Harness Manager
An extension for VS Code, Cursor, and Windsurf for installing and managing AI agent harnesses — pre-built instruction sets that configure your AI tools for specific workflows.
What is a harness?
A harness is a collection of files (prompts, rules, hooks, skills) that tells your AI agent how to behave in a project. Installing one writes configuration files that are automatically picked up by:
| Tool |
File written |
| Claude Code |
.claude/CLAUDE.md |
| GitHub Copilot |
.github/copilot-instructions.md |
| Cursor |
.cursorrules · .cursor/rules/harness.mdc |
| Windsurf |
.windsurfrules · .windsurf/rules/harness.md |
Compatible editors
Features
- Browse harnesses from a GitHub repository, grouped by category
- Install with one click — files are copied into
agent-harnesses/ with full directory structure preserved
- Star harnesses to pin them above the list for quick access
- Focus mode — collapse everything except your starred harnesses
- Active section — all installed harnesses are pinned at the top
- Multi-harness support — optionally keep several harnesses installed side by side
- Import a harness from a local folder or ZIP file
- Version history — every install or switch creates an automatic backup; restore any previous state with one click
- Remove any installed harness (backup is saved first)
- Search the full list, or only your starred harnesses in focus mode
- Use your own repository — point the extension at any public GitHub repo that follows the harness format
Getting Started
- Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace
- Open a folder in VS Code
- Click the Harness Manager icon in the activity bar
- Click Install on any harness
- The harness is copied into
agent-harnesses/ and your AI config files are updated immediately
✓ Active Harnesses ← all currently installed harnesses
★ Starred ← your favourites (not yet installed)
Available Harnesses ← everything else, grouped by category
Import Harness ← import from a local folder or ZIP
Harness Repository ← switch to a different GitHub repo
Version History ← backups with restore and clear-all
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
harnessManager.githubRepo |
AdmiralGallade/harness-repository |
GitHub repo to load harnesses from (owner/repo) |
harnessManager.multiHarnessInstall |
false |
When on, installing a harness does not remove others |
harnessManager.activeHarnessId |
(auto) |
ID of the primary active harness (set automatically) |
harnessManager.cacheRefreshInterval |
86400000 |
Cache lifetime in ms (default 24 h) |
Point the extension at any public GitHub repo with this structure:
harness-repository/
├── harnesses.json # manifest listing all harnesses
└── harnesses/
└── my-harness/
├── config.json
├── template.yaml
└── README.md
harnesses.json schema:
{
"version": "1.0",
"lastUpdated": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
"harnesses": [
{
"id": "my-harness",
"name": "My Harness",
"description": "What this harness does",
"category": "Development",
"tags": ["typescript", "testing"],
"dependencies": [],
"author": "Your Name",
"version": "1.0.0",
"files": [
{
"path": "harnesses/my-harness/template.yaml",
"type": "template",
"description": "Main instructions"
}
]
}
]
}
License
MIT
