harness-work

name	harness-work
description	Executes plans.json tasks — solo, parallel, or breezing team mode. Use when implementing tasks or running the work loop.
when_to_use	implement task, run task, execute plans, work on task, run all tasks, parallel workers, breezing
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit","Grep","Glob","Bash","Task"]
argument-hint	[all|task-number|range|--codex|--opencode|--parallel N|--commit|--resume id|--breezing|--auto-mode]
effort	high
model	sonnet

Harness Work

Unified execution skill for Harness. Consolidates the following legacy skills:

• work — plans.json task implementation (auto scope detection)
• impl — Feature implementation (task-based)
• breezing — Full team auto-execution
• parallel-workflows — Parallel workflow optimization
• ci — CI failure recovery

Quick Reference

User Input	Subcommand	Behavior
harness-work	auto	Auto-selects based on task count (see below)
harness-work all	auto	Executes all incomplete tasks in auto mode
harness-work 3	solo	Immediately executes task 3 only
harness-work --parallel 5	parallel	Forces parallel execution with 5 workers
harness-work --codex	codex	Delegates to Codex CLI (explicit only)
harness-work --opencode	opencode	Delegates to OpenCode CLI (explicit only)
harness-work --breezing	breezing	Forces team execution

Execution Mode Auto Selection (auto-selection when no flag is specified)

When no explicit mode flag (--parallel, --breezing, --codex, --opencode) is provided, the optimal mode is automatically selected based on the number of target tasks:

Target Task Count	Auto-Selected Mode	Reason
1 task	Solo	Minimal overhead. Direct implementation is fastest
2-3 tasks	Parallel (Task tool)	Threshold where Worker isolation benefits emerge
4+ tasks	Breezing	Lead coordination + Worker parallelism + Reviewer independence is effective

Rules

1. Explicit flags always override auto mode
   • --parallel N → Parallel mode (regardless of task count)
   • --breezing → Breezing mode (regardless of task count)
   • --codex → Codex mode (regardless of task count)
   • --opencode → OpenCode mode (regardless of task count)
2. --codex activates only when explicitly specified. Not auto-selected because Codex CLI may not be installed in some environments
3. --codex can be combined with other modes: --codex --breezing → Codex + Breezing
4. --opencode activates only when explicitly specified. Not auto-selected because opencode-plugin-cc may not be installed in some environments

Options

Option	Description	Default
all	Target all incomplete tasks	-
N or N-M	Task number/range specification	-
--parallel N	Number of parallel workers	auto
--sequential	Force sequential execution	-
--codex	Delegate implementation to Codex CLI (explicit only, not auto-selected)	false
--opencode	Delegate implementation to OpenCode via opencode-plugin-cc (explicit only, not auto-selected)	false
--commit	Commit after each task is done (default: off)	false
--resume <id|latest>	Resume previous session	-
--breezing	Lead/Worker/Reviewer team execution	false
--no-tdd	Skip TDD phase	false
--no-simplify	Skip Auto-Refinement	false
--auto-mode	Explicitly enable Auto Mode rollout. Only considered when the parent session's permission mode is compatible	false

Token Optimization (v2.1.69+): For lightweight tasks that don't involve git operations, enable includeGitInstructions: false in plugin settings to reduce prompt token usage.

1-Hour Prompt Cache (breezing sessions > 30 min): source "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/enable-1h-cache.sh" before starting. Exports ANTHROPIC_CACHE_CONTROL=max-age=3600 so all spawned Workers, Reviewers, and hooks share a cached system prompt — reduces token cost and latency across long sessions.

Scope Dialog (when no arguments provided)

Note: A lightweight drift check (bash "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/plans-drift-check.sh") runs before the scope dialog regardless of which option the user chooses. If stale markers are detected, the dialog is preceded by a drift summary and a confirmation prompt.

harness-work
How far do you want to go?
1) Next task: The next incomplete task from plans.json → Execute in Solo mode
2) All (recommended): Complete all remaining tasks → Auto-select mode based on task count
3) Specify numbers: Enter task numbers (e.g., 3, 5-7) → Auto-select mode based on count

If arguments are provided, execute immediately (skip dialog):

• harness-work all → All tasks, auto mode selection
• harness-work 3-6 → 4 tasks, so Breezing is auto-selected

Effort Level Control (v2.1.68+, simplified in v2.1.72)

Claude Code v2.1.68 sets medium effort (◐) as default for Opus 4.6. v2.1.72 removed the max level, simplifying to 3 levels: low(○)/medium(◐)/high(●). /effort auto resets to default. For complex tasks, use the ultrathink keyword to enable high effort (●).

Multi-Factor Scoring

At task start, the following scores are summed, and ultrathink is injected when the threshold reaches 3 or above:

Factor	Condition	Score
File count	4+ files to be changed	+1
Directory	Includes core/, guardrails/, security/	+1
Keywords	Contains architecture, security, design, migration	+1
Failure history	Agent memory contains failure records for the same task	+2
Explicit specification	PM template includes ultrathink notation	+3 (auto-adopted)

Injection Method

When score >= 3, prepend ultrathink to the Worker spawn prompt. The same logic applies in breezing mode (managed centrally by harness-work).

Execution Modes

Mode	Reference	When
Solo	references/solo-mode.md	1 task (auto) or any task number
Parallel	references/parallel-mode.md	2-3 tasks (auto) or --parallel N
Breezing	references/breezing-mode.md	4+ tasks (auto) or --breezing
Codex	references/codex-work.md	--codex explicit only
OpenCode	references/opencode-work.md	--opencode explicit only
Ralph	harness-ralph-loop skill	Task has [ralph] marker — pre-dispatch, any mode

[ralph] marker pre-dispatch rule: Before any standard worker dispatch (solo or breezing), harness-work checks the task description for the [ralph] marker. If present, it delegates to harness-ralph-loop instead of the standard worker flow. Ralph tasks serialize within a session (only one Ralph loop runs at a time). See references/solo-mode.md and references/breezing-mode.md for dispatch details.

Worker Contracts

Topic	Reference
NG rules (plans.json ownership via harness plan-cli, no embedded git, no nested spawn)	references/worker-ng-rules.md
Self-review gate (worker-report.v1 schema + Lead validation)	references/worker-self-review.md
Universal violations session injection	references/universal-violations.md
Testing anti-patterns (mocks, test-only methods, incomplete stubs)	references/testing-anti-patterns.md

Failure & Review

Topic	Reference
Review loop (Codex exec / Reviewer fallback, verdict criteria, fix cycle)	references/review-loop.md
CI failure handling (3-strike auto-fix loop)	references/ci-failure.md
Automatic re-ticketing of failed tasks	references/re-ticketing.md

Templates

Template	Description
templates/worker-report.v1.json	Worker self-review JSON schema (SR-1 through SR-5)
templates/completion-report.md	Rich Completion Report skeleton (solo + breezing formats)

Task Status SSOT

.claude/harness/plans.json is the sole source of truth for task status. All reads via harness plan-cli list/get, all writes via harness plan-cli update. See harness/references/cli-reference.md. The native Claude Code task list is not mirrored.

Related Skills

• harness-plan — Plan the tasks to execute
• harness-sync — Sync implementation with plans.json
• harness-review — Review implementations
• harness-release — Version bump and release