How do I install the Harness Doctor skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add promptpartner/harness-doctor 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 Harness Doctor safe to use?

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

Which AI agents work with Harness Doctor?

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 Harness Doctor free to use?

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

Who published Harness Doctor?

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

Harness Doctor by promptpartner — Agent Skill

Name: Harness Doctor
Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Author: PromptPartner

Harness Doctor

Check whether this project's Agentsmith harness is installed correctly and healthy — fires on "is my harness set up right?", "harness doctor", "check my harness". Part of the Agentsmith harness; checks each selected agent's managed rules, settings, skills, hooks, verification, and leanness with a one-line fix for each finding.

PromptPartner Updated Sep 22, 2026

File contents

Harness doctor — is the harness healthy?

Confirm the harness is wired correctly, in plain language, with a concrete fix per finding.

When this fires

"is my harness set up right / healthy?" / "harness doctor" / after an install or a --self-update.

Identify the target

Use the agent named by the operator or the explicit AGENTSMITH_AGENT value. Never infer the active agent from this skill's install path: portable canonical content may be copied into a required client adapter such as .claude/skills. Without an explicit agent, run the common project checks and label agent-specific capabilities as unknown.

Fast path — if the Agentsmith CLI is available

Run agentsmith doctor, adding --agent <id[,id...]> when the target is known. If the command is not on PATH, use .agentsmith/agentsmith on macOS/Linux or .agentsmith\\agentsmith.cmd on Windows. Report instructions, actual safety, skills, MCP/config, hooks/scanner, and runtime helpers separately. For instructions, report the effective global/project/nested chain, fingerprints, managed core metadata, and combined/duplicate token estimates. An unsupported optional capability does not make instruction discovery unhealthy, and a duplicate core is a warning rather than permission to rewrite it.

Fallback — self-contained project checks

Check each; report pass, or a one-line fix:

Rules: canonical AGENTS.md is present and contains the AgentSmith BEGIN/END managed block. When a target requires a generated instruction adapter such as CLAUDE.md, compare its managed content with AGENTS.md. Fix: update the intended agent through the Agentsmith installer.
Configuration: validate only the declared target's native configuration. For Claude, check .claude/settings.json and/or settings.local.json. For Codex, validate .codex/config.toml when present and the managed config.toml under CODEX_HOME (or the user's .codex directory when that variable is unset). Never treat one client's configuration as proof of another's.
Skills and hooks: inspect the shared .agents/skills pack first, then any genuinely required client adapter and the target's declared hook integration. Never report hook parity for a client that only discovers instructions or skills.
.harness/verify.conf exists AND has a real phase — not just the sanity :: placeholder. Fix: edit it to list this project's real checks.
Runtime helpers: agentsmith verify --list succeeds without requiring Bash or WSL.
Leanness: use the compatibility report's static-context measurement for canonical AGENTS.md, and report the line/token budget. Over budget → move prose into a skill or doc, not more core/.

Report

A short pass/fix list headed by the selected agent or “common project checks,” most-important first. End with the single highest-value fix to do next.

---name: harness-doctordescription: Check whether this project's Agentsmith harness is installed correctly and healthy — fires on "is my harness set up right?", "harness doctor", "check my harness". Part of the Agentsmith harness; checks each selected agent's managed rules, settings, skills, hooks, verification, and leanness with a one-line fix for each finding.---# Harness doctor — is the harness healthy?Confirm the harness is wired correctly, in plain language, with a concrete fix per finding.## When this fires"is my harness set up right / healthy?" / "harness doctor" / after an install or a `--self-update`.## Identify the targetUse the agent named by the operator or the explicit `AGENTSMITH_AGENT` value. Never infer the activeagent from this skill's install path: portable canonical content may be copied into a requiredclient adapter such as `.claude/skills`. Without an explicit agent, run the common project checksand label agent-specific capabilities as unknown.## Fast path — if the Agentsmith CLI is availableRun `agentsmith doctor`, adding `--agent <id[,id...]>` when the target is known. If the command isnot on PATH, use `.agentsmith/agentsmith` on macOS/Linux or `.agentsmith\\agentsmith.cmd` on Windows. Report instructions,actual safety, skills, MCP/config, hooks/scanner, and runtime helpers separately. For instructions,report the effective global/project/nested chain, fingerprints, managed `core` metadata, andcombined/duplicate token estimates. An unsupported optional capability does not make instructiondiscovery unhealthy, and a duplicate core is a warning rather than permission to rewrite it.## Fallback — self-contained project checksCheck each; report pass, or a one-line fix:- **Rules:** canonical `AGENTS.md` is present and contains the AgentSmith BEGIN/END managed block. When a target requires a generated instruction adapter such as `CLAUDE.md`, compare its managed content with `AGENTS.md`. Fix: update the intended agent through the Agentsmith installer.- **Configuration:** validate only the declared target's native configuration. For Claude, check `.claude/settings.json` and/or `settings.local.json`. For Codex, validate `.codex/config.toml` when present and the managed `config.toml` under `CODEX_HOME` (or the user's `.codex` directory when that variable is unset). Never treat one client's configuration as proof of another's.- **Skills and hooks:** inspect the shared `.agents/skills` pack first, then any genuinely required client adapter and the target's declared hook integration. Never report hook parity for a client that only discovers instructions or skills.- **`.harness/verify.conf`** exists AND has a real phase — not just the `sanity ::` placeholder. Fix: edit it to list this project's real checks.- **Runtime helpers:** `agentsmith verify --list` succeeds without requiring Bash or WSL.- **Leanness:** use the compatibility report's static-context measurement for canonical `AGENTS.md`, and report the line/token budget. Over budget → move prose into a skill or doc, not more `core/`.## ReportA short pass/fix list headed by the selected agent or “common project checks,” most-importantfirst. End with the single highest-value fix to do next.

Frequently asked questions