# AI Coding Tip 022 - Give AI a Harness to Work With

DevFeed: [AI Coding Tip 022 - Give AI a Harness to Work With](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/ai-coding-tip-022-give-ai-a-harness-to-work-with-18212.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://maximilianocontieri.com/ai-coding-tip-022-give-ai-a-harness-to-work-with>)

Author: Maxi Contieri

Published: 2026-05-31T22:21:20Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Maximiliano Contieri - Software Design](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/maximiliano-contieri-software-design.md>)

Topics: [Artificial Intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai.md>), [coding](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/coding.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [ai-coding](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai-coding.md>), [coding](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/coding.md>), [guards](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/guards.md>), [harness](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/harness.md>), [tests](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tests.md>)

## AI overview

This tutorial explains how to give AI coding tools a structured harness before prompting. It recommends project rules, clean commit checkpoints, explicit test requirements, read-only planning, scoped instruction files, documented AI context, and protected tests to make changes safer, more consistent, and easier to review or revert.

## Source excerpt

TL;DR: Install your harness before prompting: the structure you set up first is what turns an impulsive AI into a safe, steerable collaborator. Common Mistake ❌ You open a fresh chat and type a bare