Skills

Install the Kode skill that teaches an AI agent the concepts, the tools, and the team rules, and give tasks to workspaces.

Last updated 15 Nov 2026

On this page

Overview
The Claude Code plugin
Tasks
Install the Claude Code plugin
Install the skill in another agent
Give a task to a workspace
Troubleshooting

Overview

A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file. It tells an AI agent what the Kode words mean, which tool does which job, and which rules to obey. The agent reads the description of each skill and loads a skill when a task matches it. A skill holds no credential and calls nothing. The agent does the work with the tools of kode mcp. See Connectors — MCP.

There is one skill for your agent, kode. It is the folder skills/kode in https://github.com/kloudlite/harness.

Skill	Loaded when	What it gives the agent
`kode`	Every Kode task, and the Kode tools are present. Load it first. Also when work is divided between agents, for status, logs, stop, start, delete, and quota questions, and when a tool answers `not logged in`.	The glossary, the eight invariants, the three budgets (context, infrastructure, storage), a table of what to do and what it costs, the two agent types (Coordinator and Worker) with their topologies, the rules for the shape of workspaces, environments, and desks, ids and states, the tool groups, and the set-up steps when the tools are missing. Its `references/` folder holds the tool list, the permissions of each agent type for each tool action, the Worker briefs with the hand-off report, 14 use cases, the pipeline definition format, a catalogue of common services with their ports and data mounts, the errors with their actions, and the set-up steps.

The skill gives no fixed steps for a task. The agent makes the steps from the rules, the costs, and the use cases.

The skill uses the tools of kode mcp for capsules, pipelines, secrets, and desk lifecycle too. Two things have no tool: connecting a code host or a registry (the web console), and the kode env tunnel to your computer. For these the agent gives you the command.

The harness and the plugin load the other folders of skills/ themselves (orchestrate and develop are part of the plugin; the rest are for the Kode harness). Do not install them by hand.

The kode skill gives the agent these rules:

The agent has full freedom over the resources that it created in the desk. It starts, stops, snapshots, clones, and deletes them without a question to you.
Each resource that the agent creates ends in one of three states: stopped (work that is not complete), snapshotted and then deleted (a result to use again), or deleted. The agent saves the result (a push, a snapshot, or a report file) before it deletes.
The agent asks you first for an action that cannot be undone on a resource that it did not create: a restore in place, the delete of a shared environment or of a named volume, and an intercept on an environment that other persons use.
The agent installs packages from nixpkgs with the packages tool. It does not use apt-get and does not pipe curl into a shell.
Each object that stays after the task has a name that a person can read and a message that says why it exists.
The agent never shows a secret value. It passes the value you give to secret_set and does not repeat it.
When a call fails or you refuse it, the agent tells you. It does not go around the failure through another workspace, desk, or tool.

When the work is divided, a Coordinator agent talks to you, holds the plan and the budgets, and gives each Worker agent a brief. A Worker works only on the resources that it created or that the brief names, and leaves a REPORT.md file as its hand-off.

When the agent has no Kode tool, the kode skill tells you how to install kode, sign in, and connect the agent. The agent does not run the installer without your consent.

The Claude Code plugin

The plugin gives Claude Code the server kd and the kode skill. It needs no kode program. It works for one desk, and reaches a workspace only through that desk.

Part	Function
Tool server `kd`	The remote server `https://dev.kloudlite.io/mcp`. It sends each call through the desk.
Skill	`kode`, with its `references/` folder.

You choose the owner and the desk on the consent page of the first sign-in. The remote server withholds web_fetch and web_search; Claude Code has its own.

Tasks

Install the Claude Code plugin

Reason for the task

Give Claude Code on your computer the Kode skill and tools.

Job set-up

Access: you. For a team desk, a team member.
Agent tool: none; an agent uses the SDK.
Conditions: Claude Code is installed, and a desk exists. See Create a desk.
References: Remote server.

NOTE

Update the plugin with claude plugin marketplace update kode.

Procedure

Add the marketplace and install the plugin.

CLI

claude plugin marketplace add kloudlite/harnessclaude plugin install kode@kode

Start Claude Code and call a Kode tool. The browser opens for the sign-in.

Close-out

Type /mcp in Claude Code. Make sure that the server plugin:kode:kd shows as connected.

Install the skill in another agent

Reason for the task

Teach an agent other than Claude Code with the plugin to use the Kode tools.

Job set-up

Access: you.
Agent tool: none; an agent uses the SDK.
Conditions: the agent reads skill folders, and has the tools of kode mcp. See Add the server to an MCP client.
References: https://github.com/kloudlite/harness.

Procedure

Add the skill to your agent with the skills installer.
CLI
```
npx skills add kloudlite/harness
```
Select kode if the installer asks.
Start the agent again.

Close-out

Make sure that the agent lists kode among its skills.

Give a task to a workspace

Reason for the task

Make an agent change code in a workspace.

Job set-up

Access: you, or your agent. For a team workspace, a team member whose access is not paused.
Agent tool: none; an agent uses the SDK.
Conditions: Claude Code runs with the plugin, and the workspace exists.
References: Start a workspace.

Procedure

Type the task in Claude Code. Name the workspace and say what to change.

text

In the workspace api, add a /healthz route to the web server and run its tests.

Give an answer when Claude Code asks, for example to start a stopped workspace or to confirm a delete.
Wait for the answer of Claude Code.

Close-out

Read the answer of Claude Code.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Possible cause	Corrective action
The agent does not use the Kode words or tools	The skill is not installed, or the agent did not load it.	Install the skill, and name Kode in the task.
`403` with `your access to acme is paused`	A team admin paused your access.	Ask a team admin to unpause it.
`409` with a limit name, for example `workspaces: 5 of 5 in use; request more under Quota`	The owner has no quota left.	Delete an unused item, or see Quota and requests.