# Members Use `.bento/members.yaml` to maintain the people, agents, and services that Bento addresses. This page describes the manual member directory for Self-Hosted deployments. > **Bento Cloud:** Cloud-managed member directories are coming soon. Until then, maintain `.bento/members.yaml` in your Self-Hosted project. ## Create a member directory Add one entry for each member that Bento must resolve. Use a stable member key and at least one provider identity. ```yaml members: arnold: name: Arnold Porter kind: person identities: github: id: "42714653" handle: arnoldporter slack: id: U04AB12CD ``` ## Maintain identities Use the provider account `id` for routing. Keep the `id` when a person changes their provider handle. Use `handle` as a readable alias and as a fallback for webhook payloads that contain no provider ID. A handle can change without changing the member key or provider ID. Supported providers are `github`, `slack`, and `linear`. Each identity needs a non-empty provider `id`. Use `kind` to describe the entry. The default is `person`. | `kind` | Use for | | --- | --- | | `person` | A person who can answer an eval. | | `agent` | An agent that Bento knows but does not ask for an eval. | | `service` | A service identity that Bento does not ask for an eval. | Set `status: deactivated` when a person should not receive new eval requests. Keep the entry so that historical references still resolve. ## Create groups Use `.bento/groups.yaml` to define named sets of members. ```yaml groups: reviewers: members: [arnold] ``` Reference member keys in groups. Do not use handles. Groups contain member keys, not other groups. ## Validate the directory Run the configuration validator after you add, rename, deactivate, or remove a member: ```bash bento config validate ``` The validator checks member identities, duplicate provider IDs, duplicate handles, group membership, and literal eval recipients. It also checks the result-field paths in `eval.of` and `eval.labels` against a declared `result.schema`. ## Use members in evals An `eval.of` value can name a member key, a member handle, a provider account ID, or a group: ```yaml eval: of: arnold ``` See the [pipeline eval reference](/pipelines/config#eval) for recipient and result-based routing.