Glossary · Phase 10 · Agent harnesses
Agent harness
The software around a model that turns it into an agent: the loop, tools, permissions, context management, memory and logging.
Try it now
Each reply is one model call. Two ask for tools, so the loop runs them and goes round again; the third ends the turn.
Learn it properly
What an agent harness is · The software around a model that turns it into an agent. About 30 minutes.
Other terms from the same lesson
- Claude Agent SDK: A library that packages Claude Code's harness: built-in file, shell and web tools, permissions, hooks, subagents and sessions, run on your own machines.
- managed agents: A hosted option where Anthropic runs the agent loop and a sandbox container for each session.
- scripted model: A stand-in for a model that returns prepared replies in order, so harness code can be tested quickly and repeatably.
- test harness: Code that runs other code under controlled conditions and checks the results.
- tool runner: A helper in the Anthropic SDKs that runs the agent loop over tools you define.
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