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dev:dry-run — Claude Code skill: smoke-test the evolve pipeline

Runs the evolve pipeline as a smoke test: checks tool syntax and skill cross-references, and with a LangSmith key exercises the full loop on a mock agent.

Install into Claude Code · Skills CLI (Vercel) All methods and platforms ↓
npx skills add raphaelchristi/harness-evolver --skill dev-dry-run -a claude-code
Open on GitHub

What dev:dry-run does

Reach for dev:dry-run when you want proof that the harness-evolver plugin actually runs before spending real experiments on it. The skill picks its own mode: an online pass when LANGSMITH_API_KEY is set, an offline check when it is not.

Offline, it walks every *.py file in the tools directory, parses each one with ast, and calls it with --help to catch argparse mismatches. Then it verifies that each tool named in skills/evolve/SKILL.md exists on disk. Paths come from EVOLVER_TOOLS and EVOLVER_PY; otherwise it falls back to tools or $HOME/.evolver/tools and python3.

Online, the skill builds a temp directory holding a small Python mock agent and three test questions, then runs setup.py, run_eval.py, read_results.py and trace_insights.py in sequence before deleting the temp files. No LANGSMITH_API_KEY means no full loop — only the syntax pass.

What it helps with

  • confirm evolve tools import and parse their arguments without errors
  • spot tools the evolve skill references that are missing from the directory
  • exercise the setup → eval → read → trace loop against a mock agent
  • verify the plugin runs before launching real experiments
  • remove temp files after a test run

Example prompts for the agent

  • Do a dry run of the evolve pipeline
  • Smoke-test the evolve tools
  • Test the whole evolve pipeline with the LangSmith key set

How to install dev:dry-run

1Skills CLI (Vercel)

npx skills add raphaelchristi/harness-evolver --skill dev-dry-run -a claude-code

2Manually: put the files in place

~/.claude/skills/dev-dry-run/SKILL.md

Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/dev-dry-run/

Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways

Questions about dev:dry-run

How do I install dev:dry-run in Claude Code?

Run npx skills add raphaelchristi/harness-evolver --skill dev-dry-run -a claude-code. The skill lands at ~/.claude/skills/dev-dry-run/SKILL.md.

What does dev:dry-run do?

It smoke-tests the evolve pipeline in two modes: offline it checks tool syntax, argparse flags and cross-references in the evolve skill; online it runs the full loop against a mock agent using temp files.

What do I need for online mode?

A LANGSMITH_API_KEY environment variable. Without it the skill falls back to the offline check and skips the full loop.

Source text

SKILL.md · MIT
---
name: dev:dry-run
description: "Use when the user wants to smoke-test the evolve pipeline, test tools, or verify the plugin works end-to-end. Also use when the user says 'dry run', 'smoke test', or 'test pipeline'."
allowed-tools: [Read, Bash, Glob, Grep]
---

# /dev:dry-run

Smoke-test the evolve pipeline. Two modes depending on whether LANGSMITH_API_KEY is available.

## Resolve Paths

```bash
TOOLS="${EVOLVER_TOOLS:-$([ -d "tools" ] && echo "tools" || echo "$HOME/.evolver/tools")}"
EVOLVER_PY="${EVOLVER_PY:-$([ -f "$HOME/.evolver/venv/bin/python" ] && echo "$HOME/.evolver/venv/bin/python" || echo "python3")}"
```

## Check: Online or Offline?

```bash
if [ -n "$LANGSMITH_API_KEY" ]; then
    echo "MODE: Online (LANGSMITH_API_KEY found)"
    MODE="online"
else
    echo "MODE: Offline (no LANGSMITH_API_KEY)"
    MODE="offline"
fi
```

## Offline Mode (no API key)

Validate tool syntax and argparse consistency:

```bash
echo "=== Tool Syntax Check ==="
for f in $TOOLS/*.py; do
    python3 -c "import ast; ast.parse(open('$f').read())" 2>&1
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then echo "OK: $(basename $f)"; else echo "FAIL: $(basename $f)"; fi
done

echo ""
echo "=== Argparse Flags Check ==="
for f in $TOOLS/*.py; do
    $EVOLVER_PY "$f" --help > /dev/null 2>&1
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then echo "OK: $(basename $f) --help"; else echo "FAIL: $(basename $f) --help"; fi
done

echo ""
echo "=== Skill Cross-Reference Check ==="
# Check every tool referenced in evolve skill exists
for TOOL in $(grep -oh '\$TOOLS/[a-z_]*.py' skills/evolve/SKILL.md | sed 's/\$TOOLS\///' | sort -u); do
    if [ -f "$TOOLS/$TOOL" ]; then
        echo "OK: $TOOL referenced and exists"
    else
        echo "FAIL: $TOOL referenced in evolve skill but not found"
    fi
done
```

## Online Mode (with API key)

Run the full pipeline with a mock agent:

### 1. Create temp directory with mock agent

```bash
TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
cat > "$TMPDIR/agent.py" << 'PYEOF'
import json, sys
input_path = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else None
if input_path:
    with open(input_path) as f:
        data = json.load(f)
    question = data.get("input", data.get("question", ""))
    print(json.dumps({"output": f"Mock answer to: {question}"}))
else:
    print(json.dumps({"output": "No input provided"}))
PYEOF

cat > "$TMPDIR/test_inputs.json" << 'JSONEOF'
[
    {"input": "What is 2+2?"},
    {"input": "Name a color"},
    {"input": "What is Python?"}
]
JSONEOF
echo "Mock agent created at $TMPDIR"
```

### 2. Run setup

```bash
$EVOLVER_PY $TOOLS/setup.py \
    --project-name "dry-run-test" \
    --entry-point "python3 $TMPDIR/agent.py {input}" \
    --framework "unknown" \
    --goals "accuracy" \
    --dataset-from-file "$TMPDIR/test_inputs.json" \
    --output "$TMPDIR/.evolver.json"
```

### 3. Run eval

```bash
$EVOLVER_PY $TOOLS/run_eval.py \
    --config "$TMPDIR/.evolver.json" \
    --worktree-path "$TMPDIR" \
    --experiment-prefix "dry-run-v001a"
```

### 4. Read results

```bash
$EVOLVER_PY $TOOLS/read_results.py \
    --experiment "dry-run-v001a" \
    --config "$TMPDIR/.evolver.json" \
    --format markdown
```

### 5. Trace insights

```bash
$EVOLVER_PY $TOOLS/trace_insights.py \
    --from-experiment "dry-run-v001a" \
    --output "$TMPDIR/trace_insights.json"
```

### 6. Cleanup

```bash
rm -rf "$TMPDIR"
echo "Dry run complete. Temp files cleaned up."
```

## Report

```
Dry Run Results ({MODE} mode):
  Tool syntax: {N}/{N} passed
  Argparse: {N}/{N} passed
  Cross-refs: {N}/{N} passed
  {If online: setup/eval/read/trace pipeline: PASS/FAIL}
```

© raphaelchristi · MIT · raphaelchristi/harness-evolver

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