docs/HARNESS_COMPONENTS.md

Harness Components

This taxonomy maps the current repository-harness repository to two component frameworks used by Phase 2 and updated by Phase 3 active observability work:

• Runtime Substrate responsibilities: the 11 responsibility areas the harness should cover.
• NexAU decomposition: the seven implementation surfaces that influence agent behavior.

Status values:

• Covered: the repository has an explicit file, command, or record for this responsibility.
• Partial: the repository has some support, but the support is incomplete, manual, or not yet measured.
• Missing: no meaningful support exists yet.

Responsibility Map

#	Responsibility	Status	Harness Files	Evidence	Gap
1	Task specification	Covered	AGENTS.md, docs/FEATURE_INTAKE.md, docs/templates/story.md, docs/templates/spec-intake.md, docs/templates/high-risk-story/*, docs/stories/*, intake table, story table	Requests are classified by type and lane before implementation; normal and high-risk work have templates and durable story rows.	Keep story packets synchronized with future product docs.
2	Context selection	Covered	AGENTS.md, docs/CONTEXT_RULES.md, docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/decisions/*, docs/product/README.md, scripts/bin/harness-cli score-context	Phase 2 adds phase-by-lane context rules and retrieval triggers; Phase 5 adds context scoring against recorded trace reads.	Future automation could enforce context selection instead of only measuring it.
3	Tool access	Covered	scripts/bin/harness-cli, docs/TOOL_REGISTRY.md, tool table, crates/harness-cli/*, scripts/install-harness.sh, scripts/build-harness-cli-release.sh	The Harness CLI exposes operational commands and a machine-readable tool manifest through query tools; external tools can be registered and removed.	Permission profiles and usage analytics remain future work.
4	Project memory	Covered	docs/HARNESS.md, docs/decisions/*, docs/GLOSSARY.md, docs/HARNESS_BACKLOG.md, docs/stories/*, harness.db, decision, backlog, and trace tables	Decisions, backlog, stories, and traces preserve durable knowledge across tasks.	Future work should add staleness checks and summarize old traces.
5	Task state	Covered	scripts/bin/harness-cli query matrix, docs/TEST_MATRIX.md, intake table, story table, trace table	Durable records track intake, story status, proof columns, and task traces.	Add lifecycle checks so in-progress stories cannot be forgotten.
6	Observability	Partial	docs/TRACE_SPEC.md, trace table, scripts/bin/harness-cli trace, scripts/bin/harness-cli score-trace, scripts/bin/harness-cli query traces, scripts/bin/harness-cli query friction, docs/HARNESS_MATURITY.md	Traces are auto-scored when recorded, can be rescored by command, and can be reviewed with friction context.	No dashboard or benchmark ingestion exists in this repo.
7	Failure attribution	Partial	docs/HARNESS_COMPONENTS.md, docs/TRACE_SPEC.md, trace.errors, trace.harness_friction, docs/HARNESS_BACKLOG.md, backlog table, scripts/bin/harness-cli query friction	Failures can be tied to files, components, friction, backlog proposals, and linked intake lane/type context.	No automated attribution from benchmark failures to harness components exists yet.
8	Verification	Covered	docs/TEST_MATRIX.md, scripts/bin/harness-cli query matrix, scripts/bin/harness-cli story verify, scripts/bin/harness-cli story verify-all, scripts/bin/harness-cli trace, scripts/bin/harness-cli score-trace, story.verify_command, story.last_verified_result, .github/workflows/harness-cli-release.yml, docs/templates/validation-report.md	Stories can store and run mechanical proof commands individually or in batch, traces warn when linked story verification has not passed, trace quality can be checked mechanically, and release workflow verifies Rust CLI releases.	Benchmark ingestion remains future work.
9	Permissions	Partial	AGENTS.md, docs/HARNESS.md, docs/FEATURE_INTAKE.md, docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, installer conflict handling in scripts/install-harness.sh	Policy describes when agents may update docs and when to ask before architecture or workflow changes.	Permissions are instruction-level only; no enforced policy layer or command allowlist exists.
10	Entropy auditing	Covered	docs/HARNESS_BACKLOG.md, docs/HARNESS_AUDIT.md, docs/IMPROVEMENT_PROTOCOL.md, backlog table, trace.harness_friction, scripts/bin/harness-cli audit, scripts/bin/harness-cli propose, docs/HARNESS_MATURITY.md	Growth rule captures friction, audit detects drift and entropy score, backlog items compare predicted impact to actual outcome, and proposal generation can create reviewable backlog items.	Automated repair remains future work.
11	Intervention recording	Covered	intervention table, scripts/bin/harness-cli intervention add, scripts/bin/harness-cli query interventions, trace table, docs/decisions/*, docs/stories/*, docs/HARNESS.md	Human, reviewer, CI, and agent interventions are separate durable records and can be filtered by trace, story, or type.	Capture is still manual and advisory.

NexAU Cross-Reference

Component	Harness Equivalent	Status	Notes
System prompts	AGENTS.md plus Harness policy docs	Covered	AGENTS.md is the stable shim; docs/HARNESS.md, docs/FEATURE_INTAKE.md, and docs/CONTEXT_RULES.md carry evolving operating instructions.
Tool descriptions	docs/TOOL_REGISTRY.md, scripts/README.md, docs/HARNESS.md, docs/TRACE_SPEC.md, CLI help from crates/harness-cli/src/interface.rs, scripts/bin/harness-cli query tools	Covered	Commands are documented in a standalone registry and exposed as compiled plus registered tool manifest entries.
Tool implementations	scripts/bin/harness-cli, crates/harness-cli/*, scripts/schema/001-init.sql, scripts/schema/002-story-verify.sql	Covered	The Rust CLI is the primary durable-layer implementation and stable repo-local entrypoint.
Middleware	installer safety logic, feature intake workflow	Partial	The installer and intake process mediate work, but there is no runtime middleware enforcing policies.
Skills	docs/templates/*, docs/FEATURE_INTAKE.md, docs/CONTEXT_RULES.md, docs/TRACE_SPEC.md	Partial	Reusable procedures exist as markdown, not executable or installable agent skills.
Sub-agents	None in this repository	Missing	No delegated specialist agents or sub-agent protocols exist.
Long-term memory	harness.db, docs/decisions/*, docs/stories/*, docs/HARNESS_BACKLOG.md, docs/GLOSSARY.md	Covered	Durable records and markdown decisions preserve task history and project vocabulary.

File Inventory

Every tracked project file plus the Phase 2 input file is mapped to at least one Runtime Substrate responsibility.

File	Primary Responsibility	Secondary Responsibilities
.gitignore	Tool access	Task state
AGENTS.md	Context selection	Task specification, permissions
README.md	Task specification	Project memory
CONTRIBUTING.md	Intervention recording	Project memory
Cargo.toml	Tool access	Verification
Cargo.lock	Tool access	Verification
PHASE2.md	Task specification	Observability, context selection
PHASE3.md	Task specification	Observability, verification, entropy auditing
PHASE4.md	Task specification	Verification, observability, task state
PHASE5.md	Task specification	Verification, entropy auditing, intervention recording
crates/harness-cli/Cargo.toml	Tool access	Verification
crates/harness-cli/src/main.rs	Tool access	Tool implementation
crates/harness-cli/src/domain.rs	Tool access	Task state, verification
crates/harness-cli/src/application.rs	Tool access	Task state
crates/harness-cli/src/infrastructure.rs	Tool access	Project memory, task state, observability
crates/harness-cli/src/interface.rs	Tool access	Context selection, verification
docs/ARCHITECTURE.md	Permissions	Context selection, task specification
docs/FEATURE_INTAKE.md	Task specification	Permissions, context selection
docs/GLOSSARY.md	Project memory	Context selection
docs/HARNESS.md	Task specification	Project memory, task state, permissions
docs/HARNESS_BACKLOG.md	Entropy auditing	Project memory, failure attribution
docs/HARNESS_COMPONENTS.md	Failure attribution	Observability, entropy auditing
docs/HARNESS_MATURITY.md	Entropy auditing	Observability, verification
docs/HARNESS_AUDIT.md	Entropy auditing	Verification, task state
docs/IMPROVEMENT_PROTOCOL.md	Entropy auditing	Failure attribution, permissions
docs/CONTEXT_RULES.md	Context selection	Permissions, task specification
docs/TRACE_SPEC.md	Observability	Failure attribution, intervention recording
docs/TOOL_REGISTRY.md	Tool access	Context selection, verification
docs/README.md	Project memory	Context selection
docs/TEST_MATRIX.md	Verification	Task state
docs/decisions/0001-harness-first-development.md	Project memory	Permissions
docs/decisions/0002-post-spec-product-lifecycle.md	Project memory	Task specification
docs/decisions/0003-generic-spec-intake-harness.md	Project memory	Task specification
docs/decisions/0004-sqlite-durable-layer.md	Project memory	Observability, task state
docs/decisions/0005-prebuilt-rust-harness-cli.md	Project memory	Tool access
docs/decisions/0006-phase-4-benchmark-triage.md	Project memory	Verification
docs/decisions/0007-improvement-proposal-rules.md	Project memory	Entropy auditing, permissions
docs/decisions/README.md	Project memory	Context selection
docs/demo/README.md	Task specification	Project memory
docs/product/README.md	Task specification	Project memory
docs/review-fixes-1d30bf62-to-main.md	Intervention recording	Failure attribution, verification
docs/stories/README.md	Task specification	Project memory
docs/stories/US-001-install-harness.md	Task specification	Verification, intervention recording
docs/stories/US-008-trace-quality-scoring.md	Task specification	Observability, verification
docs/stories/US-009-enriched-friction-query.md	Task specification	Failure attribution, observability
docs/stories/US-011-backlog-outcome-workflow.md	Task specification	Entropy auditing, project memory
docs/stories/US-012-story-verify-command-field.md	Task specification	Verification
docs/stories/US-015-story-verify-command.md	Task specification	Verification
docs/stories/US-016-auto-trace-scoring-on-write.md	Task specification	Observability, verification
docs/stories/US-017-pre-close-verification-gate.md	Task specification	Verification, permissions
docs/stories/US-018-phase4-cli-ux-hardening.md	Task specification	Tool access, verification
docs/stories/US-019-machine-readable-tool-registry.md	Task specification	Tool access
docs/stories/US-020-batch-story-verification.md	Task specification	Verification
docs/stories/US-021-intervention-recording-schema.md	Task specification	Intervention recording
docs/stories/US-022-context-rule-measurement.md	Task specification	Context selection
docs/stories/US-023-drift-detection-entropy-score.md	Task specification	Entropy auditing
docs/stories/US-024-improvement-proposal-pipeline.md	Task specification	Entropy auditing, permissions
docs/stories/backlog.md	Task specification	Project memory
docs/stories/epics/README.md	Task specification	Project memory
docs/stories/epics/E01-durable-layer/US-002-rust-harness-cli/overview.md	Task specification	Project memory
docs/stories/epics/E01-durable-layer/US-002-rust-harness-cli/design.md	Task specification	Tool access, permissions
docs/stories/epics/E01-durable-layer/US-002-rust-harness-cli/execplan.md	Task specification	Verification, task state
docs/stories/epics/E01-durable-layer/US-002-rust-harness-cli/validation.md	Verification	Intervention recording
docs/stories/epics/E02-phase-2-observability-taxonomy/phase-2-progress.md	Task state	Intervention recording
docs/stories/epics/E03-phase-5-evolution-infrastructure/phase-5-progress.md	Task state	Verification, entropy auditing
docs/templates/decision.md	Project memory	Task specification
docs/templates/spec-intake.md	Task specification	Context selection
docs/templates/story.md	Task specification	Verification
docs/templates/validation-report.md	Verification	Intervention recording
docs/templates/high-risk-story/overview.md	Task specification	Context selection
docs/templates/high-risk-story/design.md	Task specification	Permissions
docs/templates/high-risk-story/execplan.md	Task state	Verification
docs/templates/high-risk-story/validation.md	Verification	Failure attribution
scripts/README.md	Tool access	Context selection
scripts/bin/harness-cli	Tool access	Task state, observability
scripts/bin/harness-cli	Tool access	Task state, observability
scripts/install-harness.sh	Tool access	Permissions
scripts/build-harness-cli-release.sh	Verification	Tool access
scripts/schema/001-init.sql	Task state	Observability, project memory
scripts/schema/002-story-verify.sql	Verification	Task state, project memory
scripts/schema/003-tool-registry.sql	Tool access	Project memory
scripts/schema/004-intervention.sql	Intervention recording	Failure attribution
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/agent-failure-case.md	Failure attribution	Entropy auditing
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/pattern-request.md	Entropy auditing	Intervention recording
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/real-world-example.md	Project memory	Intervention recording
.github/workflows/harness-cli-release.yml	Verification	Tool access

Coverage Summary

• Covered: 8/11 responsibilities.
• Partial: 3/11 responsibilities.
• Missing: 0/11 responsibilities.

Covered responsibilities:

• Task specification.

• Context selection.

• Tool access.

• Project memory.

• Task state.

• Verification.

• Entropy auditing.

• Intervention recording. Partial responsibilities:

• Observability.

• Failure attribution.

• Permissions.

Phase 5 converts tool access, entropy auditing, and intervention recording into covered responsibilities with a registry, drift audit, proposal loop, and intervention schema. Later phases should focus on benchmark ingestion, component-level attribution, permission enforcement, and tool usage analytics.