ECC — Agent Harness Performance Optimization System

Introduction

ECC is an open-source system that optimizes how AI coding agents operate by layering skills, instincts, memory, and security into any agent harness. It targets Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor, and similar tools, making them faster and more reliable without changing their core code.

What ECC Does

• Injects optimized skill sets and instinct profiles into agent harnesses
• Adds persistent memory layers so agents recall context across sessions
• Enforces security boundaries to prevent unintended file or system modifications
• Provides research-first development workflows for structured code exploration
• Supports multi-harness configurations running in parallel

Architecture Overview

ECC operates as a middleware layer between the user and the underlying coding agent. It intercepts agent requests, enriches them with contextual memory and skill definitions, applies security filters, and routes the enhanced prompt to the target harness. A local SQLite store manages session state and memory persistence.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Clone the repository and run npm install to set up dependencies
• Configure target harnesses in the settings file (Claude Code, Codex, etc.)
• Set memory persistence options: local SQLite or external database
• Define security policies for file access and command execution
• Use environment variables for API keys and model endpoints

Key Features

• Zero-config integration with major coding agent CLIs
• Skill library with categorized, installable agent capabilities
• Instinct system for automatic behavioral patterns during coding
• Session memory that survives agent restarts
• Audit logging for all agent actions and tool calls

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Claude Code native — no built-in skill or memory layer; ECC adds these
• Cursor — IDE-bound; ECC works across CLI and IDE agents
• Antigravity — skill-focused; ECC adds memory, instincts, and security
• oh-my-openagent — harness wrapper; ECC optimizes at the performance layer

FAQ

Q: Does ECC require changes to the underlying agent? A: No. ECC wraps the agent harness externally and does not modify agent source code.

Q: Which coding agents are supported? A: Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, Cursor, Gemini CLI, and others with CLI interfaces.

Q: Is memory stored locally or in the cloud? A: By default locally in SQLite. Cloud storage backends can be configured.

Q: Does ECC add latency to agent responses? A: Minimal. The middleware layer adds single-digit millisecond overhead for context injection.

Sources

• https://github.com/affaan-m/ECC
• https://github.com/affaan-m/ECC#readme