DearHarness

DearHarness is an OpenClaw Harness operator CLI and instance-side daemon prototype.

It is derived from cogine-ai/cliq-agent, but it is not a generic coding agent. Cliq provides useful runtime substrate ideas; DearHarness focuses on Harness inspection, validation, installation, maintenance, packing, publishing, and platform-callable daemon tasks.

Current Status

This repository is a standalone prototype. The main DearClaw platform repository may later consume or import stable pieces from it.

The current npm package version is @cogineai/[email protected].

Implemented baseline:

• local CLI identity
• OpenClaw workspace inspection
• install-lock status reading
• local Harness manifest validation
• minimal private daemon task API
• remote .zip and .tar.gz bundle source staging
• dry-run install planning and conflict reporting
• guarded file apply with rollback and post-apply verification
• daemon install_harness tasks that use the same guarded install runner as the CLI

DearHarness still does not claim full OpenClaw config mutation, DearStore registry or publish API integration, package signing, dependency solving, or OpenClaw plugin installation.

Quick Start

Requirements: Node.js 20 or newer.

Run the published CLI without installing it globally:

npx -y @cogineai/dearharness help

Or install it globally:

npm install -g @cogineai/dearharness
dearharness help

For local source development:

npm install
npm run build
node dist/index.js help

The examples below use the installed dearharness binary. In a source checkout, replace dearharness with node dist/index.js.

Inspect an OpenClaw-like workspace:

dearharness inspect --target-workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace

Read local install status:

dearharness status --target-workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace

Validate a Harness source directory:

dearharness validate ./my-harness

Download and validate a remote Harness bundle without applying changes. The install runner accepts either a .zip or .tar.gz archive URL. Global scope installs under $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/skills/, falling back to ~/.openclaw/skills/ when OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR is unset:

dearharness install https://example.com/my-harness.zip --global --dry-run
dearharness install https://example.com/my-harness.tar.gz --global --dry-run

Agent scope installs under the provided agent workspace:

dearharness install https://example.com/my-harness.zip --agent-workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace --dry-run
dearharness install https://example.com/my-harness.tar.gz --agent-workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace --dry-run

Apply a conflict-free plan explicitly:

dearharness install https://example.com/my-harness.zip --global --apply
dearharness install https://example.com/my-harness.tar.gz --agent-workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace --apply

The explicit --scope global and --scope agent --agent-workspace <path> forms are also accepted. The older --target-workspace <path> install flag remains available for compatibility.

Run the private daemon:

DEARHARNESS_DAEMON_TOKEN=dev-token dearharness daemon --host 127.0.0.1 --port 18790

Submit an inspect task:

curl -sS \
  -H 'authorization: Bearer dev-token' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"type":"inspect_workspace","targetWorkspace":"/workspace/openclaw"}' \
  http://127.0.0.1:18790/tasks

Submit a guarded install task to the daemon. The source field accepts either a .zip or .tar.gz archive URL:

curl -sS \
  -H 'authorization: Bearer dev-token' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"type":"install_harness","source":"https://example.com/my-harness.zip","targetWorkspace":"/workspace/openclaw","mode":"dry_run"}' \
  http://127.0.0.1:18790/tasks

curl -sS \
  -H 'authorization: Bearer dev-token' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"type":"install_harness","source":"https://example.com/my-harness.tar.gz","targetWorkspace":"/workspace/openclaw","mode":"dry_run"}' \
  http://127.0.0.1:18790/tasks

Repository Guide

Read these first:

• AGENTS.md
• docs/project.md
• docs/architecture.md
• docs/roadmap.md
• docs/superpowers/plans/2026-04-30-dearharness-v0.md

Relationship To DearClaw

DearClaw owns platform policy, auth, catalog, publish review, audit, billing, and user-facing status.

DearHarness owns local execution near OpenClaw:

• inspect workspace/config
• validate packages
• apply deterministic install and maintenance tools
• expose a private daemon for platform task execution

Relationship To Cliq

The cliq-upstream git remote may remain pointed at https://github.com/cogine-ai/cliq-agent.git for reference and selective runtime reuse. It should not be used as the DearHarness publishing remote.

If DearHarness needs a generally useful runtime capability, prefer opening an upstream Cliq issue instead of permanently hiding the change in this fork.

Extensions are intentionally limited to hooks and instruction contributions. They do not register new model-callable top-level actions.

Daemon Task Types

The daemon currently accepts synchronous task requests:

• inspect_workspace: { "type": "inspect_workspace", "targetWorkspace": "/path" }
• read_status: { "type": "read_status", "targetWorkspace": "/path" }
• validate_harness: { "type": "validate_harness", "sourcePath": "/path" }
• install_harness: { "type": "install_harness", "source": "https://example.com/my-harness.zip", "targetWorkspace": "/path", "mode": "dry_run" }. The source field accepts an http(s) .zip or .tar.gz URL, and mode is either dry_run or apply.

These are deliberately narrow. Future agentic maintenance should choose from deterministic tools instead of relying on unrestricted shell execution.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT