agentharnesses.dev

A field guide to agentic coding harnesses, for teams that have been told to adopt one.


Compare features

Host support and component counts first, then one table per group of features. partial means the feature exists with limits; the entry page says what they are. ? means not yet researched. n/a means the feature does not apply to this kind of harness. Definitions are at the bottom of the page.

Host agents

Official support only. Community ports are mentioned on each entry page.

HarnessClaude CodeCursorCodexGemini CLIOpenCodeGitHub CopilotFactory DroidPioh-my-piClineQwen CodeKimi Code CLIAntigravityGrok Build CLIDevin CLIHermes AgentMuse
Compound Engineeringyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes
pstackyes
Superpowersyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Components

Counted from each harness's source at the commit researched. Subagent definitions counts agent files only. Some harnesses instead fill in general-purpose subagents from prompt files inside their skills; the entry pages say which.

HarnessSkillsCommandsSubagent definitionsHooksMCP servers
Compound Engineering360000
pstack470200
Superpowers150010

Stages of work it covers

HarnessBrainstormingWritten plansTest firstDebugging processCode reviewVerificationLearning captureBranch to PR
Compound Engineeringyesyespartialyesyesyesyesyes
pstackpartialpartialpartialyesyesyespartialyes
Superpowersyespartialyesyesyesyesnoyes

How it runs

Adopting it

Definitions

Brainstorming
Has a step that questions you to turn an idea into agreed requirements before planning starts.
Written plans
Writes an implementation plan to a file in the repository before coding.
Test first
Requires, or strongly directs, writing a failing test before the implementation.
Debugging process
Has a defined root-cause process for bugs, as opposed to trying fixes until one works.
Code review
Has a review step, usually run by reviewer subagents, before work counts as finished.
Verification
Requires running the code or tests and showing the output before claiming the work is done.
Learning capture
Writes lessons from finished work to files that later sessions read.
Branch to PR
Covers the git end of the work: branches, commits, and opening or finishing a pull request.
Single entry point
Has one command or skill that looks at the request and picks the right workflow.
Automatic activation
Its skills load on their own when relevant, without the user typing a command.
Session-start hook
Uses a hook to inject instructions at the start of every session.
Subagents
Hands parts of the work to subagents with their own context.
Parallel agents
Runs several subagents at the same time.
Git worktrees
Isolates work in separate git worktrees.
Multiple hosts
Officially supports more than one host agent. Unofficial ports do not count.
Per-project setup
Can be installed or configured in the repository so everyone on the team gets the same setup.
Team extensions
Documents how to add your own skills or override its behavior without forking it.
No extra services
Needs nothing beyond the host agent and standard developer tools: no extra API keys, accounts, or hosted services.