The Evolution of the Agent Harness: Models Absorb the Harness, Becoming an Attention Interface
daniel_mac8 · x · 2026-08-22
The author introduces the concept of the "Agent Harness" evolution, arguing that the breakthrough in agent capabilities around late 2025 was due to the convergence of improved models and matured harnesses. The core thesis is that models are progressively absorbing the harness (tools, logic) into their weights, while engineers strip away the absorbed parts. What remains is a harness not for the model, but for human attention—shifting from constraining the AI to guiding human focus. The article traces the path from ChatGPT's "brain in a vat" to modern agents.
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