harness-init

harness-init

Design Thinking

harness-init is the factory-side installer for the target runtime. Its job is to seed the target project's .harness/ tree in the correct shape and then stop. After install, the target project's LLM should read only target-local artifacts under .harness/loom/, .harness/cycle/, and later derived platform trees.

That boundary is strict:

• install seeds the runtime foundation
• /harness-pair-dev authors project-specific pairs later
• node .harness/loom/sync.ts --provider <list> derives platform trees later

Methodology

1. Arguments

/harness-init

The installer always targets the current working directory. Run /harness-init from the project root that should receive .harness/.

2. Execution

Run the installer script once:

node ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/install.ts

Then summarize the script result for the user. Trust the script's own output rather than improvising extra shell inspection.

3. What install guarantees

Install seeds two namespaces:

• .harness/loom/ — canonical staging for target-side skills, agents, hook.sh, and sync.ts
• .harness/cycle/ — runtime scaffold for state.md, events.md, epics/, and finalizer/tasks/

On a fresh install, the target receives at least:

• .harness/loom/skills/{harness-orchestrate,harness-planning,harness-context}/
• .harness/loom/agents/{harness-planner,harness-finalizer}.md — harness-finalizer.md is a generic skeleton; the project fills in the concrete cycle-end work (documentation refresh, goal-coverage inspection, release prep, etc.) before running the first real cycle
• .harness/loom/{hook.sh,sync.ts}
• .harness/cycle/{state.md,events.md,epics/,finalizer/tasks/}

Install does not create .claude/, .codex/, or .gemini/. Those are derived later from .harness/loom/.

4. Re-run behavior

• Every rerun reseeds both .harness/loom/ and .harness/cycle/.
• Pair-authored content under .harness/loom/ is wipe-on-rerun and must be re-authored afterward.
• Runtime state under .harness/cycle/ is also reseeded. Finished-cycle preservation belongs to the orchestrator's goal-different archive path, not to harness-init.
• Existing target refresh with pair/finalizer convergence belongs to /harness-auto-setup. harness-init does not snapshot live harness state, parse old registry intent, or preserve customized finalizer work.

If the script reports that pair-authored content inside .harness/loom/ was removed during a rerun, surface that clearly to the user so they can re-author those pairs afterward.

5. Verification

Verification is script-owned. Read the install summary and report:

• whether install succeeded
• whether any placeholder residue or path failures remain
• whether pair-authored loom content was wiped during refresh
• what the next step should be

If verification fails, report the failure and stop.

6. Post-install boundary

After install, the next actions are:

1. Derive one or more platform trees from the target-local runtime:

node .harness/loom/sync.ts --provider claude
node .harness/loom/sync.ts --provider claude,codex,gemini

2. Author project-specific pairs with /harness-pair-dev --add ...

harness-init itself should not run sync, author pairs, or mutate derived platform trees.

Evaluation Criteria

• Install writes .harness/loom/ and .harness/cycle/ in the target project.
• Install does not create .harness/cycle/goal.md or .harness/cycle/user-request-snapshot.md; direct runtime goal entry owns cycle-local request snapshots.
• Install copies target-local hook.sh and sync.ts into .harness/loom/.
• Install does not create .claude/, .codex/, or .gemini/.
• Rerun reseeds both .harness/loom/ and .harness/cycle/.
• Verification is described in terms of the install summary, not ad hoc shell inspection.
• The post-install workflow points to target-local node .harness/loom/sync.ts --provider <list>.
• The skill consistently treats .template.md outputs as target-side runtime artifacts, not as factory-side working files.

Taboos

• Describe install as making .claude/ the source-of-truth runtime. Canonical runtime staging is .harness/loom/.
• Tell the target runtime to read factory paths such as plugins/harness-loom/....
• Have install create or modify .claude/, .codex/, or .gemini/.
• Mix pair authoring or platform derivation into /harness-init.
• Turn this skill into a line-by-line duplicate of install.ts.

References

• ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/install.ts — canonical installer implementation
• references/runtime/ — target runtime templates seeded into .harness/loom/
• ../harness-pair-dev/SKILL.md — pair authoring after install