Workflow Presets

Presets are named bundles of workflow configuration that simplify PAW initialization. Instead of specifying individual settings each time, reference a preset by name.

Using Presets

Reference a preset when starting a workflow:

paw this with quick
paw this issue with thorough
paw this with my-setup but final-pr-only review

Explicit overrides always take precedence over preset values.

Built-in Presets

PAW ships with seven presets covering common patterns:

Preset	Description
quick	Minimal mode, local strategy, final-pr-only review. No planning docs review or final review.
standard	Full mode with milestones review, multi-model planning review, single-model final review.
thorough	Full mode with planning-only review, multi-model planning review, SoT debate final review.
team	Full mode with PRs strategy, every-stage review, multi-model planning and final review.
auto	Full mode, local strategy, final-pr-only. Burns through everything with no human pauses until the final PR.
auto-full	Extends auto — adds multi-model planning with perspectives and SoT debate final review. Maximum rigor, zero human interrupts.
shaping-full	Extends auto-full — starts with interactive work shaping, then burns through the rest autonomously.

Canonical YAML definitions live in skills/paw-init/references/presets/. Fields not specified by a preset use PAW's standard defaults.

Custom Presets

Create YAML files in ~/.paw/presets/ to define custom presets:

name: my-setup
description: My preferred workflow configuration
config:
  workflow_mode: full
  review_strategy: local
  review_policy: planning-only
  planning_docs_review: enabled
  planning_review_mode: multi-model
  final_agent_review: enabled
  final_review_mode: society-of-thought
  final_review_interaction_mode: debate
  artifact_lifecycle: commit-and-clean

The filename (minus .yaml) is the preset name. Only include fields you want to override — unspecified fields use PAW defaults.

Inheritance

A preset can extend another using the extends field:

name: quick-with-review
description: Quick preset but with final review enabled
extends: quick
config:
  final_agent_review: enabled
  final_review_mode: single-model

Extends chains are supported (up to 5 levels deep). The most-specific preset wins for each field.

Default Preset

Mark a preset as default to apply it automatically when no preset is specified:

name: my-default
description: Applied automatically
default: true
config:
  review_policy: planning-only
  planning_docs_review: enabled

Only one preset can be marked as default. If multiple defaults exist, PAW reports the conflict.

Precedence

When resolving configuration, PAW applies values in this order (lowest to highest priority):

1. Table defaults — PAW's built-in default values
2. User-level defaults — Settings from copilot-instructions.md or AGENTS.md
3. Preset — Values from the referenced (or default) preset
4. Explicit overrides — Values specified in the current request

This means an explicitly requested preset overrides any background configuration files.

Discovering Presets

Ask PAW to list available presets:

paw status — list presets
what presets are available?

This shows both built-in and user-defined presets with descriptions.

User Presets Override Built-ins

If you create a user preset with the same name as a built-in (e.g., ~/.paw/presets/quick.yaml), your version takes precedence.