#Profiles and Onboarding

Profiles keep separate Sero working environments, such as Work, Personal, or Research. Each profile has a SERO_HOME directory. Sero stores that profile's agent files under <SERO_HOME>/agent/.

Profiles are practical local separation, not cryptographic isolation. Someone who can read your profile folder can read sensitive profile files such as provider auth, environment variables, prompts, memory, and workspace metadata.

#Fast path

1. Launch Sero.
2. Create a profile name such as Work or Personal.
3. Optionally choose a custom storage location.
4. If you already have another profile, choose whether to copy credentials and model preferences from it.
5. Connect at least one model provider.
6. Pick LOW, MED, and HIGH model defaults.
7. Optionally connect GitHub.
8. Open or create a workspace.

#What a profile owns

The default profile usually uses ~/.sero-ui/ as <SERO_HOME>, so its agent directory is ~/.sero-ui/agent/. Sero intentionally uses this profile-scoped agent directory for Pi-backed agent state.

#First run

On first launch, Sero asks for a profile name. If no profile exists, the first profile is created and activated. Existing installs are migrated by creating a Default profile that points at ~/.sero-ui/; existing data is not moved as part of that migration.

After the profile exists, onboarding checks whether Sero can use a model provider. If not, it opens provider authentication so you can sign in through OAuth where supported or add an API key. Then Sero asks you to choose LOW, MED, and HIGH model tiers with compatible thinking levels.

GitHub setup is optional during onboarding. Connect it if you want repository workflows such as clone, fetch, push, and pull-request-related actions.

#Custom profile locations

When creating a profile, you can choose a custom storage folder. The profile name is independent from the folder name, and the selected folder becomes that profile's <SERO_HOME>.

Sero prevents obvious overlapping profile paths so one profile is not nested inside another existing profile by accident. Keep custom profile folders outside synced/shared locations unless you understand the privacy and conflict risks.

#Switching profiles

Use the profile switcher in the title bar to choose another profile. Switching profiles updates the active profile in ~/.sero-ui/profiles.json and restarts Sero so process-level state, Chromium user data, provider auth, workspaces, sessions, and plugin state are reloaded from the new <SERO_HOME>.

If switching fails, the UI keeps the profile action visible and reports the restart-aware error. Relaunching Sero normally loads the active profile recorded in the registry.

#Recovering profiles that are already on disk

If ~/.sero-ui/profiles.json is empty or was reset, Sero offers the profile folders that still exist instead of making you start over.

• On the first-run screen, profiles found on this computer are listed above the create-profile form with their folder path and when each was last modified. Choose Open to register one at the folder it already occupies and restart into it.
• The profile switcher keeps listing profile folders that are not registered yet, so opening one never hides the others.
• Sero looks for these folders under ~/.sero-ui/profiles/, at the Sero root itself (~/.sero-ui/), and in the most recent profiles.broken-*.json backup beside profiles.json.

Nothing is copied or moved when you open a profile. Sero registers the folder where it already is.

If the registry fails to load at startup, the recovery dialog offers Keep existing profiles first. That choice rebuilds the registry from the profiles the broken file still names and whose folders exist, and saves the broken file as a profiles.broken-*.json backup. Reset stays available when nothing can be kept.

Permanent deletion is offered only for a folder that a Sero record marks as Sero-managed. A recovered folder whose ownership no record proves is kept and is never offered for deletion.

#Copying credentials and model preferences

When you create a profile, Sero can copy credentials and model preferences from the active profile. It does not copy workspaces, sessions, memory, or general app state.

The copy flow can include these profile-agent files when they have meaningful content:

Only use this option when the new profile should trust the same providers, local endpoints, and credentials.

#Removing profiles

Use the profile menu to manage an inactive profile:

• Retain files unregisters the profile and deletes its Sero-owned containers. It keeps all profile and workspace files.
• Delete files also permanently deletes the profile folder. Sero shows this option only for a folder that it created under its managed profiles directory.

Sero will not remove the only profile or the active profile. Switch to another profile first. The permanent option is never available for the main ~/.sero-ui folder, a custom folder, or a legacy profile with uncertain folder ownership.

#Redaction checklist

Before sharing screenshots, logs, or support bundles, redact:

• ~/.sero-ui/profiles.json
• <SERO_HOME>/agent/auth.json
• <SERO_HOME>/agent/.env
• <SERO_HOME>/agent/github-auth.json
• gateway token/config files
• <SERO_HOME>/agent/models.json when it contains private endpoints, headers, or keys
• workspace paths, prompts, memory files, and app state

#Related docs

• Models and Providers
• Local LLMs with LM Studio
• State and Folders
• Security / Privacy