Harness for VS Code

Monitor CI/CD pipelines, view logs, manage approvals, and chat with Harness AI — all without leaving your IDE.

Bring Harness directly into VS Code and Cursor. See real-time pipeline status, debug failures with syntax-highlighted logs, approve deployments, ask Harness AI about your pipelines, or route questions to Claude Code, Copilot, or Cursor — zero context switching required.

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✨ Features

🚀 Real-time Pipeline Monitoring

Watch your pipelines run with live status updates. Automatic git context detection shows executions for your current branch and commit.

📝 Live, Syntax-Highlighted Logs

Click any step to open its logs in a dedicated editor tab with syntax highlighting. While a step is running, new lines stream into the open tab and it follows the newest line.

✅ One-Click Approvals

Handle Harness native, Jira, and ServiceNow approval gates directly in your editor. Permission checks happen automatically.

🔍 Smart Search & Filtering

Browse all pipelines, filter by status, pin favorites, and explore execution history with pagination. Works with or without a git repository.

🔁 Re-run & Abort

Re-run a finished execution with its original inputs in one click, or abort a running pipeline (Abort All / Mark as Failed) — the action button adapts to the execution's status and the view follows the new run.

🧭 Build, Deploy & Security Tabs

Drill into an execution with dedicated detail tabs:

• Build — repository, branch (and PR), commits, and published image/SBOM artifacts.
• Deploy — per-stage services (with manifests) and environments, plus skip reasons.
• Security — STO scanner results with per-severity tiles and new-vulnerability deltas, parsed straight from the execution.

🤖 Harness AI Chat

Ask Harness Intelligence directly in your IDE. Opens in a side-by-side panel with streaming markdown responses, session history, pipeline-context awareness, and MCP connector status — the same experience as the Harness web chat, tuned for developers.

• ⌘⇧H / Ctrl+⇧H to open or focus
• Ask Harness AI button in the sidebar footer
• Auto-scopes to the pipeline execution you're viewing (removable context chip)
• Interactive elicitation cards for YAML edits, confirmations, and multi-step forms mid-conversation

🔌 External AI Tools

Route pipeline questions to Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or Cursor AI with automatic context injection via MCP — one click away from the sidebar footer.

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🚀 Getting Started

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace:

1. Open Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
2. Search for "Harness"
3. Click Install

From Command Line:

code --install-extension harness-inc.harness-vscode

Quick Setup (2 minutes)

1. Open Harness panel: Click the Harness icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
2. Configure credentials: Run command "Harness: Configure API Key"
   • Enter your Harness instance URL (or keep default: https://app.harness.io)
   • Paste your Personal Access Token
   • Account ID is automatically extracted from your PAT ✨
3. Select project: Choose your organization and project from the dropdowns
4. Done! Your pipelines appear automatically

Alternative: Environment Variable Authentication

Perfect for CI/CD environments or shared setups:

export HARNESS_API_KEY="your-pat"
export HARNESS_BASE_URL="https://app.harness.io"
export HARNESS_ACCOUNT_ID="your-account-id"
code .

The extension auto-detects environment variables and skips credential prompts.

Requirements: VS Code 1.85.0+, active Harness account

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📖 How to Use

Two View Modes

Switch between views using the tabs at the top of the Harness panel:

📋 Pipelines View

Browse all pipelines in your project:

• 🔍 Search by name
• 📌 Pin favorites to the top
• 🎯 Click any pipeline to see its latest execution
• ✅ Works without a git repository

📊 Executions View

Browse full execution history:

• 🔀 Filter by status (All / Failed / Passed)
• 🎯 Filter by specific pipeline
• 📄 Paginated (10-15 per page)
• 🔍 Click any execution for full details and on-demand logs

Working with Executions

View Pipeline Status The extension automatically detects your current git branch and commit, showing the matching pipeline execution. Live updates every 10 seconds during active runs.

Debug with Logs Click any step to open its logs in a new editor tab with syntax highlighting. A running step streams new lines live; the header switches to the final status and duration when it finishes.

Handle Approvals When a pipeline reaches an approval step, ✓ Approve and ✕ Reject buttons appear inline on that step. The extension automatically checks if you have permission to approve. When several approvals wait at once, each step shows its own approvers and approves only its own instance.

Supported approval types:

• Harness native approvals (user/group permissions)
• Jira approvals (with ticket link)
• ServiceNow approvals (with ticket link)

View Policy Results OPA policy evaluation results appear when configured. Warnings and errors are highlighted with detailed messages.

Multi-Project Workflows

Working on multiple Harness projects? Use "Harness: Switch Project (This Workspace)" to override org/project for specific workspace folders. Your global settings remain unchanged.

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🤖 AI Integration

Harness AI Chat (built-in)

The native Harness AI Chat panel connects to Harness Intelligence and streams answers beside your code.

Open it:

• Keyboard: ⌘⇧H (macOS) / Ctrl+⇧H (Windows/Linux)
• Sidebar footer: click Ask Harness AI
• Command Palette: Harness: Open AI Chat
• Editor / Cursor Agents Window toolbar (diamond icon)

What you get:

• Streaming markdown responses with session history (search, rename, delete past chats)
• Pipeline context chip — auto-follows the execution you're viewing in the sidebar; click × to chat without context
• MCP connector pill showing how many external connectors are active for your project
• Interactive elicitation cards when the assistant needs input (confirm YAML, pick options, fill forms)

Works with PAT or environment-variable auth on SaaS and self-hosted instances that expose /gateway/harness-intelligence/….

External AI Tools

Ask questions about your pipelines using Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or Cursor AI with automatic context injection via MCP.

Supported AI Tools

Claude Code (Terminal or Extension)

• Install from claude.ai/code
• Terminal mode: Opens Claude Code in the integrated terminal with a structured prompt, so you can continue the conversation there
• Extension mode: Opens the Claude Code panel with the prompt already in the input
• Uses local MCP server configuration (~/.claude.json)

GitHub Copilot

• Auto-detected in VS Code when GitHub Copilot extension is installed
• Opens Copilot Chat in agent mode with the prompt already in the input
• MCP configuration uses VS Code-specific paths (.vscode/mcp.json for project scope)
• Inherits environment variables from VS Code process when using env var auth

Cursor AI

• Auto-detected when running in Cursor editor
• Recommended: Install Harness Cursor Plugin — OAuth authentication, zero config
• Fallback: Local MCP configuration (harness-mcp-v2) for advanced users
• Opens Cursor chat with the prompt already in the input

Setup

For Claude Code:

1. Install Claude Code (Terminal or VS Code Extension)
2. Click Configure MCP in the AI footer
3. Choose scope (Project or Global):
   • Project: .mcp.json in workspace root — shared with team if committed
   • Global: ~/.claude.json in home folder — personal, applies to all projects
4. Your Harness credentials are automatically configured
5. Restart Claude Code to activate the MCP server

For GitHub Copilot:

1. Install GitHub Copilot extension in VS Code
2. Click Configure MCP in the AI footer
3. Choose scope (Project or Global):
   • Project: .vscode/mcp.json in workspace root — shared with team
   • Global: Platform-specific path in home folder — personal
4. Restart VS Code to activate the MCP server

For Cursor:

1. Recommended: Install Harness Plugin in Cursor
   • OAuth authentication — no manual configuration needed
   • Plugin manages MCP connection automatically
2. Alternative: Configure local MCP manually (for advanced users)

Usage

Harness AI Chat:

1. Open the panel (⌘⇧H or Ask Harness AI in the sidebar footer)
2. Type your question — pipeline context is attached automatically when you're viewing an execution
3. Browse past sessions via the overflow menu → History

External AI tools:

• Click the ⌄ chevron next to Ask Harness AI to switch to Claude Code, Copilot, or Cursor
• Or type your question in the AI footer when an external tool is selected
• Destination and preferred external tool persist across VS Code sessions
• Claude Code Terminal opens an interactive integrated terminal; editor-based tools open their existing chat with the prompt filled in
• Pipeline context automatically included in every query

What context gets sent:

• Pipeline name, status, execution ID
• Harness execution URL

Example questions:

• "Why did this pipeline fail?"
• "What changed between this run and the last successful one?"
• "How can I fix the failing test in the build stage?"

Authentication Methods

Personal Access Token (PAT) — Traditional method

1. Run Harness: Configure API Key
2. Enter Base URL and PAT
3. Account ID is automatically extracted from your PAT (no manual entry needed!)
4. If extraction fails, you'll be prompted to enter it manually
5. Select org/project during onboarding

Environment Variables — Passwordless, CI/CD-friendly

1. Set HARNESS_API_KEY, HARNESS_BASE_URL, HARNESS_ACCOUNT_ID before launching VS Code
2. Extension auto-detects and uses environment variables
3. MCP config uses environment variable references (for Claude Code) or inherits from process (for GitHub Copilot)
4. Select org/project during onboarding

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⚙️ Configuration

Global Settings (apply everywhere)

Run Harness: Configure API Key to set:

• harness.baseUrl — Your Harness instance URL (default: https://app.harness.io)
• harness.accountIdentifier — Your account ID (auto-extracted from PAT, or set via environment variable)
• harness.orgIdentifier — Default organization
• harness.projectIdentifier — Default project

Your Personal Access Token is stored securely in VS Code's secret storage.

💡 Tip: The extension automatically extracts your account ID from your PAT during setup, so you typically only need to provide Base URL and PAT.

Optional Settings

• harness.pollingIntervalSeconds — How often to check for updates (default: 10s, min: 5s, max: 120s)
• harness.proxy — HTTP(S) proxy URL (http:// or https://); falls back to the HTTPS_PROXY/HTTP_PROXY environment variables (user settings only). NO_PROXY is honored only when the proxy comes from environment variables, and not for feature-flag traffic. VS Code's own http.proxy/http.proxySupport settings also apply and may take precedence on recent VS Code versions. Feature-flag traffic picks up proxy changes after Developer: Reload Window; environment variable changes require restarting VS Code.
• harness.caBundle — PEM CA bundle path for private or TLS-inspecting proxy certificate authorities (user settings only)

Proxy scope: Proxy and CA configuration installs a process-wide Node.js network dispatcher. It can therefore affect fetch requests made by other extensions sharing the same extension host, not only Harness requests.

• harness.defaultView — Which view opens by default (pipelines or executions)
• harness.diffAwareSTO — Limit STO annotations to files changed in current diff (default: true)
• harness.logLevel — Console verbosity: off, error, warn, info (default), debug

AI Tools

• harness.ai.preferredExternalTool — External tool used when the destination is External (auto, Claude Code Terminal, Claude Code extension, Cursor, Copilot, or Kiro). Harness AI is chosen with harness.ai.defaultDestination. The sidebar picker writes this setting.
• harness.ai.defaultDestination — Send questions to Harness AI (harness) or the selected external tool (external)

Per-Workspace Override

Use Harness: Switch Project (This Workspace) to override org/project for specific workspace folders.

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📋 Commands

Command	Description
Harness: Open AI Chat	Open or focus Harness AI Chat panel (⌘⇧H / Ctrl+⇧H)
Harness: Configure API Key	Set up your credentials and project (global)
Harness: Reset Auth Configuration	Clear all credentials and org/project settings
Harness: Select Org & Project	Change global org/project settings
Harness: Switch Project (This Workspace)	Override for current workspace only
Harness: Refresh Pipeline Status	Force refresh immediately
Harness: Open Execution in Browser	Open current execution in Harness UI
Harness: Export Last Execution to JSON	Export execution data for debugging
Harness: Show Debug Output	View API request logs
Harness: Debug FME Flags	View current feature flag states

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📝 Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for release notes and version history.

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🤝 Contributing

Interested in contributing? See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, build instructions, and guidelines.

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📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.