Frequently asked questions

Availability, requirements, cost, the method, Anki, and your data. For how the harness teaches, read the method.

Availability

Is The Learning Harness available?

Not yet. It is in a closed beta with a small group of testers. Email hello@learningharness.org to hear when it opens; that address is the only list.

When will The Learning Harness be public?

No date has been set. The closed beta decides it: the harness opens when the testers can install it from nothing, learn for a week, and hit no step that needs the author. Email to be told when that happens.

How much does The Learning Harness cost?

Pricing has not been decided. Ask by email and you will get a straight answer when there is one.

Requirements

What do I need to run The Learning Harness?

A Mac and an internet connection. One install command sets up what is missing: Node, Python, git, Anki desktop, the AnkiConnect add-on, and a hidden browser used to look at lesson pages. Linux works with some gaps. Windows is untested.

Do I need to know how to use a terminal?

You type one command to open a session. From there the harness asks you questions with a small menu, opens each lesson in your browser, and runs the quiz in the terminal. No commands are needed to learn.

The method

How is The Learning Harness different from ChatGPT?

It keeps a record of what you know and uses it in every lesson. It teaches in prerequisite order. It tests you the same day and again the next day after sleep, and a concept that fails is taught again. It writes spaced-repetition cards only for what passed, and it never hands over an answer during practice. A chat window does none of those by default. The comparison in full is in what an AI tutor must do.

Which fields can I learn with it?

Technical fields with written sources and answers that can be marked right or wrong: software, machine learning, systems, mathematics, the sciences. Languages and exam prep for essay subjects are untested.

How much time does it take each day?

One lesson and its quiz take 20 to 40 minutes. The next day's explain-back takes about five minutes per concept, and card reviews about ten minutes. New material is paced so daily reviews stay near 50 cards. Upskilling in 2026 shows a week at that budget.

What happens when I fail a quiz or an explain-back?

The concept is taught again with a fresh lesson and tested again the next day. No cards are written for it until it passes both tests. The failed attempt stays in the record so the next lesson targets the exact gap.

Anki

Do I need Anki?

Yes. Cards are written into Anki desktop through the AnkiConnect add-on, and the review history is read back as the measure of retention. The installer sets both up. Anki must be open while you study. Syncing to AnkiWeb is your choice inside Anki. The card rules are in spaced repetition with AI.

Will it touch my existing Anki decks?

No. The harness writes only inside its own deck root, which you choose at install. Every change it makes to a card is recorded with a before and after, and deletions need your approval.

Data and code

Where does my data live?

Your lessons, sources and record live in the study folder on your machine, as ordinary files and one database file. Cards live in Anki. The text of a lesson and your quiz answers are sent to the AI model that writes and grades them, as with any AI tool.

Is The Learning Harness open source?

Not yet. Publishing the code is planned. Until then the beta ships as a bundle that installs into a study folder.

Who is behind it?

Ojasvi Yadav, an AI engineer in Bengaluru, who built it to learn a technical field properly and uses it daily. The About page has the details.