Agent Harness Doctor

Automated audit and fix for OpenClaw agent harnesses. Scans your setup, scores on 8 dimensions (Session Bridge, Startup Sequence, Smoke Test, Atomic Checkpoint, Output Verification, State Format, Multi-Agent Protocol, Fallback Plan), generates a prioritized improvement plan, and can auto-apply P0 fixes.

Based on Anthropic's "Effective Harnesses for Long-Running Agents" and ClawHub's agent-harness-architect, this skill automatically diagnoses and hardens your OpenClaw harness.

The 8 Dimensions

Dimension	What it checks	Why it matters
Session Bridge	Is there a structured state file (agent-progress.json) that survives restarts?	Without this, every session starts blank
Fixed Startup Sequence	Does the agent have a mandatory first N steps (read bridge, smoke test, etc.)?	Prevents skipping crucial initialization
Smoke Test	Does the agent verify environment (network, API keys, disk) before tasks?	Catches failures early
Atomic Checkpoint	After each task, does agent commit/save state?	Ensures progress isn't lost
Output Self-Verification	Before saying "done", does agent validate the result?	Prevents false completions
State File Format	Is state stored as JSON (not Markdown) to resist accidental edits?	Markdown is too easy for LLM to mangle
Multi-Agent Protocol	If multiple agents, is there clear message passing?	Avoids race conditions and confusion
Fallback Plan	Does agent have a Plan B if a dependency fails?	Increases robustness

Usage

Run Diagnostic

bash

tool("agent-harness-doctor", "harness_check", {"fix_apply": []})

Output includes:

json

{
  "summary": {
    "score": 6.5,
    "grade": "B",
    "weakest_dimension": "Session Bridge"
  },
  "dimensions": [
    {
      "id": "session_bridge",
      "name": "Session Bridge",
      "score": 2,
      "max": 10,
      "finding": "No agent-progress.json file found",
      "recommendation": "Create agent-progress.json with lastSession, taskTracking, environmentStatus sections",
      "p0": true
    },
    ...
  ],
  "plan": {
    "P0": ["create_session_bridge", "fix_startup_sequence"],
    "P1": ["add_smoke_test", "enable_atomic_checkpoint"],
    "P2": ["output_verification_gate", "multi_agent_protocol"]
  }
}

Auto-Apply P0 Fixes

bash

tool("agent-harness-doctor", "harness_check", {"fix_apply": ["create_session_bridge", "fix_startup_sequence"]})

The tool will:

1. Create agent-progress.json in workspace root with template
2. Update AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md to include a fixed startup sequence section
3. Log changes made

Apply Single Fix

bash

tool("agent-harness-doctor", "apply_fix", {"fix_id": "create_session_bridge"})

Fixes Implemented

• create_session_bridge — generates agent-progress.json with schema v1.0
• fix_startup_sequence — inserts mandatory startup steps into AGENTS.md (if present)
• add_smoke_test — adds pre-task environment check (gateway status, API connectivity)
• enable_atomic_checkpoint — adds post-task commit template
• output_verification_gate — injects self-check prompt into system instructions
• state_json_format — migrates existing state files from MD to JSON
• fallback_plan_template — adds fallback handling patterns to AGENTS.md

Integration with Memory Stack

If memory-stack-core is installed, harness doctor will:

• Check WAL and buffer health as part of "Session Bridge" score
• Recommend enabling WAL auto-capture if missing
• Verify buffer threshold is set appropriately

Pricing

$99 one-time. Includes:

• Unlimited diagnostics
• Auto-fix application
• Future dimension additions

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Based on ClawHub's agent-harness-architect skill, extended with auto-fix capabilities.