aimasteracc/harness-kit/harness-preflight

harness-preflight — Don't launch a long run on a harness you haven't checked

Purpose

A long autonomous run amplifies whatever you start it with. A missing "done" condition, an ungated plan, or no checkpoint mechanism turns into hours of confidently-wrong work. This skill walks the seven pre-conditions a sound harness needs and refuses to green-light until the gaps are named. It's the seatbelt check before the autonomous drive.

How to run

Walk each item. For each: OK (with the evidence) or GAP (with what's missing and the quickest fix). End with a single go/no-go verdict. Don't rubber-stamp — a GAP on items 1, 2, or 4 is a no-go.

The checklist

1. Observable definition of done. Is "done" a command that passes or a state you can see —

not a vibe? → If no: define it now (delegate to thinking about the user-visible success state).

1. Decomposition exists. Is the work broken into discrete, independently verifiable units —

not one giant "implement it" step? → If no: decompose first (guards against one-shot impulse).

1. Generation ≠ certification. Is there an independent grader — tests, a type-checker, a

separate review pass — so the agent isn't certifying its own output? → If no: wire one in.

1. Upstream gate. Is the high-leverage upstream artifact (plan/spec/schema) validated before

dependent work fans out? → If no: add a checkpoint right after it (guards against spec cascade).

1. Checkpoint / handoff mechanism. Can state survive a context reset — is there a place the

agent writes progress, so nearing the limit triggers a save, not a panic? → If no: set up a .handoff/ convention (see the context-handoff skill).

1. Constraints are loaded. Does a CLAUDE.md (or equivalent) state the NEVERs — the actions

that cause real damage? → If no: generate one (see claude-md-architect).

1. Blast radius is bounded. If the run goes wrong, what's the worst it can touch? Is it on a

branch / sandbox / with no deploy or destructive perms? → If no: bound it before launching.

Verdict format

## Harness Pre-Flight — <task>
 
1. Done condition ........ OK | GAP: <fix>
2. Decomposition ......... OK | GAP: <fix>
3. Independent grader .... OK | GAP: <fix>
4. Upstream gate ......... OK | GAP: <fix>
5. Checkpoint/handoff .... OK | GAP: <fix>
6. Constraints loaded .... OK | GAP: <fix>
7. Blast radius bounded .. OK | GAP: <fix>
 
VERDICT: GO | NO-GO — <one line. NO-GO if any of 1, 2, 4, 7 is a GAP.>

Notes

• This skill composes the rest of the kit: gaps route to claude-md-architect (item 6),

context-handoff (item 5), and the fixes in failure-mode-audit (items 1–4).

• A 60-second pre-flight routinely saves hours of an autonomous run spent building the wrong

thing soundly.