Plugin Overview
Plugins
harness-kit ships 16 plugins across 7 categories. Each packages a proven workflow as a portable prompt template, currently distributed through Claude Code's plugin marketplace.
At a Glance
| Plugin | What it does | Dependencies |
|---|---|---|
| research | Process any source into a structured, compounding knowledge base | gh CLI (GitHub only), Python 3.10+ |
| orient | Topic-focused session orientation across graph, knowledge, and research | None (optional: MCP Memory Server) |
| capture | Capture session information into a staging file for later reflection | None |
| review | Structured code review for branches, PRs, or paths with severity labels | gh CLI (PR review only) |
| explain | Layered explanations of files, functions, directories, or concepts | None |
| lineage | Column-level lineage tracing through SQL, Kafka, Spark, JDBC | None |
| docgen | Generate or update README, API docs, architecture overview, or changelog | None |
| open-pr | Pre-flight checks and PR creation: tests, PR, review, CI | gh CLI |
| merge-pr | Merge a ready PR: verify CI, sync base, squash merge, clean up | gh CLI |
| pr-sweep | Cross-repo PR sweep: triage, review, merge, fix CI | gh CLI |
| harness-share | Compile, export, import, and sync harness configs across AI tools | None |
| stats | Interactive HTML dashboard for Claude Code token and session usage | Python 3.10+ |
| iterm-notify | macOS desktop notifications and iTerm2 badge management for Claude Code events | macOS, iTerm2, terminal-notifier, jq |
| board | Kanban project board with real-time Claude-to-web sync via MCP | Node.js (board server) |
| frontend-design | Production-grade frontend design rules: OKLCH color, typography, motion, accessibility | None |
| membrain | Graph-based agent memory — search, trace, and manage a persistent knowledge graph | Go 1.25+, membrain MCP server |
Plugin dependencies are formally declared in plugin.json under requires. See Secrets & Configuration for the schema and Secrets Management for setup instructions.
Install any plugin
/plugin marketplace add harnessprotocol/harness-kit
/plugin install <plugin-name>@harness-kitHow plugins work
Each plugin is a directory containing:
plugins/<name>/
├── .claude-plugin/
│ └── plugin.json ← metadata + version
├── skills/
│ └── <name>/
│ ├── SKILL.md ← what Claude reads (the workflow)
│ └── README.md ← what humans read (usage docs)
└── scripts/ ← optional automationThe SKILL.md is the runtime unit — it defines the workflow Claude Code executes when you invoke the slash command. The plugin is the distribution unit — it packages the skill with optional scripts, hooks, and agents.
SKILL.md files are plain markdown, not SDK code or API calls. While plugins currently distribute through Claude Code's marketplace, the prompt workflows are harness-agnostic — they work in any tool that reads prompt templates. See Cross-Harness Portability for details.
See Plugins vs. Skills for the full rationale.
Profiles
Profiles are pre-configured collections of plugins for specific roles. Each profile is a harness.yaml that bundles a curated set of plugins with optional knowledge seeds.
| Profile | Who it's for | Plugins included |
|---|---|---|
| research-knowledge | Research-focused roles | research, orient, capture, explain, docgen |
| data-engineer | Data engineers with SQL pipelines | lineage, research, orient, capture, explain, docgen, review |
| full-stack-engineer | Full-stack feature shipping | review, open-pr, merge-pr, pr-sweep, explain, docgen, harness-share |
Install a profile's plugins individually, or use /harness-import with the profile's YAML to install them all at once.