> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.prefect.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # profiles # `prefect.settings.profiles` ## Functions ### `load_profiles` ```python theme={null} load_profiles(include_defaults: bool = True) -> ProfilesCollection ``` Load profiles from the current profile path. Optionally include profiles from the default profile path. ### `load_current_profile` ```python theme={null} load_current_profile() -> Profile ``` Load the current profile from the default and current profile paths. This will *not* include settings from the current settings context. Only settings that have been persisted to the profiles file will be saved. ### `save_profiles` ```python theme={null} save_profiles(profiles: ProfilesCollection) -> None ``` Writes all non-default profiles to the current profiles path. ### `load_profile` ```python theme={null} load_profile(name: str) -> Profile ``` Load a single profile by name. ### `update_current_profile` ```python theme={null} update_current_profile(settings: dict[str | Setting, Any]) -> Profile ``` Update the persisted data for the profile currently in-use. If the profile does not exist in the profiles file, it will be created. Given settings will be merged with the existing settings as described in `ProfilesCollection.update_profile`. **Returns:** * The new profile. ## Classes ### `Profile` A user profile containing settings. **Methods:** #### `to_environment_variables` ```python theme={null} to_environment_variables(self) -> dict[str, str] ``` Convert the profile settings to a dictionary of environment variables. #### `validate_settings` ```python theme={null} validate_settings(self) -> None ``` Validate all settings in this profile by creating a partial Settings object with the nested structure properly constructed using accessor paths. ### `ProfilesCollection` " A utility class for working with a collection of profiles. Profiles in the collection must have unique names. The collection may store the name of the active profile. **Methods:** #### `active_profile` ```python theme={null} active_profile(self) -> Profile | None ``` Retrieve the active profile in this collection. #### `add_profile` ```python theme={null} add_profile(self, profile: Profile) -> None ``` Add a profile to the collection. If the profile name already exists, an exception will be raised. #### `items` ```python theme={null} items(self) -> list[tuple[str, Profile]] ``` #### `names` ```python theme={null} names(self) -> set[str] ``` Return a set of profile names in this collection. #### `remove_profile` ```python theme={null} remove_profile(self, name: str) -> None ``` Remove a profile from the collection. #### `set_active` ```python theme={null} set_active(self, name: str | None, check: bool = True) -> None ``` Set the active profile name in the collection. A null value may be passed to indicate that this collection does not determine the active profile. #### `to_dict` ```python theme={null} to_dict(self) -> dict[str, Any] ``` Convert to a dictionary suitable for writing to disk. #### `update_profile` ```python theme={null} update_profile(self, name: str, settings: dict[Setting, Any], source: Path | None = None) -> Profile ``` Add a profile to the collection or update the existing on if the name is already present in this collection. If updating an existing profile, the settings will be merged. Settings can be dropped from the existing profile by setting them to `None` in the new profile. Returns the new profile object. #### `without_profile_source` ```python theme={null} without_profile_source(self, path: Path | None) -> 'ProfilesCollection' ``` Remove profiles that were loaded from a given path. Returns a new collection.