Master Harness — the open-source coding agent with 14 enterprise features no competitor can match.
uv tool install harness-agent
10 Tutorials
From a single-command install to multi-agent parallel execution in production — covered step by step.
Your First AI Coding Agent
Install Harness, configure your first AI provider, and run a real coding task in under ten minutes. No prior agent experience required.
Building AI-Powered Tools
Use the Harness async Python SDK to build custom scripts, automate repetitive coding tasks, and integrate AI agents into your own applications.
Four Levels of Agent Autonomy
Configure Harness's four permission modes — from fully supervised to fully autonomous — and learn when each is appropriate for your use case.
Token and USD Spending Limits
Set hard token and USD budget caps so agents never exceed your spending limits. Includes per-task, per-session, and monthly budget strategies.
Governing Agent Behavior
Write declarative YAML policies that control what actions Harness can take. Block file deletions, restrict network calls, enforce coding standards automatically.
Immutable Hash-Chained Audit Trail
Every agent action is logged to a tamper-evident, hash-chained audit log. Learn how to configure, query, and export logs for compliance requirements.
Process and Container Isolation
Run agents in isolated process sandboxes or full Docker containers. Harness's dual sandbox modes protect your host system from unintended side effects.
Orchestrate Agent Swarms
Spawn multiple specialised sub-agents and run them in parallel. Learn task decomposition patterns that can cut end-to-end completion time by up to 80%.
AI Agent in Your Pipeline
Embed Harness directly in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Jenkins. Auto-fix failing tests, generate changelogs, and enforce code quality gates at merge time.
Scale to Thousands of Agent Runs
Deploy Harness at scale with model routing, automatic fallback, PII scanning, OpenTelemetry observability, and full organisational audit compliance.
Feature Comparison
14 enterprise capabilities that make Harness the only open-source agent built for production.
| Feature |
Harness
OPEN SOURCE
|
Claude Code | Cursor | Aider | OpenHands | SWE-Agent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-provider (5+) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Full async SDK | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| 4-mode permissions | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Token/cost budgets | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Policy-as-code | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Audit hash chain | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Dual sandbox modes | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sub-agent parallelism | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Native CI/CD | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Model router + fallback | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| PII scanning | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| OpenTelemetry | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Hooks system | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| REPL with slash cmds | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |