diff --git a/cmd/profiles.go b/cmd/profiles.go
index 046364c..c19d3ca 100644
--- a/cmd/profiles.go
+++ b/cmd/profiles.go
@@ -1,18 +1,21 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
+	"archive/tar"
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/kernel/cli/pkg/util"
 	"github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk"
 	"github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk/option"
 	"github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk/packages/pagination"
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd"
 	"github.com/pterm/pterm"
 	"github.com/samber/lo"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -51,8 +54,7 @@ type ProfilesDeleteInput struct {
 
 type ProfilesDownloadInput struct {
 	Identifier string
-	Output     string
-	Pretty     bool
+	To         string
 }
 
 // ProfilesCmd handles profile operations independent of cobra.
@@ -246,48 +248,91 @@ func (p ProfilesCmd) Delete(ctx context.Context, in ProfilesDeleteInput) error {
 }
 
 func (p ProfilesCmd) Download(ctx context.Context, in ProfilesDownloadInput) error {
+	if in.To == "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("missing required --to <path> for extraction directory")
+	}
+
 	res, err := p.profiles.Download(ctx, in.Identifier)
 	if err != nil {
 		return util.CleanedUpSdkError{Err: err}
 	}
 	defer res.Body.Close()
 
-	if in.Output == "" {
-		pterm.Error.Println("Missing --to output file path")
+	if res.StatusCode == http.StatusAccepted {
 		_, _ = io.Copy(io.Discard, res.Body)
+		pterm.Info.Printf("Profile '%s' has no saved data yet. Use it in a browser session first to capture state.\n", in.Identifier)
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	f, err := os.Create(in.Output)
+	if res.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
+		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected status %d from profile download: %s", res.StatusCode, strings.TrimSpace(string(body)))
+	}
+
+	if err := extractProfileArchive(res.Body, in.To); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("extract profile archive: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	pterm.Success.Printf("Extracted profile '%s' to %s\n", in.Identifier, in.To)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// extractProfileArchive streams a zstd-compressed tar archive into destDir.
+// Files and directories are created relative to destDir; symlinks and other
+// special entry types are skipped. Path-traversal entries are rejected.
+func extractProfileArchive(r io.Reader, destDir string) error {
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(destDir, 0o755); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("create destination: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	cleanedDest, err := filepath.Abs(destDir)
 	if err != nil {
-		pterm.Error.Printf("Failed to create file: %v\n", err)
-		return nil
+		return fmt.Errorf("resolve destination: %w", err)
 	}
-	defer f.Close()
-	if in.Pretty {
-		var buf bytes.Buffer
-		body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
-		if len(body) == 0 {
-			pterm.Error.Println("Empty response body")
-			return nil
+
+	decoder, err := zstd.NewReader(r)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("zstd init: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer decoder.Close()
+
+	tr := tar.NewReader(decoder)
+	for {
+		header, err := tr.Next()
+		if errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
+			break
 		}
-		if err := json.Indent(&buf, body, "", "  "); err != nil {
-			pterm.Error.Printf("Failed to pretty-print JSON: %v\n", err)
-			return nil
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("tar read: %w", err)
 		}
-		if _, err := io.Copy(f, &buf); err != nil {
-			pterm.Error.Printf("Failed to write pretty-printed JSON: %v\n", err)
-			return nil
+
+		destPath := filepath.Join(cleanedDest, header.Name)
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(destPath, cleanedDest+string(os.PathSeparator)) && destPath != cleanedDest {
+			return fmt.Errorf("illegal entry path: %s", header.Name)
 		}
-		return nil
-	} else {
-		if _, err := io.Copy(f, res.Body); err != nil {
-			pterm.Error.Printf("Failed to write file: %v\n", err)
-			return nil
+
+		switch header.Typeflag {
+		case tar.TypeDir:
+			if err := os.MkdirAll(destPath, 0o755); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("mkdir %s: %w", destPath, err)
+			}
+		case tar.TypeReg:
+			if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(destPath), 0o755); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("mkdir parent of %s: %w", destPath, err)
+			}
+			f, err := os.OpenFile(destPath, os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, os.FileMode(header.Mode)&0o777)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("create %s: %w", destPath, err)
+			}
+			if _, err := io.Copy(f, tr); err != nil {
+				f.Close()
+				return fmt.Errorf("write %s: %w", destPath, err)
+			}
+			if err := f.Close(); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("close %s: %w", destPath, err)
+			}
 		}
 	}
-
-	pterm.Success.Printf("Saved profile to %s\n", in.Output)
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -329,8 +374,9 @@ var profilesDeleteCmd = &cobra.Command{
 }
 
 var profilesDownloadCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "download <id-or-name>",
-	Short: "Download a profile as a ZIP archive",
+	Use:   "download <id-or-name> --to <dir>",
+	Short: "Download a profile and extract it to a directory",
+	Long:  "Download a profile and extract its zstd-compressed user-data tar archive into the directory given by --to. The directory is created if it does not exist.",
 	Args:  cobra.ExactArgs(1),
 	RunE:  runProfilesDownload,
 }
@@ -350,8 +396,8 @@ func init() {
 	profilesCreateCmd.Flags().StringP("output", "o", "", "Output format: json for raw API response")
 	profilesCreateCmd.Flags().String("name", "", "Optional unique profile name")
 	profilesDeleteCmd.Flags().BoolP("yes", "y", false, "Skip confirmation prompt")
-	profilesDownloadCmd.Flags().String("to", "", "Output zip file path")
-	profilesDownloadCmd.Flags().Bool("pretty", false, "Pretty-print JSON to file")
+	profilesDownloadCmd.Flags().String("to", "", "Directory to extract the profile into (required)")
+	_ = profilesDownloadCmd.MarkFlagRequired("to")
 }
 
 func runProfilesList(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
@@ -398,9 +444,8 @@ func runProfilesDelete(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 
 func runProfilesDownload(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	client := getKernelClient(cmd)
-	out, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("to")
-	pretty, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("pretty")
+	to, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("to")
 	svc := client.Profiles
 	p := ProfilesCmd{profiles: &svc}
-	return p.Download(cmd.Context(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: args[0], Output: out, Pretty: pretty})
+	return p.Download(cmd.Context(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: args[0], To: to})
 }
diff --git a/cmd/profiles_test.go b/cmd/profiles_test.go
index 8995b75..73f84c0 100644
--- a/cmd/profiles_test.go
+++ b/cmd/profiles_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
+	"archive/tar"
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"errors"
@@ -8,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -15,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk"
 	"github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk/option"
 	"github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk/packages/pagination"
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd"
 	"github.com/pterm/pterm"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
@@ -224,86 +227,92 @@ func TestProfilesDelete_SkipConfirm(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Contains(t, buf.String(), "Deleted profile: a")
 }
 
-func TestProfilesDownload_MissingOutput(t *testing.T) {
-	buf := captureProfilesOutput(t)
-	fake := &FakeProfilesService{DownloadFunc: func(ctx context.Context, idOrName string, opts ...option.RequestOption) (*http.Response, error) {
-		return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader("content")), Header: http.Header{}}, nil
-	}}
+// makeProfileArchive builds a zstd-compressed tar archive from a map of file
+// paths to contents, for use in download tests.
+func makeProfileArchive(t *testing.T, files map[string]string) []byte {
+	t.Helper()
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	zw, err := zstd.NewWriter(&buf)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	tw := tar.NewWriter(zw)
+	for name, content := range files {
+		hdr := &tar.Header{Name: name, Mode: 0o644, Size: int64(len(content)), Typeflag: tar.TypeReg}
+		assert.NoError(t, tw.WriteHeader(hdr))
+		_, err := tw.Write([]byte(content))
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+	}
+	assert.NoError(t, tw.Close())
+	assert.NoError(t, zw.Close())
+	return buf.Bytes()
+}
+
+func TestProfilesDownload_MissingTo(t *testing.T) {
+	fake := &FakeProfilesService{}
 	p := ProfilesCmd{profiles: fake}
-	_ = p.Download(context.Background(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: "p1", Output: "", Pretty: false})
-	assert.Contains(t, buf.String(), "Missing --to output file path")
+	err := p.Download(context.Background(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: "p1", To: ""})
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "missing required --to")
 }
 
-func TestProfilesDownload_RawSuccess(t *testing.T) {
+func TestProfilesDownload_ExtractSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 	buf := captureProfilesOutput(t)
-	f, err := os.CreateTemp("", "profile-*.zip")
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "profile-*")
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	name := f.Name()
-	_ = f.Close()
-	defer os.Remove(name)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
 
-	content := "hello"
+	archive := makeProfileArchive(t, map[string]string{
+		"Default/Preferences": "{\"k\":1}",
+		"Local State":         "local",
+	})
 	fake := &FakeProfilesService{DownloadFunc: func(ctx context.Context, idOrName string, opts ...option.RequestOption) (*http.Response, error) {
-		return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader(content)), Header: http.Header{}}, nil
+		return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(archive)), Header: http.Header{}}, nil
 	}}
 	p := ProfilesCmd{profiles: fake}
-	_ = p.Download(context.Background(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: "p1", Output: name, Pretty: false})
-
-	b, readErr := os.ReadFile(name)
-	assert.NoError(t, readErr)
-	assert.Equal(t, content, string(b))
-	assert.Contains(t, buf.String(), "Saved profile to "+name)
-}
-
-func TestProfilesDownload_PrettySuccess(t *testing.T) {
-	f, err := os.CreateTemp("", "profile-*.json")
+	err = p.Download(context.Background(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: "p1", To: dir})
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	name := f.Name()
-	_ = f.Close()
-	defer os.Remove(name)
 
-	jsonBody := "{\"a\":1}"
-	fake := &FakeProfilesService{DownloadFunc: func(ctx context.Context, idOrName string, opts ...option.RequestOption) (*http.Response, error) {
-		return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader(jsonBody)), Header: http.Header{}}, nil
-	}}
-	p := ProfilesCmd{profiles: fake}
-	_ = p.Download(context.Background(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: "p1", Output: name, Pretty: true})
+	b, readErr := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(dir, "Default", "Preferences"))
+	assert.NoError(t, readErr)
+	assert.Equal(t, "{\"k\":1}", string(b))
 
-	b, readErr := os.ReadFile(name)
+	b2, readErr := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(dir, "Local State"))
 	assert.NoError(t, readErr)
-	out := string(b)
-	assert.Contains(t, out, "\n")
-	assert.Contains(t, out, "\"a\": 1")
+	assert.Equal(t, "local", string(b2))
+
+	assert.Contains(t, buf.String(), "Extracted profile 'p1' to "+dir)
 }
 
-func TestProfilesDownload_PrettyEmptyBody(t *testing.T) {
+func TestProfilesDownload_202NoData(t *testing.T) {
 	buf := captureProfilesOutput(t)
-	f, err := os.CreateTemp("", "profile-*.json")
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "profile-*")
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	name := f.Name()
-	_ = f.Close()
-	defer os.Remove(name)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
 
 	fake := &FakeProfilesService{DownloadFunc: func(ctx context.Context, idOrName string, opts ...option.RequestOption) (*http.Response, error) {
-		return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader("")), Header: http.Header{}}, nil
+		return &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusAccepted, Body: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader("")), Header: http.Header{}}, nil
 	}}
 	p := ProfilesCmd{profiles: fake}
-	_ = p.Download(context.Background(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: "p1", Output: name, Pretty: true})
-	assert.Contains(t, buf.String(), "Empty response body")
+	err = p.Download(context.Background(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: "fresh", To: dir})
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Contains(t, buf.String(), "no saved data yet")
+
+	entries, _ := os.ReadDir(dir)
+	assert.Empty(t, entries)
 }
 
-func TestProfilesDownload_PrettyInvalidJSON(t *testing.T) {
-	buf := captureProfilesOutput(t)
-	f, err := os.CreateTemp("", "profile-*.json")
+func TestProfilesDownload_PathTraversalRejected(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "profile-*")
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	name := f.Name()
-	_ = f.Close()
-	defer os.Remove(name)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
 
+	archive := makeProfileArchive(t, map[string]string{
+		"../escape": "nope",
+	})
 	fake := &FakeProfilesService{DownloadFunc: func(ctx context.Context, idOrName string, opts ...option.RequestOption) (*http.Response, error) {
-		return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader("not json")), Header: http.Header{}}, nil
+		return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(archive)), Header: http.Header{}}, nil
 	}}
 	p := ProfilesCmd{profiles: fake}
-	_ = p.Download(context.Background(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: "p1", Output: name, Pretty: true})
-	assert.Contains(t, buf.String(), "Failed to pretty-print JSON")
+	err = p.Download(context.Background(), ProfilesDownloadInput{Identifier: "p1", To: dir})
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "illegal entry path")
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8da7e41..53e8873 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ require (
 	github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss/v2 v2.0.0-beta.1
 	github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5 v5.2.2
 	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1
-	github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk v0.48.0
+	github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk v0.52.0
+	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.5
 	github.com/pkg/browser v0.0.0-20240102092130-5ac0b6a4141c
 	github.com/pterm/pterm v0.12.80
 	github.com/samber/lo v1.51.0
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.47.0
 	golang.org/x/oauth2 v0.30.0
 	golang.org/x/sync v0.19.0
+	golang.org/x/term v0.39.0
 )
 
 require (
@@ -55,7 +57,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/tidwall/sjson v1.2.5 // indirect
 	github.com/xo/terminfo v0.0.0-20220910002029-abceb7e1c41e // indirect
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.40.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/term v0.39.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/text v0.33.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 2b1d6dd..12e488c 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -64,8 +64,10 @@ github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 h1:wN+x4NVGpMsO7ErUn/mUI3vEoE6Jt13X2
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0/go.mod h1:vpF70FUmC8bwa3OWnCshd2FqLfsEA9PFc4w1p2J65bw=
 github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1 h1:7eLL/+HRGLY0ldzfGMeQkb7vMd0as4CfYvUVzLqw0N0=
 github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1/go.mod h1:f4LDr5Voq0i2e/R5DDNOoa2zzDfwtkZa6DnEwAbqwq4=
-github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk v0.48.0 h1:XX1VVs8D5q+rBMkZovXmKAQa94w+6oEJzxBLikfPaxw=
-github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk v0.48.0/go.mod h1:EeZzSuHZVeHKxKCPUzxou2bovNGhXaz0RXrSqKNf1AQ=
+github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk v0.52.0 h1:ChRAMo6oMAEmazC610FtcqKFO/cqHzU9v1ECF0MiR8E=
+github.com/kernel/kernel-go-sdk v0.52.0/go.mod h1:EeZzSuHZVeHKxKCPUzxou2bovNGhXaz0RXrSqKNf1AQ=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.5 h1:/h1gH5Ce+VWNLSWqPzOVn6XBO+vJbCNGvjoaGBFW2IE=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.5/go.mod h1:cwPg85FWrGar70rWktvGQj8/hthj3wpl0PGDogxkrSQ=
 github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.0.9/go.mod h1:FInQzS24/EEf25PyTYn52gqo7WaD8xa0213Md/qVLRg=
 github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.0.10/go.mod h1:g2LTdtYhdyuGPqyWyv7qRAmj1WBqxuObKfj5c0PQa7c=
 github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.0.12/go.mod h1:g2LTdtYhdyuGPqyWyv7qRAmj1WBqxuObKfj5c0PQa7c=