution.yaml with at least name and version.
2. Initialize a git repo (or use an existing one) and push to GitHub / GitLab / any host Subnaut can clone from.
3. Tell recipients to run subnaut profile install <your-repo-url>.

Use git tags for versioned releases — recipients who clone HEAD get your latest state, and you can always bump version: in the manifest.

subnaut -p / subnaut --profile

subnaut -p <name> <command> [options]
subnaut --profile <name> <command> [options]

Global flag to run any Subnaut command under a specific profile without changing the sticky default. This overrides the active profile for the duration of the command.

Option	Description
-p <name>, --profile <name>	Profile to use for this command.

Examples:

subnaut -p work chat -q "Check the server status"
subnaut --profile dev gateway start
subnaut -p personal skills list
subnaut -p work config edit

subnaut completion

subnaut completion <shell>

Generates shell completion scripts. Includes completions for profile names and profile subcommands.

Argument	Description
<shell>	Shell to generate completions for: bash, zsh, or fish.

Examples:

# Install completions
subnaut completion bash >> ~/.bashrc
subnaut completion zsh >> ~/.zshrc
subnaut completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/subnaut.fish

# Reload shell
source ~/.bashrc

After installation, tab completion works for:

• subnaut profile <TAB> — subcommands (list, use, create, etc.)
• subnaut profile use <TAB> — profile names
• subnaut -p <TAB> — profile names

See also

• Profiles User Guide
• CLI Commands Reference
• FAQ — Profiles section