Harness Engineering

[hanhaoci]

How to build a production-ready Harness Engineering system using the Spec-Kit ecosystem?

[mnriem]

What are you specifically trying to accomplish?

[hanhaoci]

Our company is currently looking to establish a set of AI development standards. Right now, I'm planning to implement a standardized process based on spec-kit. However, I'm not entirely sure whether this approach fits our current company model. For example, with spec-kit, larger projects could end up with numerous specification stories, potentially leading to "context explosion" and causing the LLM to hallucinate. Additionally, the standard workflow based on spec-kit doesn't seem to include testing and debugging phases—it feels more like a basic harness engineering prototype. How can we gradually evolve this into a full-fledged harness engineering practice?

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From: "Manfred ***@***.***> Date: Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 19:26 Subject: Re: [github/spec-kit] Harness Engineering (Discussion #2173) To: ***@***.***> Cc: ***@***.***>, ***@***.***> What are you specifically trying to accomplish? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#2173 (comment)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/B5GVLFID2KQGANQJCGLDTDD4VYN6JAVCNFSM6AAAAACXUYPOY2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTMNJVGU4TSNY>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.[image: https://github.com/notifications/beacon/B5GVLFNQ5PA7ZYKI7CVXP3T4VYN6JBFCNFSM6AAAAACXUYPOY2WGG33NNVSW45C7OR4XAZNRIRUXGY3VONZWS33OINXW23LFNZ2KUY3PNVWWK3TUL5UWJTQA7SP53JTSMVQXG33OUZQXK5DIN5ZA.gif]Message ID: ***@***.***>

[mnriem]

If you need testing you should call it out during spec creation. On the notion of harness engineering Spec Kit supports the ability for new commands, overriding existing commands (presets) both on local or organizational level, several integrations (e.g. Copilot, Claude, etceteras) and in the latest 0.7.0 release workflows. So you can most definitely build your own harness engineering practice

[hanhaoci]

During the practical implementation of spec-kit, have you encountered any issues, and how were they resolved? For example, spec stories being too long, causing excessive context length and leading to LLM hallucinations. Also, do you think spec-kit is relatively heavyweight? Are there any lightweight ways to use it?

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From: "Manfred ***@***.***> Date: 2026年4月15日 (周三) 20:16 Subject: Re: [github/spec-kit] Harness Engineering (Discussion #2173) To: ***@***.***> Cc: ***@***.***>, ***@***.***> If you need testing you should call it out during spec creation. On the notion of harness engineering Spec Kit supports the ability for new commands, overriding existing commands (presets) both on local or organizational level, several integrations (e.g. Copilot, Claude, etceteras) and in the latest 0.7.0 release workflows. So you can most definitely build your own harness engineering practice — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#2173 (comment)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/B5GVLFILQHGGJQAAOSK7S3D4V54R3AVCNFSM6AAAAACXUYPOY2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTMNJXGAYDOMA>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.[image: https://github.com/notifications/beacon/B5GVLFP4VNOKGPV3RVV4WKD4V54R3BFCNFSM6AAAAACXUYPOY2WGG33NNVSW45C7OR4XAZNRIRUXGY3VONZWS33OINXW23LFNZ2KUY3PNVWWK3TUL5UWJTQA7TLNNJTSMVQXG33OUZQXK5DIN5ZA.gif]Message ID: ***@***.***>

[mnriem]

Spec Kit is very configurable. You can use the original SDD workflow. Use the lean preset. Or come up with your own commands altogether. It is really up to you!