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Harness is a meta-agent orchestrator for VS Code: one IDE, many AI providers (Copilot, Claude, Cursor, Devin, Kiro), plus Spec-Driven Development and context engineering in the same sidebar — without switching editors per vendor.

Why Harness? — the main advantages explained.

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Quick links

I want to…	Start here
Understand why to use Harness	Why Harness

| Install and send my first message | Getting Started | | Use the chat UI (providers, modes) | Chat Interface | | Configure API keys | Configuration | | Set up GitHub Copilot | Copilot Modes | | Set up Cursor AI | Agent Connectors → Cursor | | Use Auto provider | Auto Routing | | Use Specs (SDD) | SDD Specs | | Run without VS Code (CLI only) | Dual Mode | | Fix errors | Troubleshooting |

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What is Harness?

VS Code Extension (UI)  ←→  CLI daemon (IPC)  ←→  Agent connectors
                              │
         Copilot · Devin · Cursor · Claude · Kiro

Three ideas in one product

1. One IDE, many providers — use Copilot, Claude, Cursor, Devin, and Kiro from VS Code; no separate IDE per AI vendor.
2. Spec-Driven Development — versioned specs in .harness/specs/; Spec+Agent injects them into the prompt.
3. Context engineering — attach files once; the same context follows you when you switch provider.

• Extension — chat sidebar, spec manager, configuration panel
• CLI — all file I/O, authentication, agent routing (bundled inside the .vsix)
• Specs — YAML skills/tools/workflows in .harness/specs/

Repository: github.com/nbsjunior/harness

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Documentation map

Users

• Why Harness
• Getting Started
• Installation
• User Guide
• Chat Interface
• Configuration
• Context and Specs

Agents

• Agent Connectors
• Copilot Modes (Ask / Agent / Spec+Agent)

Developers

• Architecture
• IPC Protocol
• Dual Mode (Extension vs CLI)
• AI-DLC and Kiro
• Development Guide

Help

• Troubleshooting
• FAQ

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AI assistants

If you are an AI model working on this codebase, read AGENTS.md in the repository first.