# Matt Shumer argues harness engineering is usually unnecessary

> Original title: Hot take: harness engineering is (usually) stupid.

- Source: Matt Shumer
- Published: 2026-10-31T03:51:39.000Z
- Bad Influence: https://badinfluence.news/items/vyvu2guljrn5wu4jkx6qpgc4c
- Original: https://x.com/mattshumer_/status/2116377535818891690

## Summary

Matt Shumer says harness engineering is usually stupid. He argues users should use the harness a model was trained for and control its behavior with well-written prompts.

## Post

Hot take: harness engineering is (usually) stupid.

Just use the one the model was trained for, and write really good behavior prompts to control how it works.

Lean into how the models want to work.