Autonomous Agent Harness

Autonomous Agent Harness

Combine Claude Code's session tools with separately configured scheduling, memory, and computer-use integrations. This is a setup pattern, not a bundled always-on runtime.

Consent and Safety Boundaries

Autonomous operation must be explicitly requested and scoped by the user. Do not create schedules, dispatch remote agents, write persistent memory, use computer control, post externally, modify third-party resources, or act on private communications unless the user has approved that capability and the target workspace for the current setup.

Prefer dry-run plans and local queue files before enabling recurring or event-driven actions. Keep credentials, private workspace exports, personal datasets, and account-specific automations out of reusable ECC artifacts.

When to Activate

• User wants an agent that runs continuously or on a schedule
• Setting up automated workflows that trigger periodically
• Building a personal AI assistant that remembers context across sessions
• User says "run this every day", "check on this regularly", "keep monitoring"
• Wants to replicate functionality from Hermes, AutoGPT, or similar autonomous agent frameworks
• Needs computer use combined with scheduled execution

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Claude Code Runtime                        │
│                                                              │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌─────────────┐ │
│  │  Crons   │  │ Dispatch │  │ Memory   │  │ Computer    │ │
│  │ Schedule │  │ Remote   │  │ Store    │  │ Use         │ │
│  │ Tasks    │  │ Agents   │  │          │  │             │ │
│  └────┬─────┘  └────┬─────┘  └────┬─────┘  └──────┬──────┘ │
│       │              │             │                │        │
│       ▼              ▼             ▼                ▼        │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │              ECC Skill + Agent Layer                  │    │
│  │                                                      │    │
│  │  skills/     agents/     commands/     hooks/        │    │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘    │
│       │              │             │                │        │
│       ▼              ▼             ▼                ▼        │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │              MCP Server Layer                        │    │
│  │                                                      │    │
│  │  memory    github    exa    supabase    browser-use  │    │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘    │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Core Components

1. Persistent Memory

Use Claude Code's built-in memory system enhanced with MCP memory server for structured data.

Built-in memory (~/.claude/projects/*/memory/):

• User preferences, feedback, project context
• Stored as markdown files with frontmatter
• Automatically loaded at session start

MCP memory server (structured knowledge graph):

• Entities, relations, observations
• Queryable graph structure
• Cross-session persistence

Memory patterns:

# Short-term: current session context
Use TodoWrite for in-session task tracking

# Medium-term: project memory files
Write to ~/.claude/projects/*/memory/ for cross-session recall

# Long-term: MCP knowledge graph
Use mcp__memory__create_entities for permanent structured data
Use mcp__memory__create_relations for relationship mapping
Use mcp__memory__add_observations for new facts about known entities

2. Scheduled Operations (Crons)

Use Claude Code's native scheduled tasks for recurring prompts within an interactive session. These tasks are session-scoped; an external scheduler is required for work that must run independently of an open session. No scheduling MCP server is required for /loop.

Setting up a cron:

# In an interactive Claude Code session
/loop 30m Review open PRs in this repository and summarize CI failures.

For a one-shot run from a shell, set the working directory before invoking the CLI:

cd "/path/to/repo" && claude -p "Review open PRs and summarize"

Use an OS scheduler or CI schedule to invoke that command repeatedly when no interactive session is running. Configure the runner's authentication and tool permissions separately.

Useful cron patterns:

3. Dispatch / Remote Agents

Have an authenticated CI job or webhook receiver invoke Claude Code in a workspace it owns. The supported entrypoint is programmatic CLI mode, not a public Anthropic dispatch endpoint.

Dispatch patterns:

# Run inside the CI workspace
cd "/path/to/repo" && claude -p "Build failed on main. Diagnose the failure."

# Trigger from webhook
# GitHub webhook -> authenticated CI runner -> claude -p -> reviewable result

# Trigger from another agent
claude -p "Analyze the output of the security scan and create issues for findings"

4. Computer Use

Computer control needs a separately configured integration. Anthropic's computer-use tool and reference environment require an application to execute tool calls in an isolated desktop environment. Adding an MCP package name does not supply that environment.

Capabilities:

• Browser automation (navigate, click, fill forms, screenshot)
• Desktop control (open apps, type, mouse control)
• File system operations beyond CLI

Use cases within the harness:

• Automated testing of web UIs
• Form filling and data entry
• Screenshot-based monitoring
• Multi-app workflows

5. Task Queue

Manage a persistent queue of tasks that survive session boundaries.

Implementation:

# Task persistence via memory
Write task queue to ~/.claude/projects/*/memory/task-queue.md

# Task format
---
name: task-queue
type: project
description: Persistent task queue for autonomous operation
---

## Active Tasks
- [ ] PR #123: Review and approve if CI green
- [ ] Monitor deploy: check /health every 30 min for 2 hours
- [ ] Research: Find 5 leads in AI tooling space

## Completed
- [x] Daily standup: reviewed 3 PRs, 2 issues

Replacing Hermes