# 082 Claude 34396f29 > Development Harness Plugin - AI-Facing Documentation - Skill: `tools-only/082-claude-34396f29` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tools-only/082-claude-34396f29` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tools-only/082-claude-34396f29/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - Author: tools-only (https://skillmd.com/u/tools-only) - Updated: 2026-09-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tools-only/082-claude-34396f29 --- # Development Harness Plugin - AI-Facing Documentation Language-agnostic development process harness that orchestrates feature development through a structured 7-stage pipeline. Any language plugin can compose with this harness by providing a language manifest declaring specialist agents and quality gates. --- ## Plugin Identity **Name:** `development-harness` **Version:** 0.1.0 **Purpose:** Provide a reusable, language-independent development workflow based on the Stateless Agent Methodology (SAM) with ARL-derived human touchpoints and Voltron-style language plugin composition. **Design Principles:** - The harness owns the *process*; language plugins own the *specialists* - Every stage produces a file-based artifact (stateless handoff) - Human escalation follows ARL constraint analysis, not arbitrary checkpoints - Without a language manifest, the harness falls back to general-purpose agents --- ## How It Works ### SAM 7-Stage Pipeline The harness walks a feature request through seven stages, each producing a named artifact stored in `.planning/harness/`. Stages gate on artifact completion, not conversation state. 1. **S1 Discovery** - Understand the feature, codebase, and constraints 2. **S2 Planning + RT-ICA** - Generate a plan with information completeness analysis 3. **S3 Context Integration** - Validate the plan against actual codebase state 4. **S4 Task Decomposition** - Break the plan into executable task files 5. **S5 Execution** - Implement tasks using language-appropriate specialists 6. **S6 Forensic Review** - Verify each task against its acceptance criteria 7. **S7 Final Verification** - Certify the feature meets original requirements The default flow with ARL touchpoint gates is defined in [./skills/development-harness/references/default-development-flow.md](./skills/development-harness/references/default-development-flow.md). ### ARL Human Touchpoints Not every stage requires human review. The harness uses ARL-derived constraint analysis to decide when to escalate. Escalation triggers include unbound constraints, domain knowledge gaps, high-risk irreversible changes, and novel architecture decisions. Routine changes with existing patterns proceed autonomously. Details in [./skills/development-harness/references/human-touchpoint-model.md](./skills/development-harness/references/human-touchpoint-model.md). ### Voltron-Style Composition Language plugins snap into the harness by providing a manifest that maps abstract roles to concrete agents and declares quality gate commands. The harness resolves roles at runtime based on project detection. --- ## Role Resolution ```mermaid flowchart TD Start([Feature Request]) --> Detect{Detect Project Language} Detect -->|pyproject.toml| Python[Python plugin] Detect -->|package.json| TypeScript[TypeScript plugin] Detect -->|Cargo.toml| Rust[Rust plugin] Detect -->|None found| Fallback[General-purpose agents] Python --> Manifest[Read language manifest] TypeScript --> Manifest Rust --> Manifest Manifest --> Resolve[Resolve roles to agents] Resolve --> Override{Flow override declared?} Override -->|Yes| Custom[Use plugin-defined flow] Override -->|No| Default[Use default SAM pipeline] Custom --> Configure[Configure orchestrator] Default --> Configure Fallback --> Configure Configure --> Run([Begin S1 Discovery]) ``` The full resolution protocol is documented in [./skills/development-harness/references/role-resolution-protocol.md](./skills/development-harness/references/role-resolution-protocol.md). --- ## State Management All artifacts are written to `.planning/harness/` using SAM naming conventions. **Token pattern:** `ARTIFACT:{TYPE}({SCOPE_OR_ID})` **File layout example:** - `.planning/harness/discovery-auth-feature.md` - S1 output - `.planning/harness/plan-auth-feature.md` - S2 output - `.planning/harness/task-001-add-jwt-middleware.md` - S4 output per task - `.planning/harness/execution-001.md` - S5 output per task - `.planning/harness/review-auth-feature.md` - S6 output - `.planning/harness/verification-auth-feature.md` - S7 output This directory coexists with `.planning/gsd/` and other planning tools without conflict. Full conventions in [./skills/development-harness/references/artifact-conventions.md](./skills/development-harness/references/artifact-conventions.md). --- ## Composition Model ```mermaid flowchart TD Harness[Development Harness] -->|owns| Process[7-Stage Pipeline] Harness -->|owns| Touchpoints[ARL Human Touchpoints] Harness -->|owns| Artifacts[State Management] LangPlugin[Language Plugin] -->|provides| Manifest[Language Manifest] Manifest -->|declares| Roles[Specialist Agents] Manifest -->|declares| Gates[Quality Gate Commands] Manifest -->|optionally declares| FlowOverride[Custom Process Flow] Process -->|resolves roles via| Manifest Process -->|runs gates via| Gates ``` **What the harness owns:** - Process orchestration (stage sequencing, gating, looping) - Human touchpoint decisions (ARL constraint analysis) - Artifact management (naming, storage, cross-referencing) - Fallback behavior (general-purpose agents when no manifest exists) **What language plugins own:** - Specialist agents (architect, test-designer, code-reviewer) - Quality gate commands (format, lint, typecheck, test) - Project detection markers (config files, source patterns) - Optionally, a custom process flow overriding the default pipeline Language plugin authors should use the template at [./templates/language-manifest-template.md](./templates/language-manifest-template.md). The manifest schema is documented in [./skills/development-harness/references/language-manifest-schema.md](./skills/development-harness/references/language-manifest-schema.md). --- ## Skills Overview (16) **Main orchestration:** - `/development-harness` - Entry point. Detects language, resolves roles, orchestrates S1-S7. **Workflow stages (7):** - `/development-harness:discovery` - S1 feature and codebase understanding - `/development-harness:planning` - S2 plan generation with RT-ICA - `/development-harness:context-integration` - S3 plan validation against codebase - `/development-harness:task-decomposition` - S4 break plan into executable tasks - `/development-harness:execution` - S5 implement tasks with language specialists - `/development-harness:forensic-review` - S6 verify task completion - `/development-harness:final-verification` - S7 certify feature completion **Planning tools (4):** - `/development-harness:clear-cove-task-design` - Task design methodology - `/development-harness:generate-task` - Generate individual task files - `/development-harness:planner-rt-ica` - Information completeness analysis for planning - `/development-harness:validation-protocol` - Validation patterns and checklists **Implementation:** - `/development-harness:implementation-manager` - Coordinate implementation across tasks **Testing (3):** - `/development-harness:comprehensive-test-review` - Review test coverage and quality - `/development-harness:analyze-test-failures` - Diagnose and categorize test failures - `/development-harness:test-failure-mindset` - Systematic approach to understanding test failures --- ## Agents Overview (11) **Planning and decomposition:** - `@development-harness:swarm-task-planner` - Decompose features into parallel task streams - `@development-harness:plan-validator` - Validate plans for completeness and feasibility **Research and analysis:** - `@development-harness:feature-researcher` - Research feature requirements and prior art - `@development-harness:codebase-analyzer` - Analyze codebase structure and patterns - `@development-harness:ecosystem-researcher` - Research external dependencies and ecosystem **Verification:** - `@development-harness:feature-verifier` - Verify feature meets acceptance criteria - `@development-harness:integration-checker` - Check integration points and compatibility **Context management:** - `@development-harness:context-gathering` - Gather context from codebase and documentation - `@development-harness:context-refinement` - Refine and validate gathered context **Documentation:** - `@development-harness:doc-drift-auditor` - Detect documentation drift from implementation - `@development-harness:service-documentation` - Generate and maintain service documentation --- ## When to Use Activate this plugin when: - Starting feature development in any language project - Planning an implementation that needs structured decomposition - Running the full development workflow from discovery through verification - Working in a multi-language project where process should be consistent - Needing human touchpoint decisions based on constraint analysis rather than arbitrary gates Do NOT use when: - Making a quick fix that does not need staged planning - Working on documentation-only changes - The language plugin already provides its own complete workflow (check for flow override in manifest) --- ## References - [Default Development Flow](./skills/development-harness/references/default-development-flow.md) - [Role Resolution Protocol](./skills/development-harness/references/role-resolution-protocol.md) - [Language Manifest Schema](./skills/development-harness/references/language-manifest-schema.md) - [Human Touchpoint Model](./skills/development-harness/references/human-touchpoint-model.md) - [Artifact Conventions](./skills/development-harness/references/artifact-conventions.md) - [Language Manifest Template](./templates/language-manifest-template.md) --- ## Sources - SAM methodology: - ARL skill: `plugins/plugin-creator/skills/arl/` - RT-ICA skill: `plugins/python3-development/skills/planner-rt-ica/`