> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.sonarsource.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/viewing-quality-profiles.md). # Viewing quality profiles Any user can view and compare quality profiles in SonarQube Cloud. For information about the how a quality profile works, see the [Understanding quality profiles](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/understanding-quality-profiles.md) page. ## Retrieving quality profiles * Go to *Your organization* > **Policies** > **Quality profiles**. See [Retrieving your organizations](/sonarqube-cloud/getting-started/viewing-organizations.md) to access your organization. The page has two tabs: **General**, for general profiles, and **Language-specific**, for the profiles of each language. See [Understanding quality profiles](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/understanding-quality-profiles.md#profile-types) for the difference between the two. ### General tab On the **General** tab, you can switch between **In use** and **All**: * **In use** lists the general profiles that are the default for at least one language. * **All** lists all general profiles: the three built-in Sonar way profiles first, then your custom general profiles.
The General tab showing In use and All, with profile cards and the list of languages that Sonar way comprehensive is the default for
Each profile is shown as a card with: * The profile name and its tags: * **Default for *****N*****/*****M***** languages**: the profile is the default for *N* of the *M* supported languages. Select the tag to see the list of these languages. * **Built-in**: the profile is one of the built-in Sonar way profiles. * A description for a built-in profile, or the rule activation thresholds for Security, Reliability, and Maintainability for a custom profile. * The security standards the profile covers: **All standards covered**, or **Covers *****N*****/*****M***** standards**. Select the label to see the list of covered standards. * **Manually assigned to some projects**, if the profile is assigned to projects directly. See [Associating with projects](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/associating-a-quality-profile-with-projects.md). * An action menu with **Set as default** and **Assign projects**. For a custom profile, the menu also has **Edit** and **Delete**. To see the rules of a general profile, open it from the **Language-specific** tab, where custom general profiles are listed for each language with a **General custom profile** label. ### Language-specific tab
The Language-specific tab filtered by Azure Pipelines, listing four quality profiles next to the Deprecated rules section
1. In the left column, you can see a list of profile sets by language. Quality profiles inherited from a parent profile are displayed under their parent and with a left indent. Custom general profiles are listed for each language with a **General custom profile** label.\ This list includes the following columns: * The **Projects** column shows the count of projects associated with a quality profile. Alternatively, it displays **Default** when the profile is the language’s default (any project not explicitly associated with a quality profile is associated with the organization’s default profile). * The **Rules** column shows the total count of active rules within the profile. If any of these active rules are deprecated, their number also appears with a pink background. * The **Updated** column shows when the quality profile was last updated. * The **Used** column shows when the quality profile was last used during a project analysis. 2. In the right column, you can see different sections with information relating to details associated with existing quality profiles: * The **Deprecated rules** section lists the quality profiles that contain deprecated rules. * The **Recently added rules** section lists newly added rules and shows whether they’re currently active in each profile. * The **Stagnant profiles** section lists the custom profiles that have not been updated for more than one year. ## Viewing a quality profile On the **Language-specific** tab of the **Quality profiles** page: 1. To view a specific language, select a language in **Filter by** at the top of the left-hand side list of quality profiles. 2. Select the quality profile you want to open a detailed view. The quality profile page includes the following sections:
Quality profiles detailed view
1. **Inheritance**: shows the quality profile with its possible parent(s) and / or children. For each profile, the number of active, inactive, and overridden rules in the profile is shown. Select a number to view the corresponding list of rules. 2. **Projects**: shows the projects explicitly associated with the quality profile. 3. **Rule breakdown**: shows statistics about active and inactive rules contained in the quality profile. Select a statistic to view the corresponding rules. 4. If you have the Administer Quality Profiles permission, you will also see a **Permissions** section under the **Projects** section. The **Permissions** section shows the users and groups authorized to manage this quality profile. A custom general profile opens the same page, with a **General custom profile** label next to its name. In its **Inheritance** section, **Change parent** is unavailable because a general profile always inherits from Sonar way comprehensive. The **Rule breakdown** section also shows how many Sonar way comprehensive rules the profile does not include. Select the number to see these rules. ## Comparing quality profiles Compare quality profiles of the same language, including custom general profiles, on the **Language-specific** tab. To compare one profile with another: 1. In the SonarQube UI, retrieve one of the quality profiles you want to compare (quality-profile-1). 2. In the top right corner of the quality profile page, select the action menu, and select **Compare** in the menu. The comparison page opens. 3. In **Compare with**, select the profile to be compared to (quality-profile-2). The comparison results are displayed on the page. The left column corresponds to quality-profile-1 and the right column to quality-profile-2. In the comparison results, you can select a rule to inspect it. In this example, the comparison reveals the following differences between the two profiles: 1. The left column shows additional rules in the quality-profile-1, which you can deactivate. 2. The right column shows fewer rules in the quality-profile-2, which you can activate.
The quality profile comparison page
The comparison can also show rules that are configured differently in the two profiles. ## Viewing the overridden rules of a quality profile A rule is considered overridden in a custom quality profile if this profile defines, for this rule, different configurable parameters than its parent quality profile. To view the overridden rules of a quality profile: 1\. Retrieve the quality profile as described in [#viewing-a-quality-profile](#viewing-a-quality-profile "mention"). The number of overridden rules in the profile (if any) is shown in the **Inheritance** section.
The number of overridden rules
2\. Select the **<*****X*****> overridden rules** hyperlink. The list of overridden rules is displayed. 3\. In the list, select a rule on the **Rules** page and navigate to the **Quality Profiles** section to **Change**, **Revert**, or **Deactivate** the rule completely. ## Viewing the change history of a quality profile 1. Retrieve the quality profile as described in [#viewing-a-quality-profile](#viewing-a-quality-profile "mention"). 2. In the top right corner of the profile page, select **See Changelog**. The profile change history opens and lists the different actions performed on rules in the quality profile: * **Date**: action date. * **User**: user who performed the action. * **Action**: action type (the user activated, deactivated, or updated the rule). * **Rule**: rule on which the action was performed. * **Updates**: * For an Updated action: describes the update. * For an Activated action: shows the rule’s severity level. ## Viewing the projects associated with a quality profile The **Projects** section of a quality profile shows the projects associated with the profile. See [#viewing-a-quality-profile](#viewing-a-quality-profile "mention"). ## Viewing the quality profiles where a rule is active To view the quality profiles where a given rule is active: 1. See [Retrieving your organizations](/sonarqube-cloud/getting-started/viewing-organizations.md) to access your organization. 2. Go to **Rules** and retrieve the rule. 3. In the rule page, navigate to the bottom to the **Quality Profiles** section. The section lists all quality profiles where the rule is active.
Quality profiles for a rule
## Related pages * [Built-in quality profiles](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/built-in-quality-profiles.md) * [Understanding quality profiles](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/understanding-quality-profiles.md) * [Creating a quality profile](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/creating-a-quality-profile.md) * [Editing a quality profile](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/editing-a-custom-quality-profile.md) * [Associating with projects](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/associating-a-quality-profile-with-projects.md) * [Changing default quality profile](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/changing-default-quality-profile.md) * [Maintaining quality profiles](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/maintaining-your-custom-quality-profiles.md) * [Granting permissions to users](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/authorizing-other-users-to-manage-quality-profile.md) * [Quality profile](/sonarqube-cloud/managing-your-projects/project-analysis/quality-profile-association.md) * [Quality profiles for agentic AI](/sonarqube-cloud/standards/ai-code-assurance/quality-profiles-for-agentic-ai.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters: ``` GET https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-cloud/standards/managing-quality-profiles/viewing-quality-profiles.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.