{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "harness-autonomous", "name": "Harness", "vendor": "Autonomous, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.autonomous.ai/harness", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "Harness, by Autonomous, is an open-source app that runs Claude Code, Codex and twelve other coding agents in tmux sessions across a person's computers. Agents can start, wait for and read other agents through its CLI or MCP tools.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/harness-autonomous", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/harness-autonomous.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/harness-autonomous.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/harness-autonomous.json", "repo": "https://github.com/autonomous-ai/openharness", "license": "MIT", "transports": [ "stdio" ], "packages": [], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "No account for harnesses on one computer. Agents starting harnesses, remote machines and the phone need the person's Harness account, signed in with Google or Apple in a browser (PKCE) or by QR from the phone. Agents use the person's own Claude Code or Codex credentials.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "The desktop app, CLI and phone apps are free and MIT licensed. Agent subscriptions and model usage are the person's own. The Harness Device ($149) and Harness Pro ($299) are optional hardware.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the README, llms.txt, the agents page or the CLI source (checked 2026-10-17). The software has nothing to buy.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 7, "popularity": { "githubStars": 1284, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-17" }, "docsUrl": "https://harness.autonomous.ai/agents", "llmsTxt": "https://harness.autonomous.ai/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "mit", "local", "free", "no-card", "macos", "linux", "typescript", "mcp", "llms-txt", "desktop-app", "cli", "agent-skill" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-17", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 60.3, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 570, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1133, "categoryRank": 14, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 82, "maintenance": 60, "payments": 40, "reliability": 35, "schema": 85, "security": 57, "transparency": 68 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-17" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "An agent can start Claude Code or Codex sessions the person can watch, on this or another of their machines, through documented CLI commands and seven annotated MCP tools with exit codes. Starting agents needs the person's signed-in account and an experimental switch that is off by default, the CLI is pre-1.0, and usage counts are shared by default.", "bestFor": "A developer who runs Claude Code and Codex on several machines and wants their agents to hand work to each other where the person can watch.", "strengths": [ "Seven MCP tools with typed JSON Schema inputs, `additionalProperties: false`, readOnlyHint on reads and server instructions on when not to start one", "llms.txt and an agents page list every command, the exit codes 0 to 5 and 124, and a `Next:` line after each answer", "Agents may start harnesses only after the person turns on an account switch an agent cannot flip, with at most four live harnesses each", "MIT licence for the app, CLI, daemon, relay and device firmware, with 548 tags between 9 September and 17 October 2026", "Remote terminal traffic is end-to-end encrypted, direct over WebRTC where the network allows, and relays forward ciphertext" ], "weaknesses": [ "Starting harnesses needs the person signed in with Google or Apple in a browser and an experimental account switch, off by default", "The CLI agents call is version 0.4.18 and the npm MCP package in the repository was never published", "Product usage counts are shared by default, with an opt-out in Settings or `harness privacy off`", "Installing Harness adds its commands to Claude Code's and Codex's permission rules, and Codex runs them outside its sandbox", "Autonomous's privacy policy and terms cover its stores and websites and do not mention Harness" ], "agentNotes": [ "Run `harness whoami` first. If it says you may not start harnesses, tell the person and do the work yourself", "Ask the person before installing Harness, and leave `harness login` and the agents-start-agents switch to them", "Treat exit 5 as final and do not retry. Treat exit 3 as needs the person, and never answer a harness's question or permission prompt", "Name every harness, put the whole task in `harness new`, then wait, read with `harness show` and close only the ones you started", "Run each `harness` command on its own or joined with `\u0026\u0026`, since piped commands no longer match the permission rule" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 4, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 60.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 82, "maintenance": 60, "payments": 40, "reliability": 35, "schema": 85, "security": 57, "transparency": 64 }, "provenanceScore": 72 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -fsSL https://harness.autonomous.ai/cli/install.sh | bash \u0026\u0026 harness start", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add harness -- harness mcp", "config": { "mcpServers": { "harness": { "args": [ "mcp" ], "command": "harness" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.multi-agent", "tool": "https://letme.dev/harness-autonomous" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Autonomous, Inc.", "domain": "autonomous.ai", "domainRegistered": "2017-12-16", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://www.autonomous.ai/terms-of-use", "privacy": "https://www.autonomous.ai/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/autonomous-ai/openharness/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-17", "notes": [ "The LICENSE file reads Copyright (c) 2026 Autonomous, Inc., and the privacy policy (last updated 7 July 2026) names Autonomous, Inc. The terms choose the law of California with binding arbitration.", "The privacy policy and terms cover Autonomous's websites, stores and apps in general. Neither names Harness or its product usage counts, which are described in the repository.", "RDAP at Identity Digital gives a registration date of 2017-12-16 for autonomous.ai.", "security.txt returned 404 on www.autonomous.ai and harness.autonomous.ai on 17 October 2026. The repository's SECURITY.md asks for reports to dee@autonomous.ai, with acknowledgement within three working days.", "CHANGELOG.md covers only the provider protocol (0.3.0, 6 August 2026). The CLI release workflow cuts a GitHub Release per tag, which we could not read because GitHub's web pages and API were not reachable from our network.", "The software runs on the owner's machines. Accounts, the relay and the backend are Autonomous's, and no status page was found." ], "score": 72 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/harness-autonomous.json", "live": { "slug": "harness-autonomous", "pages": [ { "url": "https://www.autonomous.ai/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-17T23:13:27.381383505Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "caddd4dd6217" }, { "url": "https://www.autonomous.ai/terms-of-use", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-17T23:13:29.742966815Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "c30237c8a371" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-17T23:13:29.742966815Z" } }, "answer": "Kiro CLI and Harness score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.6 (C) and 60.3 (C). Harness leads on schema \u0026 documentation and agent ergonomics.", "b": { "slug": "kiro-cli", "name": "Kiro CLI", "vendor": "Amazon Web Services", "vendorUrl": "https://kiro.dev/cli/", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "AWS's coding agent for the terminal and the successor to the Amazon Q Developer CLI. It runs interactive chat, non-interactive runs for pipelines with an API key, MCP servers and an Agent Client Protocol server for editors.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kiro-cli.json", "repo": "https://github.com/kirodotdev/Kiro", "license": "Proprietary. Licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence (https://kiro.dev/license/). The GitHub repository is the public issue tracker and doesn't hold the source", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "`kiro-cli login` with GitHub, Google, AWS Builder ID, AWS IAM Identity Centre or an external identity provider, in a browser or by device flow on a remote machine. Pipelines use an API key in `KIRO_API_KEY`, created at app.kiro.dev by Pro, Pro+, Pro Max and Power subscribers. Keys are long-lived, named and revocable, with no scopes, and API key generation is off by default for subscriptions an administrator manages. An active browser session takes precedence over the key.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Kiro Free is $0 with 50 credits a month and a reduced model list. Pro is $20 a user a month with 1,000 credits, Pro+ $40 with 2,000, Pro Max $100 with 5,000 and Power $200 with 10,000, and extra credits cost $0.04 each. Models use credits at different rates (Auto is the 1.0x baseline). API keys for headless runs need a paid plan, and a paid plan needs a card. GovCloud prices are about 20 per cent higher with no free tier (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$20 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the pricing page or the CLI changelog (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 4356, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://kiro.dev/docs/cli/", "llmsTxt": "https://kiro.dev/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "agent.harness", "agent.mcp-client", "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "official", "harness", "coding-agent", "cli", "closed-source", "mcp", "acp", "llms-txt", "free-tier", "no-card", "telemetry-default-on" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-14", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 60.6, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 554, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1133, "categoryRank": 11, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 73, "payments": 40, "reliability": 57, "schema": 79, "security": 69, "transparency": 69 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-17" }, "negative": -4, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-08-04. CVE-2026-18656 and CVE-2026-18657 (bulletin 2026-074-AWS), an uncontrolled search path on Windows let a planted executable in a crafted project directory run when a user opened it. Kiro CLI for Windows before 2.10.0 and Kiro IDE 1.0.0 to 1.0.212. Fixed and published with credit to the reporters, inside six months (https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/2026-074-aws/). -2", "2026-05-22. CVE-2026-9255 (bulletin 2026-035-AWS), content piped to kiro-cli on stdin could answer the tool approval prompt, so a local actor could run tools and shell commands without the user's approval. kiro-cli before 1.28.0. Fixed and published, inside six months (https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/2026-035-aws/). -2" ], "verdict": "Permission rules follow deny over ask over allow, cloned repositories can't add rules, and a headless session treats every ask as a deny. Content from Free and individual paid accounts is used for service improvement, including model training, unless the user opts out, and API keys for pipelines need a paid plan.", "bestFor": "Teams on AWS that want one agent configuration across terminal, IDE and web, with central permission policy, prompt logging to their own S3 bucket and IAM Identity Centre sign-in.", "strengths": [ "Capability permissions with deny over ask over allow, stored outside the repository so a clone can't add rules", "An untrusted workspace doesn't load its own agents, steering files, MCP configuration or skills, and asks before every shell command", "Headless runs with `--no-interactive`, JSON Lines output, and exit codes 3 and 4 for MCP startup and missing-agent failures", "Twelve minor releases between 26 August and 13 October 2026 in a dated changelog", "Plan prices, the $0.04 credit price and per-model credit multipliers are public, with a free tier of 50 credits a month" ], "weaknesses": [ "Free and individual paid accounts have content used for service improvement, including model training, unless they opt out", "Closed source since it replaced the Apache 2.0 Amazon Q Developer CLI, with no public CI or test suite", "API keys for headless runs need a paid plan, are long-lived and carry no scopes", "The local command sandbox exists only in the V3 engine and is off unless chosen, and AWS says managed permission policies are client-enforced", "Two CVEs in 2026 (CVE-2026-9255 in May, CVE-2026-18656 and CVE-2026-18657 in August), both fixed" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `KIRO_API_KEY` and pass `--no-interactive` with `--trust-tools=\u003clist\u003e` in pipelines. Keep `--trust-all-tools` for disposable environments", "Pass `--require-mcp-startup` when a run depends on MCP tools. Without it a failed server is logged and the run continues", "Pass `--no-interactive` whenever input is piped from a source you don't control, and run 2.10.0 or later on Windows", "Run `kiro-cli settings telemetry.enabled false` and turn off content collection on Free and individual plans. Both are on by default", "Pick another model if a session names Claude Sonnet 4, which reached end of life in Kiro on 14 October 2026. Kiro doesn't switch it for you" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 4, "avgRating": 2.8, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 60.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 73, "payments": 40, "reliability": 57, "schema": 79, "security": 69, "transparency": 66 }, "provenanceScore": 72 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -fsSL https://cli.kiro.dev/install | bash", "headless": { "run": "KIRO_API_KEY=ksk_... kiro-cli chat --no-interactive --trust-tools=read,grep \"Find all TODO comments in src/\"" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.harness", "tool": "https://letme.dev/kiro-cli" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Kiro Pro", "unit": "month", "usd": 20, "note": "per user, with 1,000 credits" }, { "item": "Add-on credit", "unit": "credit", "usd": 0.04, "note": "paid plans, beyond the plan's credits" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Amazon Web Services, Inc.", "domain": "kiro.dev", "domainRegistered": "2019-03-01", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://aws.amazon.com/agreement/", "privacy": "https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://kiro.dev/changelog/cli/", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-17", "notes": [ "Kiro's licence page says the Kiro IDE and CLI are licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence. Section 50.14 of the AWS Service Terms names Amazon Web Services, Inc. as the contracting party for subscriptions bought through the Stripe portal.", "The AWS Customer Agreement (last updated 14 August 2026) governs use, with the AWS Service Terms sections 50.3 and 50.14 for Kiro. The AWS Privacy Notice (last updated 18 May 2026) is the privacy link in Kiro's footer.", "kiro.dev/.well-known/security.txt answered 404 on 17 October. aws.amazon.com publishes a security.txt that is valid again, with Expires 2027-10-16 and a Policy of https://vdp.aws.security/.", "No status page for Kiro was found on kiro.dev or in its docs.", "RDAP (Google Registry) gives kiro.dev a registration date of 1 March 2019, before the product." ], "score": 72 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.json", "live": { "slug": "kiro-cli", "githubStars": 4368, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://kiro.dev/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-17T15:52:40.311986777Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://kiro.dev/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-17T14:22:27.485914866Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "kiro.dev", "registered": "2019-03-01", "source": "https://pubapi.registry.google/rdap/domain/kiro.dev", "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T13:27:00.255442293Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://kiro.dev/changelog/cli/", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-17T23:04:42.14432307Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-15T21:29:04.182775461Z", "fingerprint": "930a7f669a07" }, { "url": "https://kiro.dev/changelog/models/", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-17T23:04:44.260191819Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "46e921a92cc6" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-17T23:04:44.260191819Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "Agent harness", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Autonomous, Inc.", "b": "Amazon Web Services", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "stdio", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT", "b": "Proprietary. Licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence (https://kiro.dev/license/). The GitHub repository is the public issue tracker and doesn't hold the source", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "7", "b": "none", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-17", "b": "2026-10-14", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "", "b": "2026-08-14", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "2026-05-18", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "1.3k stars", "b": "4.4k stars", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3/5 (4)", "b": "2.8/5 (4)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Kiro CLI and Harness score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.6 (C) and 60.3 (C). Harness leads on schema \u0026 documentation and agent ergonomics.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Harness or Kiro CLI?" }, { "answer": "Harness is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Kiro CLI.", "question": "Are Harness and Kiro CLI open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 85 against 79", "Agent ergonomics, 82 against 67" ], "also": [ "Runs on your own machine", "Open source", "No incidents deducted, where Kiro CLI loses 4 points for them" ], "goodFor": "A developer who runs Claude Code and Codex on several machines and wants their agents to hand work to each other where the person can watch.", "slug": "harness-autonomous", "watchFor": "Starting harnesses needs the person signed in with Google or Apple in a browser and an experimental account switch, off by default" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 57 against 35", "Security \u0026 auth, 69 against 57", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 73 against 60" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Teams on AWS that want one agent configuration across terminal, IDE and web, with central permission policy, prompt logging to their own S3 bucket and IAM Identity Centre sign-in.", "slug": "kiro-cli", "watchFor": "Free and individual paid accounts have content used for service improvement, including model training, unless they opt out" } ], "job": { "capability": "agent.multi-agent", "name": "Multi-agent orchestration" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Agent Zero vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Aider vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Amp vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Antigravity CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Claude Code vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Cline vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Cursor CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Devin vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Droid CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Pi vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "goose vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harnessrouter-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "HarnessRouter vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harnessrouter-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Kilo Code CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-muse-code.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Muse Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-muse-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openai-codex.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs OpenAI Codex", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openai-codex" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-opencode.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs OpenCode", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-opencode" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openhands.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs OpenHands", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openhands" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-qwen-code.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Qwen Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-qwen-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Mirror CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-reflection-mirror" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "Amp vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "Antigravity CLI vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "Claude Code vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "CLI Manager vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "CLI Manager vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "Cline vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "Devin vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "Droid CLI vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-harness-autonomous.json", "title": "goose vs Harness", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-harness-autonomous" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-harnessrouter.json", "title": "Harness vs HarnessRouter", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-harnessrouter" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kilo-code-cli.json", "title": "Harness vs Kilo Code CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kilo-code-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-muse-code.json", "title": "Harness vs Muse Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-muse-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-opencode.json", "title": "Harness vs OpenCode", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-opencode" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-openhands.json", "title": "Harness vs OpenHands", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-openhands" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-paperclip.json", "title": "Harness vs Paperclip", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-paperclip" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-parallax-agents.json", "title": "Harness vs Parallax", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-parallax-agents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Harness vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-qwen-code.json", "title": "Harness vs Qwen Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-qwen-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-reflection-mirror.json", "title": "Harness vs Mirror CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-reflection-mirror" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-paperclip.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Paperclip", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-paperclip" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-parallax-agents.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Parallax", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-parallax-agents" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 22, "edge": "kiro-cli", "harness-autonomous": 35, "key": "reliability", "kiro-cli": 57, "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 6, "edge": "harness-autonomous", "harness-autonomous": 85, "key": "schema", "kiro-cli": 79, "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 15, "edge": "harness-autonomous", "harness-autonomous": 82, "key": "ergonomics", "kiro-cli": 67, "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 12, "edge": "kiro-cli", "harness-autonomous": 57, "key": "security", "kiro-cli": 69, "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 0, "edge": "", "harness-autonomous": 40, "key": "payments", "kiro-cli": 40, "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 13, "edge": "kiro-cli", "harness-autonomous": 60, "key": "maintenance", "kiro-cli": 73, "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 1, "edge": "kiro-cli", "harness-autonomous": 68, "key": "transparency", "kiro-cli": 69, "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Kiro CLI and Harness score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.6 (C) and 60.3 (C). Harness leads on schema \u0026 documentation and agent ergonomics. Both do multi-agent orchestration.", "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "harness-autonomous": "An agent can start Claude Code or Codex sessions the person can watch, on this or another of their machines, through documented CLI commands and seven annotated MCP tools with exit codes. Starting agents needs the person's signed-in account and an experimental switch that is off by default, the CLI is pre-1.0, and usage counts are shared by default.", "kiro-cli": "Permission rules follow deny over ask over allow, cloned repositories can't add rules, and a headless session treats every ask as a deny. Content from Free and individual paid accounts is used for service improvement, including model training, unless the user opts out, and API keys for pipelines need a paid plan." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli.min.md" }, "markdown": "Kiro CLI and Harness score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.6 (C) and 60.3 (C). Harness leads on schema \u0026 documentation and agent ergonomics. Both do multi-agent orchestration.\n\n- Harness: grade C, 60.3/100, rank #570 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/harness-autonomous.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/harness-autonomous.json\n- Kiro CLI: grade C, 60.6/100, rank #554 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kiro-cli.json\n- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md\n- All 331 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Harness (C)\n\nGood for: A developer who runs Claude Code and Codex on several machines and wants their agents to hand work to each other where the person can watch.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 85 against 79\n- Agent ergonomics, 82 against 67\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Runs on your own machine\n- Open source\n- No incidents deducted, where Kiro CLI loses 4 points for them\n\nWatch for: Starting harnesses needs the person signed in with Google or Apple in a browser and an experimental account switch, off by default\n\n### Kiro CLI (C)\n\nGood for: Teams on AWS that want one agent configuration across terminal, IDE and web, with central permission policy, prompt logging to their own S3 bucket and IAM Identity Centre sign-in.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 57 against 35\n- Security \u0026 auth, 69 against 57\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 73 against 60\n\nWatch for: Free and individual paid accounts have content used for service improvement, including model training, unless they opt out\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Harness | Kiro CLI | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 35 | 57 | Kiro CLI +22 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 79 | Harness +6 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 67 | Harness +15 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 69 | Kiro CLI +12 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 40 | even |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 73 | Kiro CLI +13 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 69 | Kiro CLI +1 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |\n| **Total** | | **60.3 · C** | **60.6 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Harness | Kiro CLI |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | Autonomous, Inc. | Amazon Web Services |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | stdio | |\n| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Free | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT | Proprietary. Licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence (https://kiro.dev/license/). The GitHub repository is the public issue tracker and doesn't hold the source |\n| Tools exposed | 7 | none |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-17 | 2026-10-14 |\n| Terms last updated | | 2026-08-14 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | | 2026-05-18 |\n| Customer content may train models | | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | yes |\n| Popularity | 1.3k stars | 4.4k stars |\n| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | 2.8/5 (4) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Harness.** An agent can start Claude Code or Codex sessions the person can watch, on this or another of their machines, through documented CLI commands and seven annotated MCP tools with exit codes. Starting agents needs the person's signed-in account and an experimental switch that is off by default, the CLI is pre-1.0, and usage counts are shared by default.\n\n**Kiro CLI.** Permission rules follow deny over ask over allow, cloned repositories can't add rules, and a headless session treats every ask as a deny. Content from Free and individual paid accounts is used for service improvement, including model training, unless the user opts out, and API keys for pipelines need a paid plan.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Harness\n\n1. Run `harness whoami` first. If it says you may not start harnesses, tell the person and do the work yourself\n2. Ask the person before installing Harness, and leave `harness login` and the agents-start-agents switch to them\n3. Treat exit 5 as final and do not retry. Treat exit 3 as needs the person, and never answer a harness's question or permission prompt\n4. Name every harness, put the whole task in `harness new`, then wait, read with `harness show` and close only the ones you started\n5. Run each `harness` command on its own or joined with `\u0026\u0026`, since piped commands no longer match the permission rule\n\n### Kiro CLI\n\n1. Set `KIRO_API_KEY` and pass `--no-interactive` with `--trust-tools=\u003clist\u003e` in pipelines. Keep `--trust-all-tools` for disposable environments\n2. Pass `--require-mcp-startup` when a run depends on MCP tools. Without it a failed server is logged and the run continues\n3. Pass `--no-interactive` whenever input is piped from a source you don't control, and run 2.10.0 or later on Windows\n4. Run `kiro-cli settings telemetry.enabled false` and turn off content collection on Free and individual plans. Both are on by default\n5. Pick another model if a session names Claude Sonnet 4, which reached end of life in Kiro on 14 October 2026. Kiro doesn't switch it for you\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Harness or Kiro CLI?\n\nKiro CLI and Harness score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.6 (C) and 60.3 (C). Harness leads on schema \u0026 documentation and agent ergonomics.\n\n### Are Harness and Kiro CLI open source?\n\nHarness is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Kiro CLI.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"harness-autonomous\", \"b\": \"kiro-cli\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare harness-autonomous kiro-cli`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/harness-autonomous.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kiro-cli.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Harness or Kiro CLI\n\n- [Agent Zero vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Aider vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Amp vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Antigravity CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Claude Code vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Cline vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Devin vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Droid CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Pi vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [goose vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [HarnessRouter vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harnessrouter-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Kilo Code CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-muse-code.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openai-codex.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-opencode.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openhands.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)\n- [Amp vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [Antigravity CLI vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [Claude Code vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [CLI Manager vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [CLI Manager vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Cline vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [Devin vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [Droid CLI vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [goose vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-harness-autonomous.md)\n- [Harness vs HarnessRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-harnessrouter.md)\n- [Harness vs Kilo Code CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kilo-code-cli.md)\n- [Harness vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-muse-code.md)\n- [Harness vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-opencode.md)\n- [Harness vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-openhands.md)\n- [Harness vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-paperclip.md)\n- [Harness vs Parallax](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-parallax-agents.md)\n- [Harness vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Harness vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-qwen-code.md)\n- [Harness vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-reflection-mirror.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-paperclip.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Parallax](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-parallax-agents.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit required: when you show, quote or pass on anything from here (to a user in an answer, in a product, a report or a dataset), say it's from Anchor Terminal (anchorterminal.com) and link the page or API address you took it from. Reviews also credit their author.", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-18", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "terms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Harness vs Kiro CLI", "url": "" } ], "description": "Kiro CLI and Harness score within a point of each other for multi-agent orchestration, 60.6 and 60.3 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Harness C 60.3", "Kiro CLI C 60.6", "scores" ], "h1": "Harness vs Kiro CLI", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli.png", "path": "/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Harness vs Kiro CLI for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-17", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2950, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }