From Zero to Enterprise AI Agents — Harness Tutorial Series
Description: Master Harness — the open-source coding agent with 14 enterprise features no competitor can match. Ten hands-on tutorials from install to production.

Tutorial Series — 10 Hands-On Guides

# From Zero to
Enterprise AI Agents

Master Harness — the open-source coding agent with 14 enterprise features no competitor can match.

Start Tutorial 1
View on GitHub
`uv tool install harness-agent`
14
Enterprise features
5
AI providers supported
10
Hands-on tutorials
MIT
Open-source licence

10 Tutorials

## Everything you need to master Harness

From a single-command install to multi-agent parallel execution in production — covered step by step.

01
Beginner

### Getting Started

Your First AI Coding Agent

Install Harness, configure your first AI provider, and run a real coding task in under ten minutes. No prior agent experience required.

02
Beginner

### The Python SDK

Building AI-Powered Tools

Use the Harness async Python SDK to build custom scripts, automate repetitive coding tasks, and integrate AI agents into your own applications.

03
Intermediate

### Permission Modes & Safety Controls

Four Levels of Agent Autonomy

Configure Harness's four permission modes — from fully supervised to fully autonomous — and learn when each is appropriate for your use case.

04
Intermediate

### Budget Controls & Cost Optimization

Token and USD Spending Limits

Set hard token and USD budget caps so agents never exceed your spending limits. Includes per-task, per-session, and monthly budget strategies.

05
Intermediate

### Policy-as-Code

Governing Agent Behavior

Write declarative YAML policies that control what actions Harness can take. Block file deletions, restrict network calls, enforce coding standards automatically.

06
Intermediate

### Audit Logging & Compliance

Immutable Hash-Chained Audit Trail

Every agent action is logged to a tamper-evident, hash-chained audit log. Learn how to configure, query, and export logs for compliance requirements.

07
Intermediate

### Sandboxed Execution

Process and Container Isolation

Run agents in isolated process sandboxes or full Docker containers. Harness's dual sandbox modes protect your host system from unintended side effects.

08
Intermediate

### Sub-Agents & Parallel Execution

Orchestrate Agent Swarms

Spawn multiple specialised sub-agents and run them in parallel. Learn task decomposition patterns that can cut end-to-end completion time by up to 80%.

09
Advanced

### CI/CD Integration

AI Agent in Your Pipeline

Embed Harness directly in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Jenkins. Auto-fix failing tests, generate changelogs, and enforce code quality gates at merge time.

10
Advanced

### Enterprise Production Deployment

Scale to Thousands of Agent Runs

Deploy Harness at scale with model routing, automatic fallback, PII scanning, OpenTelemetry observability, and full organisational audit compliance.

Feature Comparison

## What competitors can't do

14 enterprise capabilities that make Harness the only open-source agent built for production.

## Harness vs. the competition

Across 14 enterprise features that matter for teams shipping real software

✓ Supported ✗ Not supported

Feature | Harness OPEN SOURCE | Claude Code | Cursor | Aider | OpenHands | SWE-Agent
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Multi-provider (5+) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗
Full async SDK | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗
4-mode permissions | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
Token/cost budgets | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
Policy-as-code | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
Audit hash chain | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
Dual sandbox modes | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓
Sub-agent parallelism | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
Native CI/CD | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
Model router + fallback | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
PII scanning | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
OpenTelemetry | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
Hooks system | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗
REPL with slash cmds | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗