Profiles

Save per-project agent configurations with profiles — assign agents to roles and customize directives.

Overview

Profiles configure which agent CLI and instructions are used for each pipeline role. When no profile exists, built-in defaults apply (Claude Code for all roles, no custom directives).

Creating a Profile

wb profile init                                            # create .workbench/profile.yaml from defaults
wb profile init --global                                   # create ~/.workbench/profile.yaml
wb profile init --set reviewer.agent=gemini                # create with inline overrides
wb profile init --set reviewer.agent=gemini --set tester.directive_extend="Run with -x"

Named Profiles

Create multiple profiles for different workflows:

wb profile init --name fast --set reviewer.agent=gemini --set implementor.agent=codex
wb profile init --name security --set reviewer.directive="Focus only on security vulnerabilities."
wb run plan.md --profile-name fast                         # use a named profile

Named profiles are stored as profile.<name>.yaml alongside the default profile.yaml.

Customizing Roles

Use wb profile set to update individual fields:

wb profile set reviewer.agent gemini                       # update default profile
wb profile set tester.directive_extend "Run pytest with -x flag."
wb profile set reviewer.agent codex --name fast            # update a named profile

Or edit .workbench/profile.yaml directly:

roles:
  reviewer:
    agent: gemini
    directive: "Focus on security and correctness."
  tester:
    directive_extend: "Also check edge cases for null inputs."

Use directive to replace the default instructions, or directive_extend to append to them.

Profile Fields

Roles

Role	Description
`implementor`	Writes code to fulfill the task
`tester`	Runs and writes tests, reports PASS/FAIL
`reviewer`	Reviews the diff for correctness and quality
`fixer`	Addresses feedback from failed tests or reviews
`merger`	Resolves merge conflicts between parallel branches

Fields per Role

Field	Description
`agent`	CLI command to use for this role (default: `claude`)
`directive`	Full replacement for the role's default instructions
`directive_extend`	Text appended to the default instructions (cannot be combined with `directive`)

Viewing and Comparing

wb profile show                    # print resolved profile
wb profile show --name fast        # show a named profile
wb profile diff                    # show differences from defaults
wb profile diff --name fast        # diff a named profile

Merge Order

Profiles merge in order of specificity. Later sources override earlier ones:

Built-in defaults
~/.workbench/profile.yaml (global)
.workbench/profile.yaml (project)
--profile flag (explicit path)
CLI flags (--*-directive)

Named profiles (--profile-name) replace the default filename at each level.

Directive Overrides

Override the instructions given to any agent role directly from the CLI, without modifying the profile:

wb run plan.md --reviewer-directive "Focus only on security issues."
wb run plan.md --tester-directive "Run pytest with -x flag, fail fast."

Available flags: --implementor-directive, --tester-directive, --reviewer-directive, --fixer-directive.

These are appended to the role's instructions and take precedence over profile values for that run.

When to Use Profiles

Speed-optimized — use Gemini for implementation (faster output) and Claude for review (thorough analysis)
Cost-optimized — use a less expensive agent for testing and fixing, reserve the most capable agent for implementation
Provider diversity — spread work across providers to avoid rate limits on large plans
Team consistency — commit .workbench/profile.yaml to the repo so every team member uses the same agent configuration