Profiles | rho-agent Docs

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Profiles define what an agent can and cannot do. They control shell execution mode, file write permissions, database mutation access, and tool approval requirements. Every agent runs under a profile — the default is readonly.

Built-in profiles

`readonly`

Safe research profile for inspecting production systems. No file writes, restricted shell, read-only database access.

Capability	Setting
Shell	Restricted (allowlisted commands only)
File write	Off
Database	SELECT only
Approval	Dangerous tools require approval

rho-agent main --profile readonly

`developer`

Full development profile with file editing and unrestricted shell access. Database queries remain read-only by default.

Capability	Setting
Shell	Unrestricted
File write	Full
Database	SELECT only
Approval	Granular (database tools require approval)

rho-agent main --profile developer --working-dir ~/proj/myapp

`eval`

Unrestricted profile for sandboxed environments. No restrictions, no approval prompts. Intended for containers running benchmarks or evaluations where the security boundary is the container itself.

Capability	Setting
Shell	Unrestricted
File write	Full
Database	Full (mutations allowed)
Approval	None

rho-agent main --profile eval

`developer-bash-only`

Same capabilities as developer, but only registers the bash tool. File inspection and database tools are not available — the agent must use shell commands for everything.

Custom profiles

Point --profile to a YAML file to define custom capabilities:

rho-agent main --profile path/to/my-profile.yaml

YAML schema

profile: my-custom-profile
description: "Description of this profile's purpose"

shell:
  mode: restricted | unrestricted

file_write:
  mode: off | create-only | full

database:
  mode: readonly | mutations

approval:
  mode: all | dangerous | granular | none
  required_tools:        # Used with granular mode
    - oracle
    - mysql
  dangerous_patterns:    # Patterns that trigger approval prompts
    - "rm -rf"
    - "DROP TABLE"

shell_timeout: 120       # Seconds (default: 120)
shell_working_dir: /app  # Default working directory
bash_only: false         # Only register bash tool

Capability modes

Shell modes

Mode	Behavior
`restricted`	Only allowlisted read-only commands. Redirects and destructive commands are blocked.
`unrestricted`	Any shell command is allowed.

File write modes

Mode	Behavior
`off`	No file writing tools available.
`create-only`	Can create new files but not overwrite existing ones. Blocks writes to sensitive paths.
`full`	Unrestricted file write and edit access.

Database modes

Mode	Behavior
`readonly`	Only SELECT queries. INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DROP, CREATE, ALTER, and TRUNCATE are blocked.
`mutations`	All SQL operations allowed.

Approval modes

Mode	Behavior
`all`	Every tool call requires user approval.
`dangerous`	Tools classified as dangerous require approval (bash, write, edit, database tools, delegate).
`granular`	Only tools listed in `required_tools` require approval.
`none`	No approval prompts.

Example: read-only with database approval

profile: production-research
description: "Read-only access with explicit approval for database queries"

shell:
  mode: restricted

file_write:
  mode: off

database:
  mode: readonly

approval:
  mode: granular
  required_tools:
    - postgres
    - oracle