Scenario 32: Apply to instruction-tier harnesses

Frequency: Occasional · Status: Shipped

← Back to scenarios index

Use this when applying a layer to harnesses that load skills as always-on instructions or rules rather than agent-requested skill directories. Harnesses with registry skillEmission: instruction-only include windsurf, cline, github-copilot, gemini-cli, and kiro.

Typical commands:

# Preview per-harness output paths
harnesstap layer apply my-setup --project . --harness windsurf,cline,github-copilot --dry-run

# Apply to instruction-tier harnesses alongside native-skill hosts
harnesstap layer apply my-setup --project . --harness claude-code,codex,windsurf,cursor

# List all harnesses; instruction-tier hosts have skillEmission: instruction-only
harnesstap harness list --format json

Expected emission paths (instruction-tier hosts):

Native-skill hosts (claude-code, codex, cursor with default mode, etc.) continue to emit .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/, or harness-specific skill directories.

Cursor cursor_skill_mode

Cursor is not instruction-only by default. Project apply and mirror read cursor_skill_mode from project harness config and pass it to the serializer as skillCursorMode:

harnesstap harness project status --project . --format json

Compare dry-run output across harnesses before writing. See portability limits for intentional per-host tailoring vs hand-tuned adapter copies.