# atmos profile

Use these subcommands to discover, inspect, and manage configuration profiles. Profiles provide environment-specific configuration overrides for development, CI/CD, and production contexts without duplicating settings.

_\[Video: atmos profile]_

## What are Profiles?

Profiles are named collections of configuration overrides that modify Atmos behavior for different environments or use cases. Instead of maintaining separate `atmos.yaml` files or complex environment variable scripts, profiles let you switch contexts with a single flag.

**Common profile examples:**

- **developer**: Debug logging, wider terminal output, enhanced error messages
- **ci**: Disabled colors, plain text output, no interactive features
- **production**: Stricter validation, audit logging, security-focused settings

## Profile Discovery

Atmos discovers profiles from multiple locations in the following precedence order:

1. **Configurable path**: `profiles.base_path` in `atmos.yaml`
2. **Project-hidden**: `.atmos/profiles/` in your project
3. **XDG user directory**: `~/.config/atmos/profiles/` (or `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/atmos/profiles/`)
4. **Project directory**: `profiles/` in your project root

Each profile is a directory containing `atmos.yaml` and other configuration files.

## Profile Structure

```
profiles/
├── developer/
│   ├── atmos.yaml      # Developer-specific overrides
│   └── auth.yaml       # Developer auth settings
├── ci/
│   ├── atmos.yaml      # CI-specific overrides
│   └── auth.yaml       # CI auth settings
└── production/
    ├── atmos.yaml      # Production overrides
    └── auth.yaml       # Production auth settings
```

## Using Profiles

Activate a profile using the `--profile` flag or `ATMOS_PROFILE` environment variable:

```bash
# Activate a single profile
atmos --profile developer terraform plan vpc -s prod

# Use environment variable
ATMOS_PROFILE=developer atmos terraform plan vpc -s prod

# Activate multiple profiles (applied left-to-right)
atmos --profile ci,security terraform plan vpc -s prod
```

See the [--profile global flag](/cli/global-flags#core-global-flags) for complete usage details.

**Configure Profiles**

Learn how to define and organize profiles in your `atmos.yaml` for different environments and workflows.

## Subcommands

## Use Cases

### Development Workflow

Create a developer profile for enhanced debugging:

```yaml
# profiles/developer/atmos.yaml
logs:
  level: Debug
settings:
  terminal:
    max_width: 140
    pager: true
```

```bash
# Use during development
atmos --profile developer describe stacks
```

### CI/CD Pipelines

Create a CI profile that ensures consistent, parseable output:

```yaml
# profiles/ci/atmos.yaml
logs:
  level: Warning
  file: /var/log/atmos.log
settings:
  terminal:
    color: false
    pager: false
```

```bash
# In CI pipeline
export ATMOS_PROFILE=ci
atmos terraform apply --auto-approve
```

### Team Collaboration

Share consistent settings across team members:

```
.atmos/profiles/
├── team/
│   └── atmos.yaml      # Shared team settings
└── security-review/
    └── atmos.yaml      # Security audit settings
```

## See Also

- [`atmos profile list`](/cli/commands/profile/profile-list) - List available profiles
- [`atmos profile show`](/cli/commands/profile/profile-show) - Show profile details
- [Global Flags](/cli/global-flags) - Using the `--profile` flag
- [CLI Configuration](/cli/configuration) - Profile configuration in `atmos.yaml`