# rpk profile

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [cloud-data-platform-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform-full.txt)

---
title: rpk profile
latest-operator-version: v26.2.1
latest-console-tag: v3.9.0
latest-connect-version: 4.104.0
latest-redpanda-tag: v26.2.1
docname: rpk/rpk-profile/rpk-profile
page-component-name: cloud-data-platform
page-version: master
page-component-version: master
page-component-title: Cloud
page-relative-src-path: rpk/rpk-profile/rpk-profile.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/cloud-docs/edit/main/modules/reference/pages/rpk/rpk-profile/rpk-profile.adoc
page-git-created-date: "2024-07-25"
page-git-modified-date: "2026-05-26"
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform/reference/rpk/rpk-profile/rpk-profile.md -->

Manage `rpk` profiles.

An rpk profile talks to a single Redpanda cluster. You can create multiple profiles for multiple clusters and swap between them with `rpk profile use`. Multiple profiles may be useful if, for example, you use `rpk` to talk to a localhost cluster, a dev cluster, and a prod cluster, and you want to keep your configuration in one place.

You can also use the RPK\_PROFILE environment variable to temporarily override the current profile without modifying your configuration. The `--profile` flag takes precedence over the environment variable if both are set.

## [](#usage)Usage

```bash
rpk profile [flags]
```

## [](#subcommands)Subcommands

| Command | Description |
| --- | --- |
| rpk profile clear | Clear the current profile. This command clears the current profile, which can be useful to unset a production cluster profile. |
| rpk profile create | Create a new rpk profile with connection settings for a Redpanda cluster. |
| rpk profile current | Print the current profile name. This is a tiny command that simply prints the current profile name, which may be useful in scripts, or a PS1, or to confirm what you have selected. |
| rpk profile delete | Delete an rpk profile. Deleting a profile removes it from the rpk.yaml file. |
| rpk profile edit | Edit an rpk profile. This command opens your default editor to edit the specified profile, or the current profile if no profile is specified. |
| rpk profile edit-globals | Edit rpk globals. This command opens your default editor to edit the rpk global configurations. |
| rpk profile list | List rpk profiles. |
| rpk profile print | Print rpk profile configuration. If no name is specified, this command prints the current profile as it exists in the rpk.yaml file. |
| rpk profile print-globals | Print rpk global configuration. |
| rpk profile prompt | Prompt a profile name formatted for a PS1 prompt. This command prints ANSI-escaped text per your current profile’s prompt field. |
| rpk profile rename-to | Rename the current rpk profile. This command renames the currently active profile to the specified name. |
| rpk profile set | Set fields in the current rpk profile. As in the create command, this command takes a list of key=value pairs to write to the current profile. |
| rpk profile set-globals | Set rpk globals fields. This command takes a list of key=value pairs to write to the global config section of rpk.yaml. |
| rpk profile use | Switch to a different rpk profile, making it the active profile for subsequent rpk commands. |

## [](#global-flags)Global flags

| Value | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| --config | string | Redpanda or rpk config file; default search paths are ~/.config/rpk/rpk.yaml, $PWD/redpanda.yaml, and /etc/redpanda/redpanda.yaml. |
| -X, --config-opt | stringArray | Override rpk configuration settings; -X help for detail or -X list for terser detail. |
| --ignore-profile | bool | Ignore rpk.yaml and redpanda.yaml; use default settings. |
| --profile | string | rpk profile to use. |
| -v, --verbose | bool | Enable verbose logging. |