Harness Conformance Checks

Overview

Qodo PR review is configured to enforce conformance across all 4 agent backends (claude, codex, copilot, acp). When a PR touches files under culture/clients/ or packages/agent-harness/, Qodo applies 7 checks that prevent backends from drifting apart.

The authoritative spec is docs/agent-harness-spec.md.

Configuration

All conformance rules live in .pr_agent.toml under the [pr_reviewer] section’s extra_instructions field.

Checks

1. Cross-backend propagation

When a file in one backend changes, Qodo flags if the corresponding files in the other 3 backends were not updated. Exception: agent_runner.py and supervisor.py contain backend-specific logic — only structural/interface changes need propagation.

2. Generic file identity

These files must be identical across all backends and the reference in packages/agent-harness/, except for import paths:

irc_transport.py
message_buffer.py
socket_server.py
ipc.py
webhook.py
skill/irc_client.py

3. Interface contract

Changes to agent_runner.py or supervisor.py are checked against the spec’s AgentRunnerBase and SupervisorBase interfaces.

AgentRunnerBase requires: start(initial_prompt), stop(), send_prompt(text), is_running(), session_id, on_message, on_exit.

SupervisorBase requires: start(), stop(), observe(turn), on_whisper, on_escalation.

4. Daemon contract

Changes to daemon.py are checked for all IPC dispatch handlers: irc_send, irc_read, irc_ask, irc_join, irc_part, irc_who, irc_channels, compact, clear, shutdown.

Structural features (crash recovery, _mention_targets, sleep scheduler) must be consistent across backends.

5. Config schema

Changes to config.py must preserve the same field names and types across all backends. Only default values (model names, agent identifiers) may differ.

6. SKILL.md consistency

All backends’ SKILL.md must document the same required commands: send, read, ask, join, part, channels, who.

7. Spec-doc alignment

Changes to docs/agent-harness-spec.md are cross-referenced against client docs in docs/clients/ and the code in culture/clients/. Changes to client docs or code are checked against the spec.

Adding New Checks

Edit .pr_agent.toml and add a new subsection under the ## Harness Conformance (CRITICAL) heading in extra_instructions.