The Harness Runs Itself: Budgeted, Headless, and Honest About Its Own Bugs

Four weeks after the work-harness post: cairn learned to keep its own documentation honest, run entire phases unattended inside a token budget, and — twice now — catch its own bugs in the act and ship the fixes. Here’s what a self-running work harness actually looks like, receipts included.

September 10, 2026 · 7 min · 1406 words · John Reed