Your first workspace

Start with your project#

Launch Harness and use your shell normally. Change into a project directory, open your editor, or start your usual development command. No agent setup or multiplexer configuration is required.

cd ~/Code/my-project

A new installation starts in Persistent Terminal mode: a clean interface with sessions that continue running after you quit the Mac app.

Make room for the work#

Keep the application, tests, and shell in their own panes. Use the pane header to split right or down, or double-click the header to zoom. The sidebar lets you see sessions and their tabs together.

Find the right work, quickly#

Press ⌃⌘S to filter or create a session. Press ⌘⇧O for Workspace Overview: live tab tiles, waiting work first, with typing to filter and arrows plus Return to jump. Use ⌘/ for searchable shortcuts.

For an agent session, ⌘⇧U jumps to work that needs your attention and skips agents that are still thinking.

Try one useful command#

After installing the CLI, run this inside a Harness pane in a project that has a Makefile test target. It opens a split and returns the test command’s exit status:

harness-cli run --split right --wait -- make test

Replace make test with the test command your project actually uses. A run pane normally closes when its command exits; add --keep-open when you want to inspect it afterward.

Leave without dismantling the workspace#

In Persistent, Full, and Agent modes, quit the app and reopen it to reconnect to your daemon-owned sessions. Explicitly closing a pane is different from quitting the app: a close action can terminate the work in that pane.

Try the new workspace tools#

• Press ⌥⌘I to find and insert a file path; press ⌥⌘G to navigate to a directory.
• Use Session → Activity… to see waiting work across attached hosts.
• Choose Session → Saved Setups… → Save Current Session to keep a reusable layout.
• Use Session → Search All Sessions… to search retained output in open sessions.

Need a layout you explicitly closed? Recently Closed recreates fresh shells. It does not resume a terminated program.