AI AGENT WORKBENCH · MONO-HARNESS v0.24 COMMITTED MARKDOWN IS TRUTH · ZERO DAEMONS
Mono-Harness

Committed markdown is truth.
The binary is a scaffolding tool, not a runtime.

Small Harness. Clean Context. Zero Daemons.

14 production skills, 3 scaffolding verbs, 2 fail-closed pre-commit guards, zero resident background daemons, and zero opaque binary databases. Delete the binary and the entire lifecycle still executes from Git.

mono-harness workbench
MIT LICENSE CLI v0.24 RUST ~574 KiB SKILLS 14 MOUNTED CI PASSING GITHUB REPO ↗
01 Philosophy Light by default, strong on demand

Complexity appears only
when it earns its place.

Ordinary coding tasks continue on the agent's native path: read, bash, edit, write, with full history and session compaction. When work requires structured planning, independent multi-agent research, isolated implementation, or multi-turn execution, advanced engineering capabilities are ready — zero resident tool tax on light turns, zero lack of engineering depth on heavy tasks.

Light paths pay no complexity tax.
Heavy tasks lack no engineering depth.

Scenario
What the Agent Sees
mono-harness Behavior
01.1
Ordinary coding tasks
Agent-native read / bash / edit / write
Zero resident overhead; clean model context window
01.2
Architectural planning
Phase-complete plans in docs/plans/active/*.md
Explicit decision trees locked before writing application code
01.3
Multi-wave execution
Wave DAGs with isolated subagents
Concurrent execution of independent slices with result delivery
01.4
Validation & commit
Pre-commit hooks & CI guards
Re-executes proofs on approval; rejects self-judging on high-risk lanes
02 Foundations Three architectural pillars

One cohesive workbench,
not a pile of uncoordinated plugins.

i. Committed Markdown
Git is the single source of truth

Plans, decisions, memories, and playbooks live in committed markdown files. No opaque binary databases, no task databases, and no parallel control plane.

ii. Three CLI Verbs
Scaffolding, not a resident runtime

The zharness Rust binary owns exactly install, update, and uninstall. Zero resident background daemons, zero network sockets, and zero runtime bloat.

iii. Fail-Closed Guards
Automated pre-commit validation

Pre-commit hooks automatically re-execute verification proofs on APPROVED entries and enforce an independent judge on high-risk lanes and full checks.

14 Production SkillsSelf-contained agent skills across workflow, development, and system tools.
Workflow PlaybooksStep-by-step playbooks for planning, execution, verification, and handoff.
Wave-by-Wave ExecutionAcyclic DAGs with isolated subagents and typed result artifacts.
Zero Resident DaemonsEverything executes within standard Git and agent process boundaries.
03 Lifecycle Where tasks belong

Git always owns the repository state.

The entire lifecycle transitions through distinct, well-defined stages: ideation, plan locking, wave execution, verification gates, and structured handoff. Enhance agent capabilities, never broaden implicit permissions.

Ideation & Architecture Tradeoffs→brainstorm
Specification & Phase Decomposition→to-plan
Wave-by-Wave Implementation→work
Pre-Merge Gate & Proof Verification→check
Session State Persistence→handoff
Branch Recap & Next Action→watzup
04 Safety Boundaries Runtime constraints

Safety is not a prompt.
It is a runtime constraint.

guard.proof_reexecVerification proofs inside APPROVED validation entries are re-executed during pre-commit; failed proofs reject the commit.
guard.independent_judgeHigh-risk changes require an independent judge session; self-approval in the authoring session is fail-closed rejected. A mode:full check is rejected unless the judge is independent, on every lane.
guard.one_active_planAt most one non-empty file may exist under docs/plans/active/; zero is a valid idle state.
runtime.zero_daemonsNo background processes, resident sockets, or lingering services required to run the development lifecycle.
storage.zero_databaseNo hidden databases or binary stores; all plans, tasks, and memories reside in human-readable committed markdown.
context.clean_windowZero resident model tools crowding the system prompt until explicitly invoked or triggered by workflow.
subagent.isolated_worktreeConcurrent subagents operate on isolated slices with structured contracts and verified delivery.
05 Commands One Rust binary

One lightweight binary.
One inspectable control plane.

zharness install
Scaffold the managed documentation set and playbooks into the current repository
zharness update
Refresh playbooks and WORKFLOW.md; replace the AGENTS.md block (refusing if it was edited); never overwrite PROJECT.md or plans
zharness uninstall
Cleanly remove the managed doc set and restore clean repository state
npx skills add therealtinhtute/mono-harness
Mount all 14 mono-harness skills into your current AI agent workspace
bash setup/install.sh
Run the complete global Claude Code bootstrap (CLAUDE.md, rules, statusline, skills)
bash scripts/test-guards.sh
Execute the fail-closed pre-commit guard fixture suite
06 Get Started

Install once.
It stays just Git.

$ zharness install