How do I start using OCP?

Let's make two profiles that share a setting, then use one in OpenCode. Start with OCP installed. You can do this locally; you won't need Git until you want to sync with another machine.

What am I creating?

Your source is a directory of files you edit and keep. A profile describes a configuration for a particular kind of work. OCP reads the source and renders (generates) the configuration files your harness uses.

A harness is the application that runs your coding session and connects to models and tools. OpenCode is the harness supported today. OCP prepares its configuration; it doesn't replace the coding agent or its provider login.

Edit your source when you want to change something. Generated files belong to OCP, so changes made there can block the next render instead of flowing back into your source.

Make a source directory

Choose a directory you aren't already using for another configuration. This example uses ~/ocp-config:

mkdir -p ~/ocp-config/profiles
cd ~/ocp-config

Create ocp.yaml in that directory:

version: 1

config:
  formatter: true

YAML stores settings as key: value pairs. Indentation groups related settings, so use spaces rather than tabs. Here, formatter is a native OpenCode setting inside config, and every profile will share it. version: 1 selects OCP's configuration format.

Add your first profile

Create profiles/everyday.yaml:

config:
  model: openai/your-coding-model

The model ID is a placeholder. Replace it with a model available through your OpenCode provider. OCP does not supply model access or credentials.

Now create profiles/focused.yaml:

extends: everyday
config:
  model: anthropic/your-review-model

Replace that model ID too. extends means “start with the everyday profile, then apply these differences.” Both profiles keep the shared formatter setting; focused changes the model. You can use the same provider for both.

Set up OCP

Before continuing, keep a backup of any OpenCode configuration you care about. Setup preserves an existing global configuration so you can restore it later with ocp reset. OCP will manage the global configuration path used by OpenCode.

ocp setup --source "$HOME/ocp-config" --machine laptop

Passing --source selects this directory without interactive prompts. --machine laptop gives this machine a name you can use for local settings later; choose a name that makes sense for yours. Git is not required for this example.

Check the result:

ocp status
ocp list

Status shows the source and active profile. The profile list should include everyday and focused.

Apply and choose a profile

ocp apply
ocp use focused
opencode

apply renders the source without Git sync. use focused chooses the rendered profile for subsequent OpenCode runs. opencode starts the coding session. Make sure you've authenticated in OpenCode with the provider you selected.

To use another profile for one run without changing the active profile:

ocp run everyday

Change something

Edit the model in profiles/focused.yaml, then run ocp apply again. Run ocp status to check which profile is active. You don't need to copy generated files or edit another configuration directory.

Later, ocp sync can synchronize a Git-backed source and render profiles in one operation. It can commit source changes when automatic commits are enabled, and can push existing commits even when they're disabled. Read how sync works before using it on a shared repository.

Where do I go from here?

• Learn how profiles and shared components work.
• Bring the setup to another machine.
• Ask a coding agent to help.
• Restore your earlier configuration if you want to undo setup.