Configuration reference

`harness.config.json`

The generated template is:

{
  "projectName": "your-project",
  "requiredAdrTopics": [],
  "testStrategy": "isolated-tdd",
  "defaultOwner": "agent",
  "collaborationMode": "solo",
  "deploymentMode": "required",
  "observabilityMode": "feedback-only",
  "commands": {
    "bootstrap": "",
    "verify": "",
    "health": ""
  }
}

The same default semantics apply when the configuration file is missing. projectName defaults to "unnamed-project", and commands are empty.

Fields

Field	Default	Allowed values or purpose
`projectName`	`"unnamed-project"`	Project display name
`requiredAdrTopics`	`[]`	Topics that must be covered by frontmatter in `docs/adr/`
`testStrategy`	`"isolated-tdd"`	`isolated-tdd`, `in-session-tdd`, `team-default`
`defaultOwner`	`"agent"`	Used when `--owner` is omitted
`collaborationMode`	`"solo"`	`solo` or `team`
`deploymentMode`	`"required"`	`required`, `optional`, `none`
`observabilityMode`	`"feedback-only"`	`runtime`, `feedback-only`, `none`
`commands`	`{}`	Project-level environment commands, described below

Unknown enum values or command keys produce an error immediately so typos are not silently ignored.

Test strategy

Value	Workflow meaning
`isolated-tdd`	Default. Non-trivial features use a TDD flow that separates the test author from the implementer.
`in-session-tdd`	Complete RED, GREEN, and refactoring in the same session.
`team-default`	Follow the project’s contribution documentation or existing CI conventions.

This setting controls the workflow in docs/workflow/06-agile-tdd.md. It does not mean validate can judge test design quality.

Collaboration mode

solo hides routine claim operations: when necessary, verify temporarily claims the feature for defaultOwner and releases it afterward. It still rejects a competing write when someone else holds an active claim. team requires the caller to explicitly hold an active claim before verification. It suits collaboration among multiple people, Agents, or machines.

Stage applicability

deploymentMode: required requires the deployment workflow; optional runs it when a target exists; none suits libraries or scripts that are not deployed.
observabilityMode: runtime requires runtime signals and feedback; feedback-only requires only a feedback loop; none skips stage 9 and feedback log audits.

Environment commands

The only allowed keys are bootstrap, start, verify, e2e, health, and cleanup.

{
  "commands": {
    "bootstrap": "npm ci",
    "start": "npm run dev",
    "verify": "npm test && npm run build",
    "e2e": "npm run test:e2e",
    "health": "curl --fail http://localhost:3000/health",
    "cleanup": "npm run stop"
  }
}

env check currently runs bootstrap, verify, e2e, and health. Project workflows use start and cleanup explicitly.

ADR topics

{ "requiredAdrTopics": ["database", "authentication"] }

The corresponding ADR frontmatter is:

---
topic: authentication
---

`feature_list.json.rules`

{
  "wip_limit_per_owner": 1,
  "passing_requires_evidence": true,
  "do_not_skip_verification": true,
  "feature_should_fit_one_session": true,
  "passing_is_monotonic": true,
  "dependencies_must_be_passing_before_start": true
}

wip_limit_per_owner is the enforced concurrency limit. single_active_feature is a deprecated alias and is ignored when WIP is set explicitly. The remaining booleans express the project contract, but cannot disable the core pass, dependency, and monotonicity gates.

Git baseline

HARNESS_BASE_REF=origin/main npx @caesarlo/sdlc-harness validate

See the validate command → GitHub Actions’ GITHUB_BASE_REF is also supported. When no Git baseline is available, the command falls back to .harness/last-validated-features.json. This file is a derived cache and should not be committed. For more status fields, see the feature_list.json reference.

Getting started

Guides

Reference

Help

Configuration reference

`harness.config.json`

Fields

Test strategy

Collaboration mode

Stage applicability

Environment commands

ADR topics

`feature_list.json.rules`

Git baseline

​harness.config.json

​Fields

​Test strategy

​Collaboration mode

​Stage applicability

​Environment commands

​ADR topics

​feature_list.json.rules

​Git baseline

`harness.config.json`

Fields

Test strategy

Collaboration mode

Stage applicability

Environment commands

ADR topics

`feature_list.json.rules`

Git baseline