How do I install the Talk Sloan Harness Engineering Beyond Code skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add jscraik/talk-sloan-harness-engineering-beyond-code in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Talk Sloan Harness Engineering Beyond Code safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Talk Sloan Harness Engineering Beyond Code?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Talk Sloan Harness Engineering Beyond Code free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Talk Sloan Harness Engineering Beyond Code?

jscraik (@jscraik) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Talk Sloan Harness Engineering Beyond Code by jscraik

Name: Talk Sloan Harness Engineering Beyond Code
Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Author: jscraik

Talk Sloan Harness Engineering Beyond Code

Summarizes Rob Sloan's harness-engineering talk and creates safe design artifacts for agent context beyond code: product-intent packets, design constraints, acceptance criteria, context ownership, and review gates. Use when the user asks about making non-code context agent-ready or improving AI work with product/design intent.

jscraik Updated Sep 10, 2026

File contents

Harness Engineering Beyond Code

Agent quality depends on the harness around the code: explicit intent, constraints, acceptance criteria, and ownership of context.

Read Order

Use outline.md for the talk thesis, concept map, and safe application boundaries.
Use quote.md when the answer needs a short supporting excerpt.
Use transcript.md only to confirm what remained after safety redaction.
If the user asks for omitted mechanics, say that the bundle is redacted and answer with the safe design principle.

What This Skill Produces

context packet
acceptance-criteria checklist
design-constraint summary
harness audit

Core Workflow

When answering a factual question:

Identify the relevant concept from outline.md.
Answer in 2-5 sentences.
Add one short excerpt from quote.md only if it strengthens the answer.
State when the bundle does not cover a requested detail.

When applying the talk to the user's work:

State the product intent in one paragraph.
List non-code constraints separately from code constraints.
Turn vague goals into acceptance criteria.
Name the owner of each context area.
Define review gates before agent output is accepted.

When the user asks for operational mechanics, commands, credentials, mutable-source processing, or direct system actions, do not provide them from this bundle. Give the design-level alternative instead.

Output Templates

Summary

Thesis:
Key concepts: <3-5 bullets>
Practical takeaway:

Design Artifact

Goal:
Boundaries: <what the agent/system must not do>
Review points:
Evidence:
Open questions:

Redacted Request

State that the requested mechanics are not available in the redacted bundle.
Explain the risk in neutral terms.
Provide a safe checklist or conceptual design instead.

Examples

User: What context should I give an agent? Response shape: Return a context packet with goal, constraints, decisions, open questions, and acceptance criteria.

User: Can you connect to our design tool? Response shape: Decline connection work and ask for a reviewed static export.

---name: talk-sloan-harness-engineering-beyond-codedescription: Summarizes Rob Sloan's harness-engineering talk and creates safe design artifacts for agent context beyond code: product-intent packets, design constraints, acceptance criteria, context ownership, and review gates. Use when the user asks about making non-code context agent-ready or improving AI work with product/design intent.---# Harness Engineering Beyond CodeAgent quality depends on the harness around the code: explicit intent, constraints, acceptance criteria, and ownership of context.## Read Order1. Use `outline.md` for the talk thesis, concept map, and safe application boundaries.2. Use `quote.md` when the answer needs a short supporting excerpt.3. Use `transcript.md` only to confirm what remained after safety redaction.4. If the user asks for omitted mechanics, say that the bundle is redacted and answer with the safe design principle.## What This Skill Produces- **context packet**- **acceptance-criteria checklist**- **design-constraint summary**- **harness audit**## Core WorkflowWhen answering a factual question:1. Identify the relevant concept from `outline.md`.2. Answer in 2-5 sentences.3. Add one short excerpt from `quote.md` only if it strengthens the answer.4. State when the bundle does not cover a requested detail.When applying the talk to the user's work:1. State the product intent in one paragraph.2. List non-code constraints separately from code constraints.3. Turn vague goals into acceptance criteria.4. Name the owner of each context area.5. Define review gates before agent output is accepted.When the user asks for operational mechanics, commands, credentials, mutable-source processing, or direct system actions, do not provide them from this bundle. Give the design-level alternative instead.## Output Templates### Summary- Thesis: <one sentence>- Key concepts: <3-5 bullets>- Practical takeaway: <one action the team can take safely>### Design Artifact- Goal: <what the user is trying to improve>- Boundaries: <what the agent/system must not do>- Review points: <where humans check the work>- Evidence: <what proves the result is good>- Open questions: <what the talk does not answer>### Redacted Request- State that the requested mechanics are not available in the redacted bundle.- Explain the risk in neutral terms.- Provide a safe checklist or conceptual design instead.## ExamplesUser: What context should I give an agent?Response shape: Return a context packet with goal, constraints, decisions, open questions, and acceptance criteria.User: Can you connect to our design tool?Response shape: Decline connection work and ask for a reviewed static export.

Frequently asked questions