install-dev-harness

Installs phase-gated Claude Code hooks and a phase CLI into any project.

6|Updated Feb 25, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/emilianoeloi/cowboy --skill install-dev-harness-emilianoeloi
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: install-dev-harness
Source: https://github.com/emilianoeloi/cowboy/tree/main/.github/skills/install-dev-harness
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/emilianoeloi/cowboy --skill install-dev-harness-emilianoeloi

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? Teams using AI coding agents often lack mechanical enforcement of workflow rules: code gets written during the planning phase, destructive git commands run without confirmation, and credentials end up in the repository. This Skill installs a development harness that enforces a planning-vs-implementation phase gate and blocks dangerous operations at the tool-hook level. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Phase Gate Enforcement: Installs PreToolUse hooks that block Write/Edit and git mutations (commit, add, merge, rebase) while a change is in the 'proposal' phase, lifting restrictions once promoted to 'apply'. - Security Guardrails: Blocks writes to credential files (.env, private keys), path traversal outside the repo root, and destructive commands like git push, git reset --hard, and rm -rf. - Session Context Injection: A SessionStart hook reports the current branch, declared change phase, and presence of guide files at the start of every session. - Use Case: A team adopting spec-driven development wants the AI agent to produce only planning artifacts during proposal review. After installation, the agent physically cannot modify source code until the team runs the phase CLI to promote the change to 'apply'. ## Quick Start Ask the agent to install the development harness with phase gating into this project and configure it for the project's source and test directories.

Frequently Asked Questions about install-dev-harness

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I block AI agents from writing code during the planning phase?▼

Install this harness and declare the change phase with 'python3 scripts/harness/phase_cli.py set proposal <name>'. The PreToolUse write hook then blocks all writes outside planning-artifact prefixes until you promote the change to the 'apply' phase.

How do I prevent Claude Code from running git push or rm -rf?▼

The pre-tool-bash-guard.py hook blocks git push, git reset --hard, git clean -f, forced branch deletion, rm -rf, and shell writes to .env by default. The blocked patterns are configurable as regex entries in harness.config.json.

Does this harness work with Swift, Kotlin, or Node projects?▼

Yes, the hooks are stack-agnostic because they run as external Python stdlib-only processes invoked by Claude Code, not as part of the project's build. The installer detects pyproject.toml, package.json, Package.swift, or build.gradle to suggest sensible directory prefixes.

What happens if harness.config.json is missing or corrupted?▼

The hooks fall back to safe built-in defaults and never block the agent. Phase gating is disabled without a config, but credential-filename and path-traversal checks still use built-in defaults, and absence of a declared phase never blocks writes.

When should I not install hook-based phase gating?▼

Skip the hooks if the team only wants documented conventions without mechanical enforcement — a plain CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md is enough. Installing hooks the team does not understand leads to confusion when writes are unexpectedly blocked.