Using Profiles in Janito

Janito supports both general-purpose and specialized workflows through the use of profiles. Profiles allow you to tailor the assistant's behavior, system prompt, and capabilities for different roles or tasks, such as software development, writing, data analysis, or any custom workflow you define.

What is a Profile?

A profile in Janito is a named configuration that determines the system prompt and context for the agent. By selecting a profile, you can: - Switch between general-purpose and specialized assistance - Load a role-specific system prompt template - Enable context, tools, or behaviors suited to a particular workflow (e.g., "developer", "writer", "analyst")

Why Use Profiles?

General-purpose assistant: Omit the --profile option to use Janito as a flexible, all-purpose AI assistant.
Specialized workflows: Use --profile <name> to activate a profile designed for a specific role or domain, improving relevance and productivity.
Custom roles: Create your own profiles by adding prompt templates in the janito/agent/templates/profiles/ directory.

How to Use Profiles

Selecting a Profile

You can select a profile at launch using the --profile option:

janito --profile developer "Refactor this code for better readability."
janito --profile writer "Draft a blog post about AI in healthcare."

If you omit --profile, Janito uses the default (general-purpose) behavior.

Listing and Customizing Profiles

To see available profiles, check the janito/agent/templates/profiles/ directory or refer to the documentation.
Each profile corresponds to a Jinja2 template file named system_prompt_template_<profile>.txt.j2.
You can create new profiles by adding new template files in this directory.

Interactive Profile Selection

In interactive chat mode, you can select or switch profiles using the /profile command:

/profile

This will show the current and available profiles, and may prompt you to select one interactively.

Example: Creating a Custom Profile

Create a new file in janito/agent/templates/profiles/ named system_prompt_template_dataanalyst.txt.j2:

You are a data analyst. Answer questions with a focus on data-driven reasoning and clear explanations.

Launch Janito with your new profile:

janito --profile dataanalyst "Analyze this sales dataset and summarize key trends."

Profile Precedence and System Prompt

If you specify both --profile and --system, the explicit system prompt may override the profile template.
Profiles are the recommended way to manage reusable, role-specific system prompts.

Best Practices

Use profiles for repeatable workflows or when you want consistent behavior for a given role.
Keep your profile templates concise and focused on the desired behavior or domain.
Review and update your profiles as your needs evolve.