@Saboo_Shubham_: AI Agent framework vs harness. A framework is a library you import to build an agent. ADK, LangGraph, and CrewAI give y…
Summary
The post explains the difference between AI agent frameworks (libraries like ADK, LangGraph, CrewAI) and agent harnesses (pre-built agents like Claude Code, Codex, Deep Agents), and offers guidance on when to choose each as the boundaries between them blur.
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Cached at: 10/31/26, 07:31 AM
AI Agent framework vs harness.
A framework is a library you import to build an agent.
ADK, LangGraph, and CrewAI give you the pieces like agent classes, tool interfaces and model adapters. you still decide how the loop runs, what goes into context and how the agent checks its own work.
A harness is already a working agent.
Claude Code, Codex, Deep Agents and Hermes come with the loop, tools, context, memory and subagents built in. you just bring your instructions, skills, tools and data.
And it’s getting more and more confusing.
LangChain used to be framework company but now ships its own harness called Deep Agents, and the Claude Code harness can now be imported like a library through the Claude Agent SDK.
How i’d pick: • start with a harness when your value is the domain, the data or the workflow. • go with a framework when the loop itself is your product, or when you need to control and audit every step. • mix them when you need both. let the harness handle the open ended work and bring in a framework when you need determnism.
save this for the next time your team argues about which one to use.
follow @Saboo_Shubham_ for more on Agent Harness.
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