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Profile semantics

Orcho starts by deciding what shape of work a task deserves.

A profile is not a visual theme, a model preset, or a convenience flag. It is the semantic contract for a run: lifecycle depth, gates, evidence, recovery policy, runtime posture, and operator control.

intentprofilephasesgatesevidence

The task says what you want. The profile says how carefully Orcho should handle the work before a result can be trusted.

Why profiles come first

Section titled “Why profiles come first”

If one agent can solve the task cleanly, use one agent.

Orcho begins where agent work intersects delivery risk: review, cost, gates, workspace boundaries, recovery, and accountability. Profiles keep that from becoming a vague “more process” decision. They turn it into an explicit operating shape.

What a profile decides

Section titled “What a profile decides”

Profiles can decide:

  • whether the run is planning-only, review-only, implementation, or full delivery;
  • whether review and final acceptance are required;
  • what counts as a blocking finding;
  • which evidence surfaces must be produced;
  • whether repair and correction follow-ups are part of the lifecycle;
  • how much state is preserved across phases;
  • whether the run stays in one project or coordinates a participant set.

Gates then enforce the profile. A profile chooses the workflow; a gate decides whether a phase result is good enough to continue.

Advisor selection

Section titled “Advisor selection”

If you do not know which profile fits a task, Orcho can act as a profile advisor. Use --profile auto-detect to ask Orcho to recommend a concrete work kind and mode before normal profile dispatch.

auto-detect is not a profile. It is a selector. The operator can accept the recommendation, override it, or configure threshold/fallback behavior for non-interactive runs.

Read Profile advisor before treating auto-selection as an autopilot.

Read runs through the profile

Section titled “Read runs through the profile”

When a run finishes, do not only ask “did the agent change code?”

Ask:

  • What profile did this run use?
  • Which phases did that profile require?
  • Which gates approved or rejected?
  • Which receipts did the profile expect?
  • Is the final decision strong enough for this task’s risk?

This is the difference between a transcript and an operating system for agent delivery. The transcript shows what happened. The profile tells you whether what happened was enough.

Starter shapes

Section titled “Starter shapes”

Use these as mental models, not as a complete product matrix:

Light mono-runOne project, one focused task, enough lifecycle to inspect the result.Controlled deliveryPlanning, implementation, review, repair if needed, and final acceptance.Review or planning modeUse Orcho to structure thinking, findings, and decisions without forcing implementation.Participant-set workflowOne feature intent split across project boundaries, with cross-surface evidence.

Next

Section titled “Next”