DshNotifyicon — DSH Tray Helper

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A WPF (.NET Framework 4.6.2) desktop tray assistant for DeepSeek Harness (dsh). It lives in the tray and solves the usability pain of environment setup and Web UI start/stop — no more manual terminal windows, no more memorizing URLs.

Project page: hope-phenom.github.io/DshNotifyicon Repository: github.com/Hope-Phenom/DshNotifyicon

Features

Environment check & one-click fix (Environment tab)

Item	Capability
Node.js	Auto-detects version (PATH + common install locations); one-click install when missing: winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS first, falling back to the official MSI (latest LTS fetched live); PATH refreshed automatically after install
npm mirror	Shows the current registry; can specify a mirror per-command for npm operations issued by this tool (--registry, your global config is untouched); optional "write global npmrc" (only affects the global config after explicit confirmation)
dsh	Local version vs. latest remote version (built-in semver comparison); one-click install/update (npm install -g @deepseek-ai/dsh@latest, explicit @latest avoids custom tag config traps); tray balloon when an update is available

The whole health check is time-bounded (~2 min) with step-by-step progress; unreachable-network items degrade gracefully (e.g. "remote version query failed") — the UI never freezes.

DSH service start/stop (Service tab / tray menu)

• Configurable port (1-65535) or random port (--port 0, OS-assigned), launched hidden in the background
• Parses the real URL from dsh output (accurate for random ports too); opens the browser automatically once the health probe (HTTP 200) passes (can be disabled)
• Port-in-use preflight + external dsh instance scan before start: prevents two instances from corrupting sessions by writing the same DSH_HOME concurrently
• Stop = kill process tree (taskkill /T /F); unexpected exits are detected, notified, and state is reset
• Full runtime log panel (stdout/stderr streamed live for diagnostics)

Tray

• Menu: Start / Stop / Restart DSH, Open Web UI, Copy URL, Environment Check, Main Window, Auto-start at logon, Exit
• Exit = stops the DSH service first, so no orphaned node processes are left behind
• Running-state icon shows a green badge; closing the main window hides to tray; single-instance (launching again activates the existing window)
• Double-click the tray icon opens the main window by default; you can change it to open the Web UI in Settings

Notification enhancements (Notification Enhancements tab)

• Notifies on every dsh turn/end (each response round)
• Optionally also notifies for subagents/subtasks
• Shows tray notifications and/or runs a user-defined external command (e.g. an existing Python notification script)
• One-click install/update/uninstall of the bundled dsh-notify-hook plugin
• Notification payload includes sessionId, parentSessionId, turn, reason, and durationMs

Notifications are only emitted when dsh is launched through DshNotifyicon (it injects DSH_NOTIFY_ENABLED=1).

Other

• Bilingual UI (中文 / English): auto-detects the system language at startup — no configuration needed; switch anytime from the Settings page, takes effect immediately and is saved automatically
• Auto-start uses the HKCU registry Run key, no admin rights required (current user only)
• Optional auto-start of the DSH service when the tray app launches
• Clean up dsh environment (Settings page): stop dsh → uninstall the global npm package → rename the data directory (API credentials & sessions) to .dsh.bak-<date> as a backup, not a delete (recoverable) → remove the logon auto-start entry; full log streaming, cancellable; Node.js is NOT uninstalled
• Settings persisted to %APPDATA%\DshNotifyicon\settings.json (atomic write; corrupt files are backed up and defaults restored)
• All background operations (npm/winget/install) run async and stream to the UI without blocking it

Requirements

• Windows 10 / 11 (.NET Framework 4.6.2 ships with the OS — no extra runtime install)
• Node.js ≥ 18 (one-click installable from the tool, Environment tab)
• dsh: npm install -g @deepseek-ai/dsh (one-click installable/updatable from the tool)

Building

Requires Visual Studio (with the .NET Framework 4.6.2 targeting pack) or a command line with MSBuild.

msbuild DshNotifyicon.slnx /restore /p:Configuration=Release

Output: DshNotifyicon\bin\Release\DshNotifyicon.exe (double-click to run, no install). NuGet dependencies: Hardcodet.NotifyIcon.Wpf (tray), Newtonsoft.Json (settings serialization).

To distribute, copy the exe together with Hardcodet.NotifyIcon.Wpf.dll, Newtonsoft.Json.dll, and the tools\dsh-notify-hook folder from the same output directory.

Usage

1. First launch: the main window is shown; afterwards it hides to the tray by default (changeable via "Show main window on startup" in Settings).
2. Environment tab → Health Check: see Node.js / npm mirror / dsh status; click the button of any missing item to fix it.
3. Service tab: set the port (or tick random port) → Start DSH → the browser opens the Web UI automatically.
4. Tray: day-to-day operations live here — the icon gains a green dot while running; hover to see the current URL.
5. UI Language (optional): follows the system by default; switch to 中文 / English anytime from the "UI Language" dropdown in Settings — takes effect immediately.
6. Notification Enhancements tab (optional): install/update the dsh notification plugin, then choose tray notifications and/or an external command.

Install-type operations (Node.js / dsh) automatically switch to the Service tab's log panel to stream progress, while the Environment tab shows a progress bar; the install button turns into "Cancel" — click it anytime to abort (the process tree is cleaned up); on success the app returns to the Environment tab and re-runs the health check.

Common scenarios

• Port in use: detected before start; a dialog offers "open the browser on that port directly" or cancel.
• Other dsh instances found (e.g. a manually opened terminal window): three choices — stop them and start a new instance / only open the browser / abort. This prevents two instances from writing the same data directory concurrently and corrupting sessions.
• Random port mode: the URL is parsed from dsh output automatically; tray tooltip, log panel and "Open Web UI" all show the real address.

Notification Enhancements (optional)

1. Open the Notification Enhancements tab.
2. Click Install/Update dsh Notification Plugin to install the bundled dsh-notify-hook plugin into the web profile.
3. Choose your options:
   • Enable notification enhancements — master switch.
   • Notify for subagents/subtasks too — also notify on subagent turn/end.
   • Show tray notifications — show a native tray balloon after each response.
   • Enable external command — run a custom command/script, e.g. an existing Python notification script.
4. Click Save Settings and restart dsh if it is already running.
5. To remove the plugin later, click Uninstall dsh Notification Plugin.

External command placeholders:

{event} {title} {sessionId} {parentSessionId} {turn} {reason} {durationMs}

Example:

Command: python
Arguments: E:\QuickStart\send_notification.py {sessionId} {reason} {durationMs}

Tray settings

• Double-click tray icon: can be set to open the main window or open the Web UI directly.
• Auto-start DSH after tray launch: when enabled, DSH starts automatically as soon as DshNotifyicon launches.

Headless smoke test

DshNotifyicon.exe --smoke

Runs the environment check + a real dsh start/stop (random port) + HTTP probe, writing results to %TEMP%\DshNotifyiconSmoke.txt and exiting 0/1. No tray or window is created — suitable for automated regression.

Known limitations

• Stop is a force kill (taskkill /T /F): dsh persists sessions roughly every ~5s, so at most ~5s of trailing conversation may be lost (not a graceful shutdown)
• The mirror applies only to npm commands issued by this tool by default; "Write Global npmrc" permanently affects all npm operations of that user (confirmed in the UI)
• If the tool itself is force-killed from Task Manager, dsh may be left behind: the external-instance scan detects it on next start and prompts for handling
• --host only supports 127.0.0.1 (a dsh limitation; the tool does not expose this option)
• Debug and Release builds share the single-instance mutex and cannot run at the same time
• The black transparent icon has low contrast on dark Windows taskbars (the running-state green dot still shows status)
• The UI language switch takes effect immediately and is saved; tray balloon buttons are localized by Windows itself (the content follows the UI language)

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Manual npm in PowerShell reports "running scripts is disabled"	Execution policy blocks npm.ps1 (PowerShell resolves .ps1 before .cmd). This tool is unaffected (it invokes npm-cli.js directly via node, no script shims). For manual use, call npm.cmd or run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned (no admin needed)
Start DSH stays on "Starting" forever	Check the log panel: first launch initializes the web profile and may be slow; if the port is reported as busy, follow the dialog
dsh install fails (npm E404/ETARGET)	The tool always uses @latest to avoid custom tag issues; if it still fails, copy the log panel contents and investigate (network/mirror unreachable)
Node.js UAC prompt cancelled	The tool prints manual-install instructions for nodejs.org; run the health check again after installing
Auto-start doesn't work	Check the checkbox in Settings; enterprise/domain policy environments may disable the HKCU Run key (not an issue on personal PCs)
Health check seems stuck	Cannot happen: the whole check is time-bounded (120s), network queries cap at 45s each, and failures degrade to "check timed out / remote version query failed" instead of hanging; if still abnormal, check the log panel
Want data back after cleanup	Stop dsh, then rename %USERPROFILE%\.dsh.bak-<date> back to .dsh (contains credentials & sessions)
Tray icon disappeared	Single-instance behavior: launching the exe again activates the running instance; if it really exited, end DshNotifyicon.exe in Task Manager and relaunch
Tool crashes / becomes unresponsive	All exceptions are written to %APPDATA%\DshNotifyicon\crash-*.log (exception details + recent log snapshot) and a tray balloon is shown on next start; send that file to the developer after reproducing

Directory structure

DshNotifyicon/
├─ DshNotifyicon.slnx        Solution
├─ DshNotifyicon/
│  ├─ App.xaml(.cs)          Single instance, tray lifecycle, --smoke mode, event wiring, applies UI language at startup
│  ├─ MainWindow.xaml(.cs)   Environment / Service / Settings / Notification Enhancements / About tabs; refreshes all static texts on language switch
│  ├─ TrayIcon.cs            Tray icon & menu (built in code with Hardcodet; texts refresh with the language)
│  ├─ AppServices.cs         Service container: settings / DSH process / main window / tray
│  ├─ Services/
│  │  ├─ Settings.cs         Settings model (incl. Language field & notification settings) & atomic persistence
│  │  ├─ Localization.cs     CN/EN string table, auto-detection & language switching (Loc.T / Loc.Changed)
│  │  ├─ ProcessRunner.cs    Hidden process execution, separated stdout/stderr, timeout, process-tree kill
│  │  ├─ NodeService.cs      Node.js detection / winget+MSI install / PATH refresh
│  │  ├─ NpmService.cs       npm wrapper (@latest, per-command --registry, serialized queue, semver)
│  │  ├─ DshProcessManager.cs  State machine, preflight, URL parsing, health probe, start/stop, DSH_NOTIFY parsing
│  │  └─ EnvironmentCheckService.cs  Health-check aggregation
│  └─ Assets/app.ico         Icon (rendered from DeepSeek's official favicon.svg; app-running has a green dot)
└─ tools/
   ├─ dsh-notify-hook/       dsh plugin that emits DSH_NOTIFY lines on turn/end
   ├─ gen-icons.js           Icon regeneration script (node)
   └─ favicon.svg            Official icon source

site/ is the GitHub Pages landing-page source (single-file bilingual index.html + icon assets), auto-deployed by .github/workflows/pages.yml to hope-phenom.github.io/DshNotifyicon.

Development notes

• Stack: .NET Framework 4.6.2 (legacy csproj, LangVersion=7.3), no runtime to ship; the service layer has no WPF dependency for headless verification
• New files must be registered in the csproj: the legacy csproj uses explicit <Compile Include> entries — a new source file (e.g. Services\Localization.cs) must be added manually
• UI texts: always fetch via Loc.T("key") — hardcoded strings are forbidden; register new texts in the Localization.cs table first ([0]=zh, [1]=en); language switches propagate through the Loc.Changed event
• Icon regeneration: node tools/gen-icons.js (reuses sharp from the dsh dependency tree; npm i -g sharp also works), then rebuild (icons are embedded resources)
• Design invariants: npm package names are always explicit @latest; mirrors are injected per-command via --registry; external-instance scanning uses PowerShell -EncodedCommand to avoid quote-escaping issues; stdout/stderr are collected separately to keep parsing clean