Install ProcessOS Harness and configure a project

Learn how to create a configured ProcessOS Harness project with the journey running.

About

Create a configured ProcessOS Harness project with the journey running. Set up the builder workspace, install ProcessOS Harness into your AI coding agent with c8ctl, and configure your first project with process-scope.md and run.config.yaml.

prerequisites

Camunda recommends completing the organizational setup first, and checking the system requirements before you install.

(Optional) Understand the builder workspace

The builder workspace is a recommendation for how to keep everything you need in one place. You work in your IDE, and ProcessOS Harness adds governance and review around it.

Part	What you use it for
IDE	Hosts the project files, a console, and the AI coding agent. Visual Studio Code is a common choice.
AI coding agent	Does the work in each job, and helps you fix problems at any point.
Git	Stores every project artifact, so changes are reviewable and reversible.
Governance process	Runs on Camunda alongside your IDE, and tells you what to do next.
File viewer	Opens generated BPMN, DMN, and form files for review.

Install ProcessOS Harness

1. Install or update c8ctl, the Camunda 8 CLI:

   npm install -g @camunda8/cli@latest

2. Load the ProcessOS Harness plugin:

   c8 load plugin @camunda8/c8ctl-plugin-process-os

3. Create and enter a project folder:

   mkdir -p <my-project> && cd <my-project>

4. Install ProcessOS Harness Bundle for your AI coding agent. For example, choose claudecode for Claude Code or copilotcli for GitHub Copilot CLI, as listed in the ProcessOS Bundle mapping:

   c8 os install <claudecode>

   This command downloads the release bundle and extracts it into the current directory.

5. Initialize a version-controlled project:

   git init && git add . && git commit -m "chore(job) commit process-os-harness setup"

6. Start the journey. Launch your AI coding agent, select a model at least as capable as Opus, then run:

   /process-os-governance-start

Keep an installation up to date

Command	What it does
c8 os update	Update to the latest release.
c8 os install claudecode@1.2.3	Install a specific version.

Next steps

• Learn how the governance process guides you between milestones.
• Learn how review cycles bring SMEs into each phase.
• Start the first phase, described in discover the as-is process.