Harness engineering matters less: models now improvise what they need, outpacing custom agent scaffolds
ctjlewis · x · 2026-10-06
A notable agent-engineering debate:
- @pvncher: tinkering with your agent harness in fall 2026 yields far less than a year ago — frontier lab harnesses aren't perfect, but models are trained to use them well, and it's hard to outperform that
- @sdmat123: harness engineering is becoming less of a thing because models can improvise whatever they need to get the job done
Signal for agent builders: diminishing returns on custom harness optimization; shift focus to model choice and task design.
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