Long Task Harness

Long Task Harness

Structured workflows for maintaining continuity across agent sessions. Addresses the "shift change" problem where context is lost between sessions.

First-Time Setup

On first invocation, check if .long-task-harness/long-task-progress.md exists in the project.

If it doesn't exist: Initialize

python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/init_harness.py

This creates a .long-task-harness/ directory containing:

• long-task-progress.md - Session history and notes
• features.json - Feature tracking with pass/fail status
• init.sh - Environment setup script (optional)

Then: Ensure persistent invocation

Check if AGENTS.md (for Codex/Droid/Cursor/Pi) or CLAUDE.md (for Claude Code) contains the harness snippet.

If not, prompt the user:

"I notice this project doesn't have long-task-harness configured for automatic invocation. Would you like me to add the following to [AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md]?

## Multi-Session Development

This project uses long-task-harness for session continuity.
At session start or after context reset, invoke the skill at:
<SKILL_PATH>

Where would you like me to add this?"

Use the actual path where you loaded this skill from for <SKILL_PATH>.

Optional: Claude Code Hooks

For Claude Code users who want automatic enforcement:

"Would you like to install Claude Code hooks? These will:

• Remind to invoke this skill on session start
• Warn before git commits if .long-task-harness/long-task-progress.md not staged"

If yes: python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/claude_code_install_hooks.py

Note: These hooks are for Claude Code only. Other agents should use AGENTS.md instructions.

Optional: Git Pre-Commit Hook (Unsupported Agents)

If the current agent does not support native hooks (e.g., Codex, Cursor, or other CLI agents), offer an optional repo-local git pre-commit hook. Warn that it affects all commits in the current repository clone.

If yes: python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/precommit_install_hook.py

Session Startup Protocol

At the start of each session:

python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/read_progress.py    # Last 3 sessions
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/read_features.py    # Incomplete features
git log --oneline -10

Then continue from "Next Steps" in the latest session entry.

During Work

1. Work on one feature at a time
2. Commit frequently with descriptive messages
3. Update .long-task-harness/features.json when features pass tests
4. Update .long-task-harness/long-task-progress.md before ending session

Session Entry Format

### Session N | YYYY-MM-DD | Commits: abc123..def456

#### Goal
[One-liner]

#### Accomplished
- [x] Task done
- [ ] Task carried forward

#### Decisions
- **[D1]** Decision made - reasoning

#### Surprises
- **[S1]** Expected X but found Y - implication

#### Next Steps
1. Priority task

Why Log Surprises?

Surprises indicate model uncertainty and contain information-dense context. If something surprised you, it could trip up the next session (or a different agent). Examples:

• [S1] Expected auth.py to handle OAuth, but it only does API keys. OAuth is in oauth_provider.py.
• [S2] Test suite requires Docker running - not documented in README.
• [S3] Config file is gitignored but required - must copy from config.example.yaml.

This section is optional but valuable for complex or unfamiliar codebases.

Before Ending Session

1. Update .long-task-harness/long-task-progress.md with session notes
2. Commit all changes including progress docs
3. Verify tests pass

Critical Rules

• Never edit tests to make them pass - fix implementation
• Never mark features passing without testing
• Always update progress docs before ending
• Commit frequently

Scripts

Additional Features

Status Line

Quick session overview:

python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/status_line.py          # Compact: S5 | F:3/5 [auth-001] | main (U:2)
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/status_line.py --full   # Detailed multi-line
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/status_line.py --json   # JSON output

Declarative Rules

Define rules in .long-task-harness/rules/*.md to catch common issues before they're committed:

---
name: warn-console-log
enabled: true
event: file
file_pattern: \\.tsx?$
pattern: console\\.log\\(
action: warn
---

🐛 **Debug code detected**

Remove console.log before committing.

Check operations:

python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/check_rules.py bash "rm -rf /tmp"
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/check_rules.py file src/app.ts "console.log('test')"
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/check_rules.py commit
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/check_rules.py list
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/check_rules.py init  # Create default rules

Events: bash, file, stage, commit, any
Actions: warn (continue), block (exit 1)

Git Add with Rule Checking

Use instead of raw git add to catch issues at staging time:

python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/git_add.py file1.py file2.ts   # Stage specific files
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/git_add.py .                    # Stage all
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/git_add.py --check-only .       # Preview without staging
python3 <SKILL_PATH>/scripts/git_add.py --force .            # Stage despite blockers

This checks file and stage event rules before staging, warns about missing progress updates.

History Research (10+ Sessions)

For long projects, use subagents as scouts to find relevant history:

Research the history of [feature/file] in this project.
Return POINTERS (session numbers, file paths, decision refs) - not summaries.

Then read only the specific sessions identified.