Harnesskit
More than a skill manager — manage skills, MCP servers, plugins, hooks, CLIs, configs, memory & rules across every AI coding agent. 🌟 Star if you like it!
What is Harnesskit?
Harnesskit is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to more than a skill manager — manage skills, mcp servers, plugins, hooks, clis, configs, memory & rules across every ai coding agent. 🌟 star if you like it!
More than a skill manager — manage skills, MCP servers, plugins, hooks, CLIs, configs, memory & rules across every AI coding agent. 🌟 Star if you like it!
This server falls under the Developer Tools category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- More than a skill manager — manage skills, MCP servers, plug
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx harnesskitConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Harnesskit
HarnessKit is a cross-agent skill and extension manager that lets you discover, install, enable, disable, and audit MCP servers, plugins, hooks, CLIs, configs, memory configurations, and rules across every major AI coding agent from a single interface. Written in Rust for speed, it supports Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Codex, Copilot, Windsurf, and more, providing both a terminal CLI (`hk`) and a full-featured web UI served from the binary itself. Developers use it to keep their AI tooling organized and consistent across projects and agents without manually editing each agent's individual configuration files.
Prerequisites
- macOS, Linux, or Windows operating system
- curl (macOS/Linux) or PowerShell (Windows) for the installer script
- At least one supported AI coding agent installed (Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Codex, etc.)
- Write access to the agent configuration directories (e.g. ~/.claude, ~/.cursor) on your system
- No additional runtime dependencies—HarnessKit is a self-contained Rust binary
Install HarnessKit
Run the platform-appropriate installer script to download and install the `hk` binary.
# macOS / Linux:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RealZST/HarnessKit/main/install.sh | sh
# Windows (PowerShell):
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RealZST/HarnessKit/main/install.ps1 | iexVerify the installation
Confirm HarnessKit is installed and can detect your existing AI coding agents.
hk statusList installed extensions
View all extensions (MCP servers, plugins, skills, hooks) across all detected agents. Use --kind and --agent flags to filter.
hk list
hk list --kind mcp-server --agent claude-codeRun a security audit
Scan your installed extensions for security issues. HarnessKit produces trust scores for each extension, flagging potentially risky ones.
hk auditEnable or disable an extension
Toggle extensions on or off without manually editing config files.
hk enable my-mcp-server
hk disable my-mcp-serverLaunch the web interface
Start the built-in web UI on port 7070 for a visual dashboard to manage all your extensions.
hk serve
# Then open: http://localhost:7070Harnesskit Examples
Client configuration
HarnessKit itself operates as a CLI and web tool rather than a typical stdio MCP server, but it can be referenced as an MCP server for agents that support shell-based tools.
{
"mcpServers": {
"harnesskit": {
"command": "hk",
"args": ["serve", "--mcp"],
"env": {}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example commands and prompts for using HarnessKit to manage your AI coding environment.
- "Run `hk status` to see all detected agents and how many extensions each has"
- "Run `hk audit` and show me any extensions with trust scores below 80"
- "List all MCP servers installed across my Claude Code and Cursor configurations"
- "Disable the mcp-server-git extension in Claude Code"
- "Open the HarnessKit web UI at localhost:7070 and show the extensions dashboard"Troubleshooting Harnesskit
hk status shows no agents detected
HarnessKit searches standard agent config directories (e.g. ~/.claude, ~/.cursor). Go to Settings → Agent Paths in the web UI (hk serve) and manually add the paths to your agent configuration directories if they are in non-standard locations.
Install script fails with permission denied
The installer tries to place the binary in ~/.local/bin (macOS/Linux). Ensure this directory exists and is writable: `mkdir -p ~/.local/bin`. If it still fails, download the binary manually from the GitHub releases page and place it in your PATH.
Extensions show as enabled in hk list but don't appear in the agent
Some agents cache their configuration at startup. Fully restart the agent (e.g. quit and reopen Claude Desktop or Cursor) after enabling extensions via HarnessKit for the changes to take effect.
Frequently Asked Questions about Harnesskit
What is Harnesskit?
Harnesskit is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that more than a skill manager — manage skills, mcp servers, plugins, hooks, clis, configs, memory & rules across every ai coding agent. 🌟 star if you like it! It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Harnesskit?
Follow the installation instructions on the Harnesskit GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Harnesskit?
Harnesskit works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Harnesskit free to use?
Yes, Harnesskit is open source and available under the Apache-2.0 license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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Set Up Harnesskit in Your Editor
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Quick Config Preview
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json
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