The Harness Build

Why this matters

The harness is the transferable framework that makes you permanently more capable, not just more capable on this one project. CLAUDE.md templates and slash commands you write for your domain — your profession, your workflow, your domain vocabulary — transfer to every future project. A teacher's harness. A researcher's harness. A marketer's harness. Your harness. The module ends with you owning a professional-grade AI configuration that reflects exactly who you are and how you work.

How to do it

1. 1

   Write a CLAUDE.md template for your professional domain

   Not for your current app — for your domain. A teacher's CLAUDE.md includes: subject area, audience level, pedagogical approach, tone. A researcher's includes: field, citation style, rigor expectations. Save it as a template you will paste into every future project.

2. 2

   Create 3 slash commands for workflows that repeat in your work

   Think beyond coding. A /lesson-plan for teachers. A /email-draft for anyone who writes professional emails. A /research-summary for researchers. A /data-brief for analysts.

3. 3

   Test each command with a real example

   If /lesson-plan produces a lesson plan you could actually use — not a generic template — the command is working. Run it. Refine it.

4. 4

   Document your harness in CLAUDE.md

   Add a section to your harness CLAUDE.md: 'Available commands: /command1 — [what it does]'. Now anyone (including future you) knows what's available.

The prompt

I want to build a reusable AI harness for my domain.

My professional context: [DESCRIBE YOUR ROLE AND DOMAIN]
Common tasks I do repeatedly: [LIST 3-5 THINGS YOU DO OFTEN]
The language/conventions specific to my field: [DOMAIN VOCABULARY AND STANDARDS]

Help me write:
1. A CLAUDE.md template for my domain (not for a specific project — for any project in my field)
2. 3 slash command files for my most common workflows
3. A brief description of how to use this harness for the next project I start

Make the commands specific enough to produce useful output on first use — not generic templates that need heavy customization every time.

Success criteria

• ✓You have a CLAUDE.md template specific to your domain (not just your current project)
• ✓You created 3 slash commands that work for real tasks in your domain
• ✓All 3 commands are tested and produce useful output
• ✓Your harness is documented in CLAUDE.md under "Available commands"
• ✓You could onboard any future project in under 5 minutes using this harness

Common mistakes