updated 2026-10-16 16:07 UTC

Better Harness

Repository Website

An open-source Harness Engineering platform for coding agents—define harnesses as code, run controlled experiments, inspect evidence, and compare outcomes. Turn task evidence into actionable team and organization insights.

Agent Skills JavaScript Listed MIT

Is Better Harness safe? Strong public trust posture, backed by multiple independent signals.

OSSF Scorecard 4.5 / 10
Provenance Attested
Signed commits 15%
Last push yesterday
Advisories None known
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In detail: Better Harness scores 77.4/100 (Grade B), ranked #21 of 385 tracked open-source AI agent projects, on evidence coverage B (3 of 5 independent signal types). The public evidence: its packages ship with cryptographic provenance; OSSF Scorecard rates its supply-chain practices 4.5/10; 15% of recent commits are signed; no published advisory affects its latest release (@qoder-ai/better-harness); last pushed 2026-10-15. Every point is earned from checkable signals — never paid placement. How scoring works →

How Better Harness could raise its score

Each line changes one public signal and recomputes with the live scoring function. The gains don't add up exactly, because the score is capped near the top.

Already done? Suggest a correctionAdd the trust badge

Chain of custody

Scanners check what the code says. This traces who ships Better Harness and whether that has changed: from the source repository, through how changes are reviewed and released, to the package you install. These are the checks for OWASP ASI04 Agentic Supply Chain Vulnerabilities and, for skills, AST02 Supply Chain Compromise.

  1. Source Partly signed

    github.com/QoderAI/better-harness, MIT, last pushed 2026-10-15. 15% of the last 100 commits carry a verified signature; the rest can't be tied to a verified identity.

  2. Review and release Mixed

    OpenSSF Scorecard rates the repository's practices 4.5/10 (scanned Oct 7, 2026). The checks that decide who can get a change released:

    • Code Review1
    • Branch Protection0
    • Signed Releases0
    • Dangerous Workflow10
    • Token Permissions10
    • Pinned Dependencies4
    All 18 Scorecard checks
    Binary-Artifacts 10
    Branch-Protection 0
    CI-Tests 7
    CII-Best-Practices 0
    Code-Review 1
    Contributors 10
    Dangerous-Workflow 10
    Dependency-Update-Tool 10
    Fuzzing 0
    License 10
    Maintained 0
    Packaging 10
    Pinned-Dependencies 4
    SAST 0
    Security-Policy 0
    Signed-Releases 0
    Token-Permissions 10
    Vulnerabilities 0

  3. Published packages Linked and attested

  4. What you install today No known advisories

    Latest release checked: @qoder-ai/better-harness 0.6.6. No published advisory affects it (OSV, checked 2026-10-16).

Changes to this chain

  • 2026-09-23 Package provenance attestation detected
  • 2026-09-01 OSSF Scorecard: 5.4/10

Evidence behind this score

Coverage B: 3 of 5 independent evidence types found.

  • GitHub repository data
  • Package downloads
  • Supply-chain checks
  • Public actions (missing)
  • Community mentions (missing)

Verify this score yourself

Every build re-issues Better Harness’s score as an Ed25519-signed credential, valid for 7 days. You can check it offline against HVTracker’s published key; if anyone changes a number after signing, verification fails.

Signed credential (JSON) How to verify

What this score doesn’t check

It covers who ships the code, not what the code does. It doesn’t read the skill’s instructions for injected instructions, watch runtime behaviour, or find bugs nobody has disclosed yet. For that, run a content scanner before you install it, such as Cisco Skill Scanner.

How Better Harness compares in Agent Skills

  1. #19 Dsh Agent Teams 78.1 +0.7
  2. #20 Waza 77.7 +0.3
  3. #21 Better Harness 77.4 this agent
  4. #22 Claude Mem 77.0 −0.4
  5. #23 Gemini Watermark Remover 76.7 −0.7

Bars show each HVTrust score; the tick marks Better Harness’s 77.4.

Where the 77.4 comes from

HVTrust dimensions vs the Agent Skills average

77.4 / 100 · 100.0% confidence

Better Harness Agent Skills average (385 agents)

Safety / Integrity50% OSSF Scorecard · 30% provenance · 20% signed commits
13.9 / 25
6.1 above avg 7.8
Identity / Provenance60% listing status · 40% build provenance
18.0 / 18
6.6 above avg 11.4
Transparency50% declared license · 50% OSSF Scorecard
12.3 / 17
in line with avg 12.0
Maintenance60% last-push freshness · 40% commit activity
18.0 / 20
3.9 above avg 14.1
AdoptionLog-scaled stars · package downloads
11.5 / 20
2.5 above avg 9.0

Quick Trust Read

What Would Improve It
Increase the share of verified signed commits for clearer maintainer identity.
Recent Changes
2026-09-23
Tool Surface Changed
Detected tool/plugin surface changed: none → declared
2026-09-23
Provider Added
Runtime surface grew — new detected provider dependency: Anthropic
2026-09-23
Provenance Added
Package provenance attestation detected
Maintainer Checklist
Raise Scorecard signals Current OSSF Scorecard is 4.5/10. Tighten the weakest checks to improve public safety evidence.
Increase signed commits Raise the share of verified-signed commits to make maintainer identity and release history easier to trust.
Compare with another agent Get email alerts for Better Harness View Agent Skills Report missing data
74.7
Activity sub-score · out of 100
#21
In Agent Skills

How to read this: HVTrust (0–100) weighs supply-chain signals (provenance, OSSF Scorecard, signed commits, open license) alongside real-world adoption. Grade B reflects the trust score band: A ≥ 80, B ≥ 65, C ≥ 50, D < 50. Evidence coverage B is separate — it grades how many independent signal types back the score (3 of 5), so a high score on thin evidence stays visible. Full methodology →

Signals refreshed 2026-10-16 16:07 UTC · Repo last pushed yesterday

Rank Trend

2026-09-29 2026-10-16

Activity & Reach

Stars
2.4k
Forks
194
Last Push
2026-10-15
yesterday
Commits (4 wk)
32
Downloads (7d)
367
npm
HN mentions (30d)
—
Open Issues
6
Rank Change
=
was #21

Analysis

Activity Inputs

74.7 / 100
StarsRepository reach
20.3 / 30
FreshnessLast push recency
24.9 / 25
ActivityRecent commits
18.9 / 25
CommunityFork signal
10.6 / 20

Common questions about Better Harness

Public supply-chain signals for Better Harness are strong: it has multiple independent trust indicators in place. This does not replace your own security review, but Better Harness carries less obvious unverified-evidence risk than projects with thin signals.
Does Better Harness publish package provenance?
Yes. Better Harness's package releases carry build provenance attestations, which cryptographically link the published package back to its source repository and CI workflow.
Does Better Harness have an OpenSSF Scorecard?
Better Harness has an OpenSSF Scorecard score of 4.5/10. The Scorecard checks for branch protection, signed releases, dependency updates, fuzzing, code review, and other supply-chain hygiene items. See the full check breakdown on this page.
Is Better Harness actively maintained?
Actively maintained. The repository was pushed to within the last 1 day(s).
What license does Better Harness use?
Better Harness ships under MIT. A declared, OSI-approved license is one of the transparency signals HVTrust scores.
Are Better Harness's commits signed?
15% of the last 100 commits to Better Harness are verified-signed (GPG, SSH, S/MIME, or GitHub's signing flow). Signed commits help confirm that code was authored by who the commit claims.

Not a safety endorsement. HVTracker describes what public signals show, not whether a project is safe for your use case. Run your own security review before adopting in production.

AI agent surface

MCP, providers, tool surface
Scored in HVTrust

These runtime-trust fields — detected from public repo docs and manifests — contribute a bounded adjustment to this project's HVTrust score alongside supply-chain evidence. The exact values each field can add or subtract are documented in the methodology → Compare this surface across every listed agent in the capability matrix →

MCP Server Support
None detected
No MCP server signal detected.
Detailed evidence is not shown in the public view.
External Service Dependencies
medium confidence
1 detected
Public provider/service dependencies detected.
Credential signal: No explicit API-key/config marker detected.
Tool / Plugin Surface
high confidence
Declared
Declared plugin/integration surface detected.
Detailed evidence is not shown in the public view.
Package Provenance Drift
high confidence
Match
Published package metadata matches the tracked repo
Detailed evidence is not shown in the public view.
  • MCP signal live
  • External deps live
  • Tool / plugin surface live
  • Package provenance drift live
How this surface has changed

Detected changes to Better Harness's runtime surface and supply-chain posture, from daily public-signal snapshots. A change here means our detectors see something different — a genuinely changed capability, or better evidence of an existing one.

2026-09-23
Tool Surface Changed
Detected tool/plugin surface changed: none → declared
2026-09-23
Provider Added
Runtime surface grew — new detected provider dependency: Anthropic
2026-09-23
Provenance Added
Package provenance attestation detected

Maintain Better Harness?

For maintainers

HVTrust scores Better Harness from public signals only — we never contact maintainers first. If a signal is wrong, stale, or missing (provenance you publish, a Scorecard you run, signed releases), tell us and we'll review it. Corrections are public and tracked on GitHub.

Submit a correction → Add the trust badge

Reputation Timeline

Signal history
Rank 3Grade 3Listed 2HVTrust 2Scorecard 1Delisted 1Provenance 1Surface 1Surface 1
2026-09-23
Tool Surface Changed
Detected tool/plugin surface changed: none → declared
2026-09-23
Provider Added
Runtime surface grew — new detected provider dependency: Anthropic
2026-09-23
Provenance Added
Package provenance attestation detected
2026-09-23
Grade Changed
Trust grade D → B
2026-09-23
Rank Moved
Rank rose 224 spots (#244 → #20)
2026-09-23
HVTrust Changed
HVTrust up 46.9pts (32.1 → 79.0)
2026-09-22
Newly Listed
First tracked at rank #244
2026-09-21
Removed From Active Tracking
Removed from active tracking
2026-09-12
Grade Changed
Trust grade A → B
2026-09-01
Scorecard Added
OSSF Scorecard: 5.4/10
2026-09-01
Grade Changed
Trust grade B → A
2026-09-01
Rank Moved
Rank rose 12 spots (#17 → #5)
2026-09-01
HVTrust Changed
HVTrust up 11.5pts (70.7 → 82.2)
2026-08-26
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 10 spots (#5 → #15)
2026-08-11
Newly Listed
First tracked at rank #3
GitHub → Website → npm: @qoder-ai/better-harness

Embed Badge Badge guide for maintainers →

For maintainers
HVTrust 77.4 Grade B
Markdown:
[![HVTrust](https://hvtracker.net/badge/better-harness.svg)](https://hvtracker.net/agents/better-harness)
HTML:
<a href="https://hvtracker.net/agents/better-harness"><img src="https://hvtracker.net/badge/better-harness.svg" alt="HVTrust"></a>

Other agents in Agent Skills

Data sources
GitHub REST API (repo, commits, stars, forks, license) · npm Registry (downloads, provenance) · OpenSSF Scorecard CLI
Each agent's signals refresh once daily across 6 staggered batches. Methodology v4.4 · Raw JSON