embodied agents

Code as Agent Harness: A Survey of Code as Operational Substrate for Agentic AI Systems

This survey paper introduces the concept of 'code as agent harness,' framing code not merely as output but as the operational infrastructure for LLM-based agents—covering reasoning, action, environment modeling, and execution-based verification. The authors organize the analysis across three layers: harness interface, harness mechanisms (planning, memory, tool use, feedback control), and scaling to multi-agent systems. Applications span coding assistants, GUI/OS automation, embodied agents, scientific discovery, and enterprise workflows. Open challenges include evaluation beyond task success, verification under incomplete feedback, and human oversight for safety-critical actions.