agent-harness

name	agent-harness
description	Use when making a repo agent-ready, verifying harness consistency, checking for documentation drift, bootstrapping harness infrastructure (AGENTS.md as index, docs/ structure, CI verification, enforcement mechanisms), or auditing repo agent-readiness maturity level.
license	(MIT AND CC-BY-SA-4.0). See LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-CC-BY-SA-4.0
compatibility	Requires Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep tools
metadata	{"author":"Netresearch DTT GmbH","version":"1.7.1","repository":"https://github.com/netresearch/agent-harness-skill"}
allowed-tools	Bash(git:*,make:*,bash:*,wc:*,test:*,chmod:*) Read Write Edit Glob Grep Agent

Agent Harness

The agent harness makes a repo agent-ready with self-sustaining enforcement. This skill installs it; CI, hooks, and conventions then enforce it.

Modes

1. Verify (primary)

Always start here. From the target repo root, run:

scripts/verify-harness.sh

Analyse the output and fix or suggest fixes. Verification checks dead references, line counts, missing artefacts, and command/target alignment.

2. Bootstrap

When artefacts are missing, create them from templates:

Artefact	Template	Platform
AGENTS.md	templates/AGENTS.md.tmpl	All
docs/ARCHITECTURE.md	templates/ARCHITECTURE.md.tmpl	All
docs/exec-plans/{active,completed}/	Create directories	All
.github/workflows/harness-verify.yml	templates/harness-verify.yml.tmpl	GitHub
.gitlab-ci.yml (harness-verify job)	templates/gitlab-ci-harness-verify.yml.tmpl	GitLab
.forgejo/workflows/harness-verify.yml	templates/forgejo-harness-verify.yml.tmpl	Forgejo/Gitea
.github/pull_request_template.md	templates/pull_request_template.md.tmpl	GitHub
.gitlab/merge_request_templates/Default.md	templates/merge_request_template.md.tmpl	GitLab
.forgejo/pull_request_template.md	templates/pull_request_template.md.tmpl	Forgejo/Gitea
.envrc	templates/envrc.tmpl	All
Makefile harness targets	templates/Makefile.harness.tmpl	All
scripts/verify-harness.sh	scripts/verify-harness.sh (copy directly)	All

Populate with repo-specific values; never overwrite existing files without confirmation.

3. Audit

Report the repo's maturity level (1, 2, or 3) and show what is needed to reach the next level. See references/maturity-levels.md for detailed criteria.

Key Principles

• AGENTS.md is an index, not an encyclopedia. Keep it under 150 lines. Put detail in docs/.
• Enforcement is project-level. CI workflows, git hooks, and branch protection enforce the harness -- not this skill at runtime.
• Verify first, bootstrap second. Always run verification before creating artefacts. The skill checks artefacts, not tools.
• Delegate specialist work. See references/skill-integration-map.md for skill routing (@agent-rules, @github-project, @enterprise-readiness, @retro).
• Does not own learning. Session retrospection, outcome review, and constitutional audits are delegated to retro-skill. The harness verifies integration points exist (AH-22, AH-23) but does not invoke retro at runtime.

Maturity Levels

Level 1 -- Basic: AGENTS.md exists, is an index, documents commands.

Level 2 -- Verified: CI enforces harness integrity, AGENTS.md references resolve, commands match Makefile/scripts, ARCHITECTURE.md exists.

Level 3 -- Enforced: Branch protection requires harness CI, git hooks auto-activate, PR template includes checklist, drift detection on push.

See references/maturity-levels.md for the full breakdown.

References

• references/maturity-levels.md -- Maturity criteria and progression
• references/agents-md-rules.md -- AGENTS.md authoring rules
• references/artefact-inventory.md -- Harness artefacts list
• references/harness-engineering-overview.md -- Theory: four functions, patterns
• references/agent-first-architecture.md -- Legibility, layered deps, agent-first tech
• references/enforcement-mechanisms.md -- 10-mechanism table (CI, hooks, protection, drift)
• references/skill-integration-map.md -- Skill routing map + integration contracts with companion skills