dsh-llm-approver

LLM pre-review for sandbox-escalation approvals in the DeepSeek Harness web GUI.

When the session sits in the workspace-write-llm permission preset, a sandbox escalation retry (sandbox_permissions on bash/pwsh/fs tools) is first judged by an independent-context LLM call — the request contains only the pending command and its justification, never the conversation history:

• ALLOW → the call runs immediately (allowed-once); the user is never prompted.
• DENY, timeout, error, unparsable output, tool-call output, abort → the request falls through to the existing web UI approval prompt unchanged.

The gate is fail-closed: it can only grant, never reject, and every failure mode degrades to the user. Sessions in any other preset pass through synchronously with zero behavior change.

Installation

Requires dsh with a profile (~/.dsh/profiles/web for the web GUI) and pnpm available.

Quick (scripts)

# from a clone of this repo:
./scripts/install.sh                 # install into the web profile (from GitHub)
./scripts/install.sh --profile tui   # install into another profile
./scripts/install.sh --source file:/path/to/dsh-llm-approver  # local source

./scripts/uninstall.sh               # remove from the web profile
./scripts/uninstall.sh --profile tui # remove from another profile

Each script edits the profile's package.json (bundle + dependency, keeping both lists intact), runs pnpm install, verifies the composed tree, and prints the restart reminder. Both are idempotent.

Manual

Edit ~/.dsh/profiles/web/package.json:

{
  "dsh": {
    "profile": {
      "bundles": [
        "@deepseek-ai/dsh-base",
        "@deepseek-ai/dsh-web-app",
        "@dsh-external/dsh-llm-approver"
      ]
    }
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@dsh-external/dsh-llm-approver": "github:Xpectuer/dsh-llm-approver"
  }
}

For local development instead of GitHub, use a file reference: "@dsh-external/dsh-llm-approver": "file:/path/to/dsh-llm-approver".

2. Install and verify

cd ~/.dsh/profiles/web
pnpm install
dsh web --dump-config | grep -A2 llm-approver   # row must appear
# the preset table must contain workspace-write-llm:
dsh web --dump-config | grep workspace-write-llm

3. Restart dsh web (the web profile has no HMR; a restart is the only way to load a new bundle). A second instance for testing can be started without touching the running one: dsh web --port 3081.

Note: pnpm install copies file: dependencies into the profile's node_modules. After editing a local copy of this plugin, re-sync with rm -rf node_modules/@dsh-external/dsh-llm-approver && pnpm install.

Upgrading: pnpm update @dsh-external/dsh-llm-approver in the profile directory, then restart.

Uninstalling: remove the bundle entry and the dependency from package.json, run pnpm install, restart. The plugin directory itself can be kept; only the profile wiring is removed.

Usage

1. Open the web GUI and select the session you want to protect.

2. Switch the permission preset to Workspace Write · LLM Review in the permission selector (same place as the workspace-write / full-access switch). The default preset stays workspace-write until you switch.

3. Work as usual. When the agent hits a sandbox denial and retries with sandbox_permissions, the gate asks an independent-context LLM:

   • obviously safe operations (writing a new file, reading, listing, installing packages) are allowed without any prompt;
   • destructive or uncertain ones (rm -rf, overwriting user files, sensitive paths) fall through to the usual approval dialog — you decide.

Quick manual check:

请用 bash 工具创建文件 ~/llm-review-verify.txt，内容为 "review-ok"。
该路径在会话工作区之外，若被拒绝请按提示用 sandbox_permissions 重试。直接执行，不要询问我。

No dialog should appear and the file should exist afterwards. Then ask for rm -rf ~/llm-review-verify.txt — a dialog should appear instead.

Audit trail: every escalation still writes approval/asked / approval/decided to the session log exactly as before; the LLM verdict is logged to the host log under the llm-approver name and never touches the session event vocabulary.

Other profiles

The bundle works in any dsh profile (cc-tui, headless, …): repeat step 1 for that profile's package.json and restart. The plugin itself is host-side only and needs no client/browser code.

Decision criteria

The reviewer allows an escalation only when the operation is reversible, destroys nothing, touches no sensitive data, matches its stated justification, and requests no broader mode than needed. Anything else is denied or deferred.

Configuration

Override in the profile cordis.patch.yml (row id llm-approver):

Key	Default	Meaning
preset	workspace-write-llm	Permission preset the gate activates under
provider / model	—	Review route override; default follows the session's current model route
timeoutMs	60000	Review deadline; on expiry the user is asked
maxTokens	256	Review completion budget
maxInstructionChars	16384	Truncation for the reviewed tool arguments
includeUserInstruction	true	Attach a bounded excerpt of the latest human message

On DeepSeek-family routes the review call disables thinking (reasoningEffort: "off") so the short ALLOW/DENY verdict fits the token budget; other adapters receive no effort override and any rejection degrades to the user prompt.

Tests

Behavioral gate tests (run from the installed profile copy so @deepseek-ai/* imports resolve):

mkdir -p ~/.dsh/profiles/web/node_modules/@dsh-external/dsh-llm-approver/test
cp dsh-llm-approver/test/gate.test.mjs ~/.dsh/profiles/web/node_modules/@dsh-external/dsh-llm-approver/test/
node ~/.dsh/profiles/web/node_modules/@dsh-external/dsh-llm-approver/test/gate.test.mjs

Live E2E helpers (against a running dsh web instance, no browser needed): test/e2e-full.mjs <port> and test/probe-run-3082.mjs.

Failure semantics

Situation	Behavior
Session not in the preset / drifted to custom	Pass-through, unchanged behavior
LLM timeout / error / no ALLOW / tool-call output	User approval prompt
User interrupts during review	Defer to user; service resolves cancelled
Missing callId or no matching tool/call event	User approval prompt
approval/policy = never	Rejected by the service before this gate runs
Plugin row fails to load	The permission preset row is independent and still applies

Audit: approval/asked / approval/decided are recorded by the approval service exactly as before; LLM verdicts go to the host log (llm-approver), never to the session event vocabulary.