Harness vs Orca

Harness 85

Read as an MCP server and CLI. Eleven tools in source at v0.5.33, each with a typed JSON Schema input built by one helper, required fields marked, plus --json on every command. No OpenAPI, which a stdio server does not need (23). llms.txt and a Markdown-like agents page written for agents, per the 17 October check, not re-read on 4 November, since Autonomous's terms forbid access to its sites by automated means, including scripts or web crawlers, and its hosts are paused pending the founder (10). The tool descriptions and server instructions say when to call whoami first, to prefer a new project over an existing folder, to read before telling a harness more, and that turning a setting on is the person's yes to give (20). An enum on agent and on the setting name, minItems on wait names, minimum and maximum on timeout_seconds, a minimum on chars and limit. machine, folder, project and model are free strings (12). Worked examples, the exit code table and the Next: line per the 17 October reading of the agents page and llms.txt, with exit codes still in the source (13). Per-component semver tags, but the only CHANGELOG.md covers the provider protocol (0.3.0, 6 August 2026), and GitHub's release pages could not be read (7). 23 + 10 + 20 + 12 + 13 + 7 = 85.

Orca 65

Harness reading. A docs site with CLI orchestration and native chat pages (65).

Harness 40

Read as local software, since the agents run on the owner's machines. A one-line installer from Autonomous's CDN, DMG and AppImage builds, and App Store and Google Play apps, with macOS and Linux stated as supported and Node managed by the installer, per the 17 October check, not re-read on 4 November, since Autonomous's terms forbid access to its sites by automated means, including scripts or web crawlers, and its hosts are paused pending the founder. Not on a package registry we could read (20). A public CI workflow plans a run per changed component, with Linux unit tests, the desktop suite in four shards, repository tooling tests, typechecks and a bundle test, and a separate CLI end-to-end workflow. We could not read run results, so 15, the value this run gives public CI that runs the tests with an unreadable result (10 on 17 October, corrected). Open issues could not be read, because github.com answers our proxy with 403. Unchecked, so scored absent (0). Tags follow semver per component, but there is no changelog for the app or CLI and breaking changes are not marked in the repository (5). The CLI went from 0.4.x to 0.5.x on 29 October (v0.5.1_cli); a 0.x minor is exempt from the breaking-change term under this run's provisional reading. The CLI agents call is 0.5.33 (3 November 2026), the npm MCP package is 0.2.0, and Agents can start other agents is still an experiment, so the agent surface is pre-1.0 (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 5 + 0 = 40. Accounts and the relay are hosted by Autonomous with no status page found on 17 October.

Orca 58

Local software. Desktop and mobile builds and a Homebrew cask (20). Unit, end-to-end and platform test workflows; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). Tags to v1.4.251, no changelog file (8). Version 1.4 (15). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 15 = 58.

Harness 54

Harness reading of the framework checklist, as for the other harnesses. 30 for what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. Product usage counts are on by default, disclosed with an opt-out in the repository's measurement document (updated 31 October) and without prompts, code or files. Remote traffic is end-to-end encrypted and relays carry ciphertext. Local use needs no account. The daemon updates itself from a checksummed manifest without asking (18). Agents may start harnesses only with the account's Agents can start other agents setting on, with four live harnesses at most and closes limited to their own. Since v0.4.69_cli (26 October 2026) an agent can turn that setting, and the other agent settings, on itself with harness settings <name> on --person-said-yes or the harness_settings tool, after asking the person; the source says the yes is the agent's word and is logged with the agent's name. The tool carries no safe hint, and the command is not in Harness's allow rules, so the engine's own permission prompt still applies. Against that, installing Harness adds its other commands to Claude Code's and Codex's allow rules, Codex runs them outside its sandbox, there is no sandbox of its own, and the device page listed spoken tasks as auto-allowed on 17 October. 13 on 17 October, when an agent could not turn the setting on, so 10 now. The instructions tell an agent never to answer a harness's question or permission prompt. Harness output is another agent's text, and no further guidance on it was found (9). Every harness shows in the person's app with who started it, the device key log keeps an add and remove history, and an agent's settings change is named in the daemon's log. No per-call audit log found (9). SECURITY.md with an email and a three-working-day acknowledgement, and a documented trust model. No security.txt (17 October check), bug bounty or certification found. OSV lists no advisory for @autonomous-ai/harness-mcp (8). 18 + 10 + 9 + 9 + 8 = 54.

Orca 43

Harness reading. Anonymous usage data with an opt-out, per the README's link to its telemetry docs (15 of 30). Worktrees per agent and a sandboxed Linux build (12 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance (5). No audit log (5). A dependency-security workflow (6 of 20). 15 + 12 + 5 + 5 + 6 = 43.

Harness 64

MIT licence for the whole repository under Autonomous, Inc., with third-party Store covers under their own licences (30). The repository documents what usage counts contain, a 10-day pseudonymous activity mark and the encrypted relay in detail. Autonomous's privacy policy of 7 July 2026 is general to its stores and sites and does not mention Harness, per the 17 October reading and the site's policy reading of 30 October (14). The provider protocol promises both revisions side by side for a deprecation window after a breaking change. Nothing similar for the app or CLI (6). Telemetry is disclosed with an opt-out in the app and CLI, but it is on by default and described in the repository rather than in the privacy policy (14). 30 + 14 + 6 + 14 = 64.

Orca 54

MIT (30). Privacy and telemetry docs on the site (not read) (18 of 30). No deprecation policy (5). Disclosed with an opt-out (15 of 20). 30 + 18 + 5 + 15 = 68.

Harness 77

Eleven tools at v0.5.33 (seven on 17 October). Added since then are harness_search, harness_machines, harness_tell and harness_settings; harness_send and harness_tell are listed only inside a harness, so an agent outside one sees nine. Descriptions total about 4,000 characters. Judgement call. By the total, 11 tools fall in the 11 to 30 band (15), with 5 back for listing two tools only inside a harness (20). Counting only the nine an outside agent sees gives 25. We took the stricter reading, as the 17 October check counted the total (20). chars sizes a read (4,000 characters by default), limit sizes a search (10 by default), all widens the list, and any returns on the first finished harness. No pagination (14). Exit codes, refusals returned as answers rather than errors so a model does not retry them, and a timed-out wait reported as still working, in the source (19). readOnlyHint on whoami, list, search, machines, wait and read, destructiveHint false on start, tell and send, idempotentHint on close, and no hint on settings so an engine that asks before an unmarked tool asks the person (16). Two required fields on start, defaults of Claude Code and a 45-second wait. No SDK, but a CLI, an MCP server and a plugin with a skill (8). 20 + 14 + 19 + 16 + 8 = 77.

Orca 70

Harness reading. An orchestrator agent that splits work across workers in their own workspaces, chat or raw CLI, a browser and a CLI in one app (70).