A curated, verified, cross-vendor directory of AI agent harnesses — the runtime scaffolding that turns a model into an agent.
◆ 74 harnesses profiled · 9-axis capability schema · last verified 2026-07-08
MIT-licensed self-hosted personal AI assistant ('the lobster way') that exploded to ~382k GitHub stars in months: any model, 20+ messaging channels (WhatsApp/Telegram/Slack/iMessage...), SKILL.md skills via ClawHub, Docker-sandboxed sessions, cron jobs, voice, and a live Canvas.
Nous Research's MIT-licensed 'self-improving' server-resident agent (Feb 2026, ~211k stars): model-agnostic with persistent cross-session memory, autonomous skill creation compatible with the agentskills.io standard, DSPy/GEPA evolutionary self-optimization, and execution backends from local/Docker to Modal and Daytona.
MIT-licensed Python library (103k stars) that lets any LLM drive a real Chrome browser via DOM+vision instead of brittle selectors, now flanked by a desktop app and a usage-based cloud with stealth browsers, proxies, and a 24/7 'Browser Use Box' agent.
The original open deep-research harness (Apache-2.0, 28k stars): a planner/executor multi-agent pipeline that fans out parallel web and local-document searches into cited reports, with recursive tree-like 'Deep Research', MCP data-source integration, and any-LLM support.
Anthropic's non-technical desktop agent built on the Claude Code harness (no terminal required) that works over local folders, browsers (Claude in Chrome), and full computer use, with MCP connectors, Agent Skills, and plugins — expanded to web and mobile in July 2026 with cloud-run sessions for Max subscribers.