Spec Sub-Spec: operations-memory-and-collaboration

This sub-spec is part of the spec.md product contract. SSOT order is spec.md core > docs/spec/* sub-specs > Plans.md.

Supply Chain Alert Contract

Open Dependabot alerts on tracked source, tooling, benchmark, or distribution lockfiles are repo-health findings, not release noise.

Harness must handle them with evidence:

• enumerate the live GitHub alert set before planning remediation,
• group alerts by manifest path, dependency, severity, and advisory,
• prefer supported upgrades that keep the current tool line moving forward over security downgrades suggested only by npm audit fix,
• use package-manager-native override mechanisms only when the direct owner package has not yet published a patched dependency range,
• verify the affected tool still starts or runs an equivalent smoke command,
• add or update Dependabot configuration and CI/audit checks when a tracked manifest can otherwise accumulate alerts without PR automation,
• keep GitHub alert closeout, local npm audit, CI, and release gates separate.

Benchmark-only manifests may use focused smoke evidence instead of full benchmark execution when model keys, Docker, or sandbox services are unavailable, but the unavailable part must be recorded as a residual risk rather than treated as success.

Memory Contract

When a planning or design decision is made, Harness should record why it was chosen, not only what changed.

Preferred memory targets:

• harness-mem project-scoped ingest/search when available.
• .claude/memory/decisions.md and .claude/memory/patterns.md when present.
• Plans.md and spec documents as local, reviewable SSOTs.

If harness-mem is unavailable, the agent must say so and keep the local SSOT updated instead of pretending memory was written.

Upstream Tracking Contract

Claude Code and Codex updates must be turned into Harness changes through an evidence gate, not by copying release notes into docs.

Every non-trivial upstream refresh must:

• compare the local installed versions with the latest official upstream versions,
• use official Anthropic, OpenAI, or first-party GitHub release sources,
• record a dated snapshot document with release URLs, local version output, and observed gaps,
• classify each relevant item as A: adopt now, C: inherit upstream, P: plan/spike, or Reject,
• keep B: explanation only at zero unless the plan explicitly explains why a non-actionable note is still worth preserving,
• connect adopted items to Plans.md, tests, docs, CHANGELOG, and review gates,
• avoid support-tier upgrades until host bootstrap, runtime smoke, and release gates prove the claim.

The following upstream surfaces are product-affecting and must not be treated as automatic documentation updates:

• skill or slash-command frontmatter semantics,
• hooks, message display, session start, and plugin marketplace behavior,
• agent, subagent, background-session, worktree, or permission behavior,
• sandbox, approval, profile, or managed policy behavior,
• Codex companion, CLI, SDK, MCP, app-server, or GitHub Action behavior,
• installer, package, release artifact, or supply-chain behavior.

If an upstream product weakens a previous opt-in barrier, such as an auto mode consent change, Harness must keep its own safety default until a dedicated phase updates the contract, tests, and release notes. Upstream convenience is evidence to evaluate, not permission to silently relax Harness guardrails.

Session Coordination Contract

When multiple local Claude Code sessions work on the same project, Harness may coordinate them to reduce file conflicts, but only under these rules.

• Coordination state is local-only and never depends on harness-mem. The cross-repo boundary in .claude/rules/cross-repo-handoff.md stays intact.
• The lease store lives in one shared location resolved from git --git-common-dir, never under a worktree-local .claude/, so parallel worktree Workers share a single lease space. Lease keys are the sha256 of the repo-relative path, never an absolute path.
• The live-session set used by lease staleness is the union of (a) the shared