Reins

Use the Reins CLI to operationalize harness engineering in any repository.

Execution Model (Critical)

1. The CLI is the execution engine and scoring source of truth.
2. This skill is the control plane for agent behavior (routing, command order, JSON parsing discipline).
3. Humans steer goals and tradeoffs; agents execute the loop.

Do not re-implement CLI logic in skill instructions. Always run commands and parse JSON outputs.

Use When

Use this skill when the user asks to:

• Scaffold repository readiness artifacts (AGENTS.md, ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/, risk-policy.json)
• Audit or score agent-readiness/maturity (0-18, maturity levels, weakest dimensions)
• Diagnose readiness gaps with doctor (pass/fail/warn health checks with prescriptive fixes)
• Evolve the repository to the next Reins maturity level
• Improve docs-drift/policy-as-code enforcement tied to Reins outputs
• Understand harness engineering methodology or maturity levels

Don't Use When

Do not use this skill for:

• Generic code implementation/debugging unrelated to Reins workflows
• General-purpose lint/test/security checks that do not request Reins scoring or scaffolding
• Product/domain feature design that does not involve harness-engineering structure
• Questions about installing random third-party skills (use skill discovery/installer flows instead)

Command Execution Policy

Use this order when running commands:

1. In user repositories, check if installed skills are stale: npx skills check If updates are available, refresh before running workflow commands: npx skills update
2. If working inside the Reins repository itself: cd cli/reins && bun src/index.ts <command> ../..
3. Otherwise (or if local source is unavailable): npx reins-cli@latest <command> <target-path>

All Reins commands output deterministic JSON. Always parse JSON output — never text-match against findings strings.

Quick Reference

CLI Commands

# Scaffold harness engineering structure
reins init <path> [--name <name>] [--force] [--pack <auto|agent-factory>]

# Score maturity across 6 dimensions (0-18)
reins audit <path>

# Health check with prescriptive fixes
reins doctor <path>

# Roadmap to next maturity level
reins evolve <path> [--apply]

# Show usage
reins help

Maturity Levels

Score	Level	Description
0-4	L0: Manual	Traditional engineering, no agent infrastructure
5-8	L1: Assisted	Agents help, but humans still write code
9-13	L2: Steered	Humans steer, agents execute most code
14-16	L3: Autonomous	Agents handle full lifecycle with human oversight
17-18	L4: Self-Correcting	Agents maintain, clean, and evolve the system

Core Reins Principles

1. Repository is the system of record -- Knowledge stays in versioned files.
2. Humans steer, agents execute -- Prompt-first workflows over manual edits where possible.
3. Mechanical enforcement over intent-only docs -- CI and policy-as-code back every rule.
4. Progressive disclosure -- AGENTS.md is the map, deep docs hold details.
5. Continuous cleanup -- Track debt, docs drift, and stale patterns as first-class work.

Workflow Routing

Trigger	Workflow	File
scaffold, init, setup, bootstrap	Scaffold	Workflows/Scaffold.md
audit, score, assess, readiness	Audit	Workflows/Audit.md
doctor, health check, diagnose, gaps	Doctor	Workflows/Doctor.md
evolve, improve, mature, level up	Evolve	Workflows/Evolve.md

Resource Index

Resource	Purpose
SKILL.md	Skill routing, triggers, quick reference
HarnessMethodology.md	Full methodology reference (5 pillars, 10 production patterns)
Workflows/Scaffold.md	Scaffold workflow with step-by-step guide
Workflows/Audit.md	Audit workflow with dimension details and output format
Workflows/Doctor.md	Doctor workflow with health checks and fix guidance
Workflows/Evolve.md	Evolve workflow with level-up paths

Examples

• "Scaffold this repo for Reins"
• "Audit this project with Reins and summarize the weakest dimensions"
• "Run doctor on this repo and fix everything that fails"
• "Evolve this repo to the next Reins maturity level"
• "What's the harness engineering maturity of this project?"

Negative Examples

These should not trigger Reins:

• "Fix this React hydration bug"
• "Add OAuth login to the API"
• "Run normal project lint and unit tests"

Route to general coding workflows unless the user explicitly asks for Reins scaffolding, audit, doctor, or evolve operations.