Agent skill

Template Usage

Track Harness template dependencies, usage, and adoption via MCP v2 tools.

Apache-2.0Auto-check passed

Install Template Usage

skills CLI

$ npx skills add harness/harness-skills --skill template-usage -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install harness/harness-skills template-usage --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/harness/harness-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/template-usage .claude/skills/template-usage && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "template-usage" agent skill from https://github.com/harness/harness-skills/tree/main/skills/template-usage into .claude/skills/template-usage/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "template-usage", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/harness/harness-skills/tree/main/skills/template-usage

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add harness/harness-skills --skill template-usage -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install harness/harness-skills template-usage --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/harness/harness-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/template-usage .agents/skills/template-usage && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "template-usage" agent skill from https://github.com/harness/harness-skills/tree/main/skills/template-usage into .agents/skills/template-usage/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "template-usage", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add harness/harness-skills --skill template-usage -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install harness/harness-skills template-usage --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/harness/harness-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/template-usage .cursor/skills/template-usage && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "template-usage" agent skill from https://github.com/harness/harness-skills/tree/main/skills/template-usage into .cursor/skills/template-usage/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "template-usage", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/harness/harness-skills.git --path skills/template-usage

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add harness/harness-skills --skill template-usage -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install harness/harness-skills template-usage --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/harness/harness-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/template-usage .gemini/skills/template-usage && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "template-usage" agent skill from https://github.com/harness/harness-skills/tree/main/skills/template-usage into .gemini/skills/template-usage/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "template-usage", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install harness/harness-skills template-usage

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add harness/harness-skills --skill template-usage -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/harness/harness-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/template-usage .github/skills/template-usage && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "template-usage" agent skill from https://github.com/harness/harness-skills/tree/main/skills/template-usage into .github/skills/template-usage/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "template-usage", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add harness/harness-skills --skill template-usage -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install harness/harness-skills template-usage --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/harness/harness-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/template-usage .opencode/skills/template-usage && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "template-usage" agent skill from https://github.com/harness/harness-skills/tree/main/skills/template-usage into .opencode/skills/template-usage/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "template-usage", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: template-usage
GitHub stars: 115
Token cost: ~1.4k tokens
SKILL.md length: 433 words
Files: 2 (incl. references)
Skills in repo: 64
Repo updated: Oct 6, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: Apache-2.0

At a glance

Track Harness template dependencies, usage, and adoption via MCP v2 tools.

Works in 4 steps: Find the Template → Get Template Details → Check Usage References → …
Asked about template usage
SKILL.md covers MCP v2 Tools Used, Template Types, Template Scopes and Instructions, plus 4 more sections
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Template Usage is an agent skill from harness/harness-skills. Track Harness template dependencies, usage, and adoption via MCP v2 tools. Find which pipelines or other templates reference a given template, analyze update impact, identify unused templates, and compare version adoption. Use when asked about template usage, template references, template dependencies, impact analysis before updating a template, finding unused templates, or tracking template adoption across projects. Trigger phrases: template usage, who uses template, template references, template dependencies…

Its SKILL.md is about 1.4k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including reference files (for example `references/report-templates.md`). Compatibility notes: Requires Harness MCP v2 server (harness-mcp-v2)

It works with Model Context Protocol. The repository describes itself as: A collection of structured AI agent skills that enable Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and other AI coding assistants to create, operate, debug, and govern Harness CI/CD… The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

Asked about template usage
Template references
Template dependencies
Impact analysis before updating a template

Example prompts

“/template-usage”

Requirements

Docker
Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Requires Harness MCP v2 server (harness-mcp-v2)

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

Find the Template
Get Template Details
Check Usage References
Analyze and Present

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit c25faee. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Compatibility
Requires Harness MCP v2 server (harness-mcp-v2)
From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Template Usage loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs, and up to ~1.9k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 166 tokens; SKILL.md has 433 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~166
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.4k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them: ~1.9k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from harness/harness-skills at commit c25faee, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© harness). 433 words, ~1,382 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/template-usage/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.

name: template-usage
description: Track Harness template dependencies, usage, and adoption via MCP v2 tools. Find which pipelines or other templates reference a given template, analyze update impact, identify unused templates, and compare version adoption. Use when asked about template usage, template references, template dependencies, impact analysis before updating a template, finding unused templates, or tracking template adoption across projects. Trigger phrases: template usage, who uses template, template references, template dependencies, template impact, unused templates, template adoption. Do NOT use for creating or updating templates (use create-template instead).
compatibility: Requires Harness MCP v2 server (harness-mcp-v2)
metadata.author: Harness
metadata.version: 1.0.0
metadata.mcp-server: harness-mcp-v2
license: Apache-2.0

Template Usage Skill

Track template dependencies and usage across Harness via MCP v2 tools.

MCP v2 Tools Used

Tool	Resource Type	Purpose
`harness_search`	`template`	Find templates by keyword across orgs/projects
`harness_list`	`template`	List templates, filter by scope
`harness_get`	`template`	Get template details, versions, and usage references
`harness_describe`	`template`	Discover template resource schema and fields

Templates are managed via harness_list and harness_get only. For creating or updating templates, use the /create-template skill.

Template Types

Type	Description
`Step`	Single step definition (build, test, deploy actions)
`Stage`	Complete stage with steps (CI stage, CD stage, approval)
`Pipeline`	Full pipeline definition
`StepGroup`	Group of related steps bundled together

Template Scopes

Scope	Visibility	Query Parameters
Account	All orgs and projects	No org_id, no project_id
Organization	All projects in the org	org_id only
Project	Only within the project	org_id + project_id

Instructions

Step 1: Find the Template

Search by name or keyword:

harness_search(
  query="docker-build-push",
  resource_types=["template"],
  max_per_type=10,
  compact=true
)

Or list templates in a specific scope:

harness_list(
  resource_type="template",
  org_id="<org>",
  project_id="<project>",
  search_term="docker"
)

Step 2: Get Template Details

harness_get(
  resource_type="template",
  resource_id="<template_identifier>",
  org_id="<org>",
  project_id="<project>"
)

This returns the template definition, version history, and metadata.

Step 3: Check Usage References

harness_get(
  resource_type="template",
  resource_id="<template_identifier>",
  org_id="<org>",
  project_id="<project>"
)

Parse the response for referredEntities or usage data. The response includes which pipelines and other templates reference this template.

Step 4: Analyze and Present

Organize findings into a report.

For report templates (Usage Report, Impact Analysis, Unused Templates), consult references/report-templates.md.

Examples

Check who uses a template

/template-usage
Which pipelines are using the docker-build-push template?

Impact analysis before update

/template-usage
I want to make a breaking change to the k8s-deploy template. Show me what will be affected.

Find unused templates

/template-usage
Which templates in our account have no references? I want to clean up.

Track version adoption

/template-usage
Which version of the ci-stage template are different projects using?

Cross-project usage

/template-usage
Show me all usages of account-level templates across all projects

Dependency chain

/template-usage
Show me the full dependency chain for the release-pipeline template --
what does it reference and what references it?

Show full SKILL.md (202 more words)Show less

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
Template not found	Wrong identifier or scope	Verify identifier and use correct org_id/project_id for the template's scope
No usage data	Template genuinely unused or scope mismatch	Search at broader scope; account templates may be used in any project
Empty search results	No templates match query	Try broader search terms or list all templates

Performance Notes

Paginate through all usage results before generating the impact report. Large templates may have many references.
Check usage across all scopes (account, org, project) for complete impact analysis.
Verify version information to distinguish between teams using current vs. outdated template versions.

Troubleshooting

No Usage Data Returned

Template may genuinely have no references
Query scope must match template scope -- an account-level template needs no org_id/project_id
Use harness_search with broader terms to find the template first

Incomplete Usage List

Paginate through results -- increment page until all results are retrieved
Account-level templates can be referenced from any org/project -- check all scopes
Check for both pipeline and template references (templates can nest)

Template Not Found

Verify the exact identifier (case-sensitive, underscores not hyphens)
Identifiers must match pattern: ^[a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]{0,127}$
Check the correct scope -- project templates require org_id + project_id

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (references) in skills/template-usage of harness/harness-skills.

SKILL.md
references/report-templates.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit c25faee

Compare with similar skills

Template Usage next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Template Usage compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Template Usage this skillharness/harness-skills	115	—	~1.4k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	yesterday
MCP Server Builderanthropics/skills	180k	62 repos	~2.3k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	2 days ago
MCP Server BuildershareAI-lab/learn-claude-code	78k	5 repos	~1.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	9 days ago
MCP Integration for Pluginsanthropics/claude-plugins-official	37k	11 repos	~3.1k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	yesterday
Figma use_figma Plugin API Ruleswarpdotdev/warp	65k	4 repos	~4.4k	Automated safety check: Pass	AGPL-3.0	today
Stitch to Remotion Walkthrough Videosgoogle-labs-code/stitch-skills	8.4k	6 repos	~3.2k	Automated safety check: Notes	Apache-2.0	1 mo ago

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Works with

Model Context Protocol

Questions about Template Usage

What does Template Usage do?

Track Harness template dependencies, usage, and adoption via MCP v2 tools. Template Usage is an agent skill from harness/harness-skills. Track Harness template dependencies, usage, and adoption via MCP v2 tools.

When should I use Template Usage?

Template Usage fits situations like: asked about template usage; template references; template dependencies; impact analysis before updating a template.

How do I install Template Usage in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add harness/harness-skills --skill template-usage -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/template-usage in harness/harness-skills) into .claude/skills/template-usage in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Template Usage in Codex?

Run `npx skills add harness/harness-skills --skill template-usage -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/template-usage in harness/harness-skills) into .agents/skills/template-usage in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Template Usage in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add harness/harness-skills --skill template-usage -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/template-usage, .gemini/skills/template-usage, .github/skills/template-usage and .opencode/skills/template-usage in your project.

What does Template Usage need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Template Usage is instructions for the agent only. Our summary lists: Docker. Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Requires Harness MCP v2 server (harness-mcp-v2).

Does Template Usage access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Template Usage safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Template Usage use?

Template Usage is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Template Usage use?

About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 517 tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Template Usage?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Template Usage: MCP Server Builder (anthropics/skills, 180k stars), MCP Server Builder (shareAI-lab/learn-claude-code, 78k stars), MCP Integration for Plugins (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 37k stars) and Figma use_figma Plugin API Rules (warpdotdev/warp, 65k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Template Usage?

harness (a GitHub organization) maintains it in harness/harness-skills, which has 115 GitHub stars. The repository holds 64 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 6, 2026.

Source: harness/harness-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Template Usage

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Compatibility

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Template Usage Skill

MCP v2 Tools Used

Template Types

Template Scopes

Instructions

Step 1: Find the Template

Step 2: Get Template Details

Step 3: Check Usage References

Step 4: Analyze and Present

Examples

Check who uses a template

Impact analysis before update

Find unused templates

Track version adoption

Cross-project usage

Dependency chain

Error Handling

Performance Notes

Troubleshooting

No Usage Data Returned

Incomplete Usage List

Template Not Found

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from harness/harness-skills

Related

Questions about Template Usage