> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pidgeon.health/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Vendor Profiles

> Learn your vendor's real message patterns once, then generate and validate against them everywhere. Portable across engagements.

Point Post at a sample directory, and it extracts field population rates, segment ordering, value set preferences, and formatting conventions into a reusable profile. Three commands: analyze, generate, validate.

## Workflow

<Steps>
  <Step title="Analyze sample messages">
    ```bash theme={null}
    pidgeon config analyze --samples ./epic-messages --save epic_er
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Generate with the profile">
    ```bash theme={null}
    pidgeon generate ADT^A01 --vendor epic_er --count 20
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Validate against the profile">
    ```bash theme={null}
    pidgeon validate --file test.hl7 --profile epic_er
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What a Profile Captures

| Pattern               | Description                                   |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Field population      | Which fields are populated and how often      |
| Segment ordering      | The order segments appear in messages         |
| Value set preferences | Which coded values the system uses            |
| Field formatting      | Date formats, name formats, ID patterns       |
| Optional field usage  | Which optional fields are treated as required |

## Built-in Vendor Baselines

Post includes baseline profiles for Epic, Cerner (Oracle Health), AllScripts, and Meditech.

<Info>Built-in profiles provide a starting point. For best results, create custom profiles from your actual message samples — every installation is different.</Info>

## Profile Management

```bash theme={null}
pidgeon config list              # List saved profiles
pidgeon config show epic_er      # Show profile details
pidgeon config use epic_er       # Set as default
pidgeon config export epic_er    # Export as JSON
pidgeon config diff epic_er cerner_lab  # Compare two profiles
```