design-harness
A decision board for evidence-based calls — the human adjudicates, the agent runs the errands. Three layers (sources → ideas → output) in plain markdown, synced on the human's command, projected onto a visual canvas. Use for vendor/tool selection, literature reviews, due diligence, competitive analysis, or any contested call that must stand on traceable evidence — triggers like "file these papers", "put this on the board", "assemble the design", "how do we decide this".
npx skills add tigerless-labs/design-harness --skill design-harness --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# design-harness — the human adjudicates, the agent runs errands Markdown is the **single source of truth**; the canvas HTML, every layer index, and the location registry are projections, rebuildable at any time. Judgment comes only from the human; you lay out options and evidence and run the errands — never adjudicate in the human's place. ## Structure ### Workspace layout ``` <workspace>/ ├── target.md the human's acceptance criteria; source of the output form ├── logs.md append-only change ledger (see "Disciplines · Ledger") ├── index.md workspace entry point ├── sources/<type>/*.md ① evidence: one source, one card ├── ideas/*.md ② judgments (archive/ holds archived cards) ├── output/… ③ assembly; internal structure set by the chosen output form └── board/*.md free surface: one file, one board ``` A host may hold many workspaces under any directory names; the sole registry is `.design-harness/config.json` at the host root — discovery trusts the registry, never the directory name. Every layer also carries an `index.md`, grouped under tag headings (`## TAG: one line on why they belong together`), unclassified cards flat at the end after a `---` divider and an *unclassified* marker
- Structure
- Workspace layout
- Three layers + the free surface
- Card schema and templates
- Exactly three structured facts
- Rendering contract — the engine's minimum
- Canvas — the only projection surface
- Workflow
- Teach in place, never lecture
- Disciplines
- Toolbox
python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/discover_workspace.py # prints which workspace resolves python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/init_workspace.py <workspace> # bootstrap: skeleton + registry + both validators python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/build_canvas.py <workspace> -o <temp-dir> [--css …] [--title '…']
What does the design-harness skill do?
A decision board for evidence-based calls — the human adjudicates, the agent runs the errands. Three layers (sources → ideas → output) in plain markdown, synced on the human's command, projected onto a visual canvas. Use for vendor/tool selection, literature reviews, due diligence, competitive analysis, or any contested call that must stand on traceable evidence — triggers like "file these papers", "put this on the board", "assemble the design", "how do we decide this".
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add tigerless-labs/design-harness --skill design-harness --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From tigerless-labs/design-harness, a repository with 180 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.