feat: add autonomous_work spec for Development Harness (ADLC) by sunilgattupalle · Pull Request #190 · harness/cli

sunilgattupalle · 2026-09-03T23:53:54Z

Summary

Expose the Harness Development Harness (ADLC) autonomous software-work API via the CLI as an opt-in plugin spec — not embedded in every binary, because ADLC is still in development (authn just shipped to qa0 in adlc-service #134; ST in #148 still open). Users install it only if they want it.

ADLC is the execution plane for autonomous AI-driven software work: WorkItems progress through plan→design→implement→review→merged, governed by WorkClasses, budgets, risk control, teams/members, triggers, and human gates.

What's added

plugins/autonomous_work.spec.yaml — 12 nouns, list/get/create/update/delete + execute variants:

work_item (list/get) + sub-resources via :variant + id_parts: work_item:timeline, work_item:budgets, work_item:phase (2-seg id), work_item:phase_artifacts (2-seg), work_item:artifact (3-seg)
work_item:resume, work_item:approve (execute; --decision approve|reject)
work_class, work_trigger, capability, risk_evaluator, team, member, member_template, software_component — full CRUD, YAML ask-bodies via --file
budget (list/get), budget:usage (get), budget:grant (execute)
content_source_connector (list/get) + content_source_connector:set_default (execute, PUT setDefaultConnectors)
agent_execution (execute — the autonomous-work trigger, POST /agent/executions)

Opt-in (not embedded)

The spec is not under pkg/spec/ (which is //go:embed'd into every binary). It lives at plugins/autonomous_work.spec.yaml. To use it, install it as a plugin spec:

mkdir -p ~/.harness/spec
cp plugins/autonomous_work.spec.yaml ~/.harness/spec/

The CLI auto-loads ~/.harness/spec/*.spec.yaml (specloader.LoadHomeSpecs); embedded specs always win on module-name collision. This is spec-only (no binary), so it doesn't use the binary-plugin install plugin <name> flow — a plain cp is the install. When ADLC is GA, promote this to pkg/spec/ (embedded) and drop the install step — the spec content is unchanged, only its location/gating changes.

This mirrors the companion MCP server toolset's optIn: true (harness/mcp-server#901), where HARNESS_TOOLSETS=+autonomous_work enables it.

Naming

Module/noun naming matches the companion MCP autonomous_work toolset: bare domain nouns (work_item, budget, team, …), disambiguated only on collision — work_trigger (not trigger, which clashes with the pipeline trigger noun).

Routing & auth (verified live against `https://qa0.harness.io`)

All routes project-scoped under /adlc/api/* on the standard gateway — no per-module base URL. The gateway rewrites /adlc/api/X → upstream /api/X.
Scope via orgIdentifier/projectIdentifier query params (templated {{auth.org}}/{{auth.project}}). Account via x-api-key/profile, not accountIdentifier query — paths start at /adlc/api/, never prefixed with {{auth.account}}/….
Auth: the active profile injects x-api-key: <PAT/SAT> automatically (pkg/client/client.go:287). PAT/SAT auth shipped to qa0 in adlc-service PR build(deps): bump helm.sh/helm/v3 from 3.21.3 to 3.21.4 #134 (ADLC-138).
x-internal routes (agent callbacks, Slack, demo seed) are deliberately excluded — service-to-service, not agent-callable.

Verification

go vet ./... ✅ clean
task build:main + cp bin/harness ~/.local/bin/harness
Before install: harness get noun work_item → noun "work_item" not found (opt-in confirmed — not embedded)
After cp to ~/.harness/spec/: noun discovered; live against qa0:
- harness --profile qa0 list work_item --org brett_org --project default → 24 items
- harness --profile qa0 get work_item ADLC-18 → full fields
- harness --profile qa0 list work_class → 3 classes
- harness --profile qa0 get work_item:timeline ADLC-18 --json → timeline stages
- harness --profile qa0 list team → 2 teams

Known follow-up

get work_item:timeline (and other :variants whose response shape differs from the parent noun) renders empty fields in table mode because the variant reuses the work_item noun's field set; --json returns the correct data. A follow-up could give each variant its own field projection.

Companion MCP server toolset: feat: add autonomous_work toolset for Development Harness (ADLC) mcp-server#901
ADLC authn (PAT/SAT, prerequisite): adlc-service PR build(deps): bump helm.sh/helm/v3 from 3.21.3 to 3.21.4 #134 (merged); ST in adlc-service PR fix(har): support UPSTREAM registry creation, --level scoping in firewall_scan, and NuGet lockfiles #148 (open)
Design docs: adlc-service/docs/adlc-api-access/ (verified API contract + handoff)

Expose ADLC's autonomous software-work API via the spec-driven CLI — one declarative spec file, auto-embedded via //go:embed, no Go handler changes. Nouns (bare domain nouns, matching the mcp-server autonomous_work toolset): work_item, work_class, work_trigger, capability, risk_evaluator, budget, team, member, member_template, software_component, content_source_connector, agent_execution. Commands: list/get for work_item and its sub-resources (timeline, budgets, phase, phase_artifacts, artifact), list/get/create/ update/delete for the work-config CRUD entities (YAML ask-bodies via --file), and execute variants for the actions (work_item:resume, work_item:approve, budget:grant, content_source_connector:set_default, agent_execution). All routes project-scoped under /adlc/api/* on the standard gateway — no per-module base URL. Scope via orgIdentifier/projectIdentifier query params (account via x-api-key/profile, not accountIdentifier query). Paths use {{auth.org}}/{{auth.project}} templating; sub-resources use id_parts (2/3) for multi-segment ids. work_trigger (not trigger) to avoid clashing with the pipeline trigger noun. Excludes the x-internal routes (agent callbacks, Slack, demo seed) — service-to-service, not agent-callable. Auth: the active profile injects x-api-key (PAT/SAT) automatically (pkg/client/client.go); PAT/SAT auth shipped to qa0 in adlc-service PR #134. Verified: go vet clean, specloader tests pass, live against qa0 (harness list work_item -> 24 items; get work_item ADLC-18; list work_class; get work_item:timeline; list team). Design: adlc-service/docs/adlc-api-access/04-implementation-handoff.md

ADLC is still in development (authn just shipped to qa0 in adlc-service #134; ST in #148 still open; the API is early). Exposing the spec embedded in every CLI binary would surface an in-development API to all users before it's GA. Move the spec out of the embedded pkg/spec/ set (which is //go:embed'd into every build) to plugins/autonomous_work.spec.yaml. Users who want it install it as a plugin spec: mkdir -p ~/.harness/spec cp plugins/autonomous_work.spec.yaml ~/.harness/spec/ The CLI auto-loads ~/.harness/spec/*.spec.yaml (specloader LoadHomeSpecs); embedded specs always win on module-name collision. The spec is spec-only (no binary), so it doesn't use the binary-plugin install flow (`install plugin <name>`); a plain cp is the install. When ADLC is GA, promote this to pkg/spec/ (embedded) and drop the install step — the spec content is unchanged, only its location/gating changes. Verified: go vet clean; before install `get noun work_item` -> not found; after cp to ~/.harness/spec/ -> noun discovered + `list work_item` returns 24 items live against qa0.

sawka-harness · 2026-09-04T01:48:29Z

@sunilgattupalle this is great. i like this concept of an "opt-in" module. let me massage that concept a bit so it fits in with the install module or install plugin flow instead of forcing a manual copy.

blazarus · 2026-09-04T03:49:30Z

+  # ── agent_execution ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+  - command: execute agent_execution
+    verb: execute
+    noun: agent_execution
+    no_id: true
+    short: Launch an autonomous agent pipeline execution
+    handler_type: endpoint
+    endpoint:
+      method: POST
+      path: /adlc/api/agent/executions
+      query_params:
+        orgIdentifier: auth.org
+        projectIdentifier: auth.project
+      item_expr: it
+      columns: [execution_id, status]


same as in the mcp PR, let's remove this endpoint

…spec

…lag impl

…. move autonomous work to be a hidden module

sunilgattupalle added 2 commits September 3, 2026 16:53

blazarus approved these changes Sep 4, 2026

View reviewed changes

sawka-harness added 4 commits September 4, 2026 11:21

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into feat/autonomous-work-…

20a488a

…spec

move to specs folder, change to harness_internal, and fix file/body f…

f0af3b9

…lag impl

add a concept of a hidden module, new env vars/config to control them…

a7c92de

…. move autonomous work to be a hidden module

add hidden module checks

cb83289

sawka-harness merged commit 55901fa into main Sep 4, 2026
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feat: add autonomous_work spec for Development Harness (ADLC) - #190

feat: add autonomous_work spec for Development Harness (ADLC)#190
sawka-harness merged 6 commits into
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feat/autonomous-work-spec

sunilgattupalle commented Sep 3, 2026 •

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sunilgattupalle commented Sep 3, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Summary

What's added

Opt-in (not embedded)

Naming

Routing & auth (verified live against https://qa0.harness.io)

Verification

Known follow-up

Related

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sawka-harness commented Sep 4, 2026

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sunilgattupalle commented Sep 3, 2026 •

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Routing & auth (verified live against `https://qa0.harness.io`)