# Profiles IDE Quickstart


This guide walks you through launching Profiles IDE and making your first changes to a Profiles project.

## Prerequisites

- A RudderStack workspace with [Profiles]({{< ref "profiles/overview" >}}) enabled
- A warehouse connection configured in your workspace as a destination
- Either an existing Profiles project or plans to create a new one

{{< tip >}}
If you're new to Profiles, you can ask Rudder AI within the Profiles IDE to explain concepts as you work, or see the [Profiles documentation]({{< ref "profiles/overview" >}}) for more information.
{{< /tip >}}

## Launch Profiles IDE

You can launch Profiles IDE whether you're creating a new project or editing an existing one.

### For existing projects

1. Open your Profiles project in RudderStack.
2. Click **Edit with Copilot**.

If you have a previous Profiles IDE session, you will see options to continue that session or create a new one. For more information, see [Session management]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/ide/ide-with-rudder-ai/version-control.md#session-management" >}}).

### For new projects

1. In your RudderStack workspace, navigate to **Profiles**.
2. Click **Create Project**.
3. Choose the option to build with Rudder AI.

## Set up your development environment

When launching the IDE, you need to specify a warehouse output location for development work. Rudder AI writes outputs here while you build and test **separately** from your production schema — this ensures your IDE experiments don't affect production data.

## Explore the IDE

Once the session launches, you see a development environment with three main areas:

- **Chat panel**: Converse with the Rudder AI assistant
- **File explorer**: Browse and open project files
- **Editor**: View and edit code, configuration files

Rudder AI has context about your warehouse schema, existing project structure, and Profiles best practices.

## Make your first changes

Try asking Rudder AI to help with a common task:

Some example prompts are listed below:

- Adding an id stitcher model: "Build an id stitcher model with user_id, email, and anonymous_ids as identifiers"
- Adding a single feature for an existing project: "Add a feature that calculates last purchase date"
- Exploring the current project: "Show me a list of all the current features"

Rudder AI automatically generates or modifies files based on your request. Review the changes in the editor, and ask follow-up questions to refine the code.

## Save and publish your work

All changes you make are tracked automatically in Git:

- **Save**: Commits your changes to a development branch
- **Publish**: Pushes your changes to the deployment branch

For your first session, click **Save** to commit your changes, then **Publish** when you're ready to deploy them.

See [Profiles IDE Version Control]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/ide/ide-with-rudder-ai/version-control.md" >}}) to learn more about Git workflows, session management, and team collaboration in Copilot.

## Help and support

See the [FAQ]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/ide/ide-with-rudder-ai/faq.md" >}}) guide for common questions, or ask Rudder AI directly — it can explain Profiles concepts and troubleshoot issues as you work.

## See more

| Guide | <div style="width: 300px;">Description</div> |
| :------ | :------ |
| [Use Profiles IDE with Rudder AI]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/ide/ide-with-rudder-ai/_index.md" >}}) | Use the Profiles IDE powered by Rudder AI to build, run, and debug your RudderStack Profiles projects |
| [Profiles IDE Version Control]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/ide/ide-with-rudder-ai/version-control.md" >}}) | Understand how Profiles IDE uses Git to track changes, manage sessions, and enable team collaboration |
| [Understand Rudder AI Context]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/ide/ide-with-rudder-ai/rudder-ai-context.md" >}}) | Understand what context Rudder AI has access to, including warehouse information, project files, and configuration details |
| [Rudder AI Security and Compliance in Profiles IDE]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/ide/ide-with-rudder-ai/security.md" >}}) | Learn about Rudder AI's security model, data access scope, and privacy guarantees when building Profiles projects |
| [Profiles IDE FAQ]({{< ref "profiles/dev-docs/ide/ide-with-rudder-ai/faq.md" >}}) | Answers to common questions about using Profiles IDE with Rudder AI |