Knowledge Islands compatible harnesses
This skill governs two related shapes: the five-part source harness where capabilities are authored together, and the smaller verified compatible payload installed from it. The installed payload, never a checkout or repository-local executor, is the source used by the ki host.
The complete contract is in the compatible harness standard. Its structured TypeScript catalogue under scripts/rubric/items/ is canonical; the generated rubric is the readable publication. Sources record provenance, and exemplars illustrate the source-versus-installed distinction.
Operating modes
The universal modes are AUDIT · CONFORM · EDUCATE · REFRESH.
Mode AUDIT — check a source harness and publication boundary
- Run
ki repo audit --skill ki-repo-harness --repo <path>. The host executes declared dependencies before the harness delta and reports mechanical results.
- Review the generated rubric's judgment criteria, especially capability and payload boundaries. Source layout does not establish a verified payload, local-development selection, activation, resolved capability, component result, or execution; obtain those states from
tools-ki or report them unavailable.
- Run separately coverage-detected owning audits where applicable:
ki-engineering for the development toolchain, ki-repo for repository governance, and ki-repo-mcp when the MCP shelf contains server code.
- Report sibling findings under their owning skill and harness findings under this skill.
Mode CONFORM — apply safe harness repairs
- Run AUDIT first.
- Run
ki repo conform --skill ki-repo-harness --repo <path>. If a physical readable .ki.toml lacks [skills.ki-repo-harness], the item requests one append. If the generated capability catalogue in skills/README.md is missing or stale, the item requests one exact marker-bounded replacement from validated SKILL.md frontmatter. The session coalesces the resulting host proposal.
- Missing shelves, shelf READMEs, root files, unsafe paths, identity conflicts, and orientation changes remain report-only because their content or replacement intent cannot be inferred safely.
- Re-run AUDIT and apply the judgment criteria.
Mode EDUCATE — explain or design a compatible harness
Run ki repo educate --skill ki-repo-harness --repo <path> to explain the source layout, current installed payload, identity rules, marker, and ownership boundaries. When designing a new harness, use the standard and exemplars to author the five source shelves and root files; installation and runtime activation remain direct ki host operations, not skill scripts or package aliases.
Mode REFRESH — re-anchor the source and installed contracts
Precondition: REFRESH edits this skill's canonical files only in ki-agentic-harness. In an installed copy, stop and redirect to that source repository.
- Read the source list and its review cadence.
- Re-check the Agent Skills and agent-definition sources for changes affecting capability source shape.
- Reconcile the compatible harness standard with the repository's current source shelves and the installed-payload contract.
- Update the structured rubric, regenerate it with
ki dev skill rubric ki-repo-harness --write, and update source review dates after confirmation.
Mode HELP — orient without changing anything
Invoked as help, -h, or ?, explain the skill, invocation, modes, source-versus-installed boundary, and off-ramps, then stop. With no recognisable mode, provide the same explanation and only offer a mode choice in an interactive session.
Ownership summary
- This skill owns source-container shape, compatible-payload semantics, the
[skills.ki-repo-harness] prefix declaration, the safe missing-table marker append, and the generated capability section contributed to skills/README.md.
tools-ki owns harness acquisition, verification, registry state, installation paths, activation links, public commands, and generic rubric execution.- A top-level skill script is not an activation escape hatch. This skill intentionally carries no public command: all governed execution is hosted directly by
ki.
1---2name: ki-repo-harness3description: Audit, conform, and design Knowledge Islands compatible harnesses — source repositories that co-locate skills, subagents, MCP servers, evals, and hooks while publishing a verified installed capability payload. Use when creating a harness, checking its five-part source layout, validating its declared capability prefix and skill identities, reviewing its CLAUDE.md orientation, confirming its `.ki.toml` harness declaration, or distinguishing source shelves from the directly installed payload. Triggers: "audit the harness", "scaffold a new harness", "does this repo follow the harness standard", "refresh the harness standard", "is this a compatible harness". Governs the container and publication boundary, not its contents: skill quality → `ki-skills`; agent quality → `ki-subagents`; repository roadmap → `ki-work-roadmap`; MCP code → `ki-repo-mcp`; engineering toolchain → `ki-engineering`; repository settings → `ki-repo`; CLI installation and activation → `tools-ki`.4---56# Knowledge Islands compatible harnesses78This skill governs two related shapes: the five-part **source harness** where capabilities are authored together, and the smaller verified **compatible payload** installed from it. The installed payload, never a checkout or repository-local executor, is the source used by the `ki` host.910The complete contract is in [the compatible harness standard](references/standards-compatible-harness.md). Its structured TypeScript catalogue under `scripts/rubric/items/` is canonical; [the generated rubric](references/rubric.md) is the readable publication. [Sources](references/sources.md) record provenance, and [exemplars](references/exemplars.md) illustrate the source-versus-installed distinction.1112## Operating modes1314The universal modes are **AUDIT · CONFORM · EDUCATE · REFRESH**.1516### Mode AUDIT — check a source harness and publication boundary1718- Run `ki repo audit --skill ki-repo-harness --repo <path>`. The host executes declared dependencies before the harness delta and reports mechanical results.19- Review the generated rubric's judgment criteria, especially capability and payload boundaries. Source layout does not establish a verified payload, local-development selection, activation, resolved capability, component result, or execution; obtain those states from `tools-ki` or report them unavailable.20- Run separately coverage-detected owning audits where applicable: `ki-engineering` for the development toolchain, `ki-repo` for repository governance, and `ki-repo-mcp` when the MCP shelf contains server code.21- Report sibling findings under their owning skill and harness findings under this skill.2223### Mode CONFORM — apply safe harness repairs24251. Run AUDIT first.262. Run `ki repo conform --skill ki-repo-harness --repo <path>`. If a physical readable `.ki.toml` lacks `[skills.ki-repo-harness]`, the item requests one append. If the generated capability catalogue in `skills/README.md` is missing or stale, the item requests one exact marker-bounded replacement from validated `SKILL.md` frontmatter. The session coalesces the resulting host proposal.273. Missing shelves, shelf READMEs, root files, unsafe paths, identity conflicts, and orientation changes remain report-only because their content or replacement intent cannot be inferred safely.284. Re-run AUDIT and apply the judgment criteria.2930### Mode EDUCATE — explain or design a compatible harness3132Run `ki repo educate --skill ki-repo-harness --repo <path>` to explain the source layout, current installed payload, identity rules, marker, and ownership boundaries. When designing a new harness, use the standard and exemplars to author the five source shelves and root files; installation and runtime activation remain direct `ki` host operations, not skill scripts or package aliases.3334### Mode REFRESH — re-anchor the source and installed contracts3536**Precondition:** REFRESH edits this skill's canonical files only in `ki-agentic-harness`. In an installed copy, stop and redirect to that source repository.37381. Read [the source list](references/sources.md) and its review cadence.392. Re-check the Agent Skills and agent-definition sources for changes affecting capability source shape.403. Reconcile [the compatible harness standard](references/standards-compatible-harness.md) with the repository's current source shelves and the installed-payload contract.414. Update the structured rubric, regenerate it with `ki dev skill rubric ki-repo-harness --write`, and update source review dates after confirmation.4243### Mode HELP — orient without changing anything4445Invoked as `help`, `-h`, or `?`, explain the skill, invocation, modes, source-versus-installed boundary, and off-ramps, then stop. With no recognisable mode, provide the same explanation and only offer a mode choice in an interactive session.4647## Ownership summary4849- This skill owns source-container shape, compatible-payload semantics, the `[skills.ki-repo-harness]` prefix declaration, the safe missing-table marker append, and the generated capability section contributed to `skills/README.md`.50- `tools-ki` owns harness acquisition, verification, registry state, installation paths, activation links, public commands, and generic rubric execution.51- A top-level skill script is not an activation escape hatch. This skill intentionally carries no public command: all governed execution is hosted directly by `ki`.
knowledgeislands