1. Describe the goal
State the domain, the final deliverable, and the quality bar before choosing a team shape.
Browse prompt patterns →Portable agent workflow design
Design workflows that stay portable.
Meta Harness turns a project goal into a domain-specific workflow, the specialist skills that support it, and the handoff artifacts that keep the work inspectable.
Start with the shortest useful path
Install the shared skill into a project with the meta-harness CLI, then ask
for the smallest reusable workflow that meets your need:
meta-harness install \
--scope project \
--target /path/to/repo \
--agent generic \
--non-interactive
If you are using a source checkout without the CLI on PATH, run
python scripts/install_harness.py with the same subcommand and options. The
checkout command uses the same modern planner; the legacy --layout form is
for migration only.
The installer creates .agents/skills/harness/ and leaves the target
repository’s AGENTS.md, README.md, and documentation under the target
project’s ownership.
2. Choose the shape
Use one of six coordination patterns only when specialization, ordering, or review provides real value.
Compare patterns →3. Preserve the handoff
Keep durable specs, role briefs, and intermediate artifacts in predictable repository paths.
See output specs →What Harness gives you
6
execution phases after the Phase 0 audit
6
coordination patterns
1
portable canonical skill tree
0
required runtime-specific agents
The core design is intentionally small:
- domain analysis makes the task boundary and quality bar explicit;
- architecture selection matches coordination to actual dependencies;
- generated skills keep reusable knowledge separate from runtime settings;
- deterministic handoffs make work inspectable, resumable, and easy to review;
- validation checks structure, behavior, and failure paths before the workflow is treated as reusable.
Phase 0 audit plus the six-phase path
-
Inventory and drift auditInspect existing skills, roles, profiles, adapters, conflicts, and stale artifacts before mutation.
-
Domain analysisInspect the project, task types, constraints, and existing guidance.
-
Team architecture designSelect the smallest coordination pattern that preserves quality.
-
Role and artifact definitionName responsibilities, write ownership, inputs, outputs, and failure policy.
-
Skill generationWrite portable skills with clear selection boundaries and progressive disclosure.
-
Integration and orchestrationConnect phases through concise summaries or durable `_workspace/` handoffs.
-
Validation and testingRun normal and failure scenarios, then simplify anything that does not earn its weight.
Read the detailed Phase 0 audit and six-phase workflow guide for phase outputs and stop conditions.
Choose the coordination shape
| Pattern | Best when | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Pipeline | each phase depends on the previous artifact | Pipeline |
| Fan-out/Fan-in | independent read-heavy work benefits from parallel coverage | Fan-out/Fan-in |
| Expert Pool | a router should select a specialist for each request | Expert Pool |
| Producer-Reviewer | an output needs an explicit critique and bounded revision | Producer-Reviewer |
| Supervisor | a changing backlog needs central prioritization and reassignment | Supervisor |
| Hierarchical Delegation | a large goal naturally separates into shallow sub-goals | Hierarchical Delegation |
[!TIP] Keep tightly coupled work in one context. Add delegation only when the boundary, ownership, and synthesis responsibility can be stated clearly.
Keep the portable source visible
The public portal explains the workflow. The repository remains the authority for the reusable skill and its contracts:
| Surface | Purpose |
|---|---|
.agents/skills/harness/SKILL.md |
canonical Phase 0 audit, six-phase workflow, and portable defaults |
docs/harness/ |
durable team-spec and role-artifact contracts |
_workspace/ |
deterministic intermediate handoffs when inspection or resumption matters |
scripts/ |
installer and repository validation |
For implementation details, read the canonical Harness skill on GitHub.
Continue
For builders
Install the skill, choose a target scope, and use a goal-shaped prompt.
Installation guide →For maintainers
Review the artifact contract, starter example, and repository validation commands.
Maintainer reference →