Includes

includes lets a profile compose multiple components additively. Where extends is single-parent inheritance, includes is N-way splicing. Components are listed by name, and their files are folded into the resolved tree in a stable, declared order.

Authoring

Components live alongside profiles, under .claude-profiles/<name>/, but are referenced by includes rather than activated directly:

.claude-profiles/dev/profile.json

{
  "extends": "base",
  "includes": ["python-toolchain", "rust-toolchain", "shared-docs"]
}

Each name resolves to another .claude-profiles/<name>/ directory whose files contribute to the resolved tree.

How splicing works

Each component contributes files; dev resolves them in the listed order, and its own files (if any) win last.

The resolution order is: each extends chain first (deepest first), then each includes in declaration order, then the active profile’s own files. The last contributor wins when paths collide; the active profile is always last in the chain.

When to reach for includes

• You compose independent bundles — a Python toolchain, a Rust toolchain, a shared-docs pack — and want to mix-and-match without a single inheritance line.
• You want to keep components reusable across multiple profiles.

If your relationship is “one base, many tweaks”, extends is simpler.

Verifying

Run c3p validate <name> to confirm every include resolves. Missing includes fail validation with exit code 3.