Agent Harness

GroundX Agent Harness

GroundX Agent Harness gets an agent — Claude, Codex, or another agent runtime — doing real GroundX work instead of guessing at the platform. Install the plugin, point it at your API key, and the agent already knows how to ingest, search, extract, and debug GroundX the way GroundX recommends.

Haven’t decided whether Agent Harness is the right path? Start at Choose Your GroundX Path. Ready to install? See Install GroundX Agent Harness.

What It Is

GroundX Agent Harness is the public runtime bundle for agents. Install it as a plugin into a supported agent client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, and others) to give the agent:

  • GroundX-specific instructions for how to approach a task
  • reference material for GroundX concepts, endpoints, and workflows
  • routing to the right workflow for the job (ingest, search, extraction, on-prem planning, architecture questions, and more)
  • verification patterns so the agent checks its own work instead of guessing

The agent doesn’t have to rediscover GroundX from scratch every session — it already has GroundX’s own guidance built in.

What It Can Help With

  • GroundX API work — ingest, status checks, search, buckets, groups, and general platform usage: the operations behind end-to-end RAG.
  • Hosted MCP setup and tool use — connecting a supported client to the hosted GroundX MCP server and using its tools.
  • Schema-first extraction — drafting and iterating an extraction schema, running it against a document, and comparing output to expected fields.
  • Document classification — routing documents by type, intent, or workflow need so the right extraction, review, or answer path runs next.
  • Smart reports — running a defined set of grounded questions and assembling the answers into a source-backed report that can be reviewed or extended.
  • On-prem planning — values.yaml authoring, cluster sizing, and other self-hosted/air-gapped deployment questions.
  • Architecture and approved product guidance — how GroundX works, and approved product/positioning guidance.
  • SDK usage/contribution routing — using the GroundX SDKs from your own code, or routing a contribution to the right SDK repo.

What It Does Not Include

The public harness doesn’t cover:

  • Studio UI/publish/slides production.
  • Partner/admin account lifecycle.
  • Local Studio MCP lifecycle.
  • Private evals, answer keys, pilot artifacts, and run outputs.

These aren’t part of the public plugin or its skills.

Plugin, API Key, And MCP

Agent Harness has three separate pieces. You can use the plugin without the other two, but understand the split before setup:

  • The plugin gives the agent GroundX instructions, references, and workflows. Install this first.
  • GROUNDX_API_KEY gives the agent (or your own code) SDK/REST access to the GroundX API. Set it in the shell that starts your agent.
  • Hosted MCP gives the agent authenticated GroundX API tools where supported. It’s optional and currently production-only — connect it only when your client supports MCP and you’re targeting prod.