dsh-projects

Claude-Desktop-style Projects for DSH Desktop (the desktop DSH profile only — Web and headless profiles are untouched).

The shipped DSH sidebar groups conversations by Workspace (directory). This plugin replaces that sidebar region with a project-first browser:

• create projects (name, color, one or more working directories);
• every conversation lives inside a project;
• each conversation can use a different directory, chosen when it is created (or switched later through Change working directory), backed by the Host's real workingDirectory service — the same durable, model-visible mechanism as the working_directory tool;
• sessions outside any project stay visible under Other conversations, still grouped by Workspace, so nothing is lost;
• empty conversations are hidden and can be deleted for real: the Host keeps reusable blank Sessions from every "New Session" click (blank: true); only the empty Session that is currently open is shown. The Host also scans legacy Sessions whose catalog row is not marked blank but whose log contains no conversation events at all (only tiny header/metadata logs are inspected), so old "Badstuff"-style empty chats are hidden too. View options → Delete empty conversations (N) permanently removes both kinds from disk through a validated Host route (never touches a conversation with content; sessions still live in the current app run are archived and can be purged after the next start);
• projects keep the workspace hierarchy: inside a project, conversations stay grouped under their workspace (folder + title + count), so moving a workspace into a project preserves its identity instead of flattening the chats; workspace headers have their own + (new conversation directly in that directory — assigned to the containing project, or ungrouped under Other conversations) and ⋯ menu (new conversation, move to another project, rename, remove from project, delete workspace);
• pinned sessions, relative times, running/pending/unread status dots, archive/unarchive, rename, fork, pin and copy-ID work from the new rows.

Install (desktop profile)

The plugin ships as a normal DSH bundle and is published on npm as @wxysskd/dsh-projects. Three equivalent ways to install it into the desktop profile (~/.dsh/profiles/desktop):

# 1. from npm (registry install; also works from Plugins -> Add plugin)
plugin_manager install_bundle target=@wxysskd/dsh-projects@1.0.0
#   or: desktop-cli plugin --profile desktop add @wxysskd/dsh-projects@1.0.0

# 2. from the self-contained release tarball
npm run pack                                  # -> dist/wxysskd-dsh-projects-1.0.0.tgz
plugin_manager install_bundle target=/abs/path/dist/wxysskd-dsh-projects-1.0.0.tgz

# 3. source link for development (client.js edits hot-reload)
desktop-cli plugin --profile desktop add link:"$PWD"

The npm package contains only runtime files (index.js, client.js, cordis.patch.yml, locale/*.json, icon.svg, package.json, README.md, LICENSE), plus SHA-256/manifest in dist/. See docs/INSTALL.md for installation, the market index, activation/verification and rollback details.

Plugin market (Discover tab)

DSH has no official built-in market; the Discover tab reads index sources the user adds. This repository publishes a format-1 index with a commit-pinned Git install target:

https://aobakaolengmian.github.io/dsh-projects/market/index.json

Add that URL as an index source in Plugins → Discover and install Projects from the card; the same index is readable by the plugin_market tool and by any other DSH Desktop user:

The market entry installs the published npm package (@wxysskd/dsh-projects@<version>), the same artifact as the tarball. See market/README.md for the format and how to regenerate it (npm run market). Installing from the market still needs one app restart for the Host row.

Data

Project metadata is Host-owned and durable, independent of session logs:

• $DSH_HOME/storages/dsh-projects.json — projects, session→project assignments, last recorded working directory per session;
• sessions themselves stay owned by the Session Controller (nothing is rewritten into session logs by this plugin).

HTTP routes served from the existing DSH web server (same origin as the GUI):

Method	Path	Purpose
GET	/dsh-projects/state	complete project state
GET	/dsh-projects/health	liveness + counts
POST	/dsh-projects/mutate	project.create, project.update, project.delete, session.assign
POST	/dsh-projects/cwd	change one conversation's working directory
POST	/dsh-projects/purge	permanently remove validated empty sessions (rejects content)
GET	/dsh-projects/empty-sessions	list sessions that hold no conversation content

POST routes require content-type: application/json and x-dsh-projects: 1 and a 64 KiB body limit.

Build

npm install          # dev-only: esbuild, react, react-dom, playwright
node scripts/build.mjs   # src/client/* -> client.js (committed artifact)
npm run pack             # build + dist/<name>-<version>.tgz + SHA-256 + manifest
node harness/build.mjs   # mock harness bundle
node harness/shoot.mjs   # screenshots -> harness/shots/
npm test                 # host/model tests (node --test)

Design notes

• The browser entry registers into the shipped sidebar.workspaces single slot at priority: -1, shadowing ui-workspace's browser. The shipped entry stays registered underneath: if our component crashes, its entry is abdicated and the original sidebar comes back.
• The client bundle imports only react / react-dom / react/jsx-runtime from the shell's shared module table and uses ctx services for everything else (sessions, workspaces, uiWorkspace, locale, slots).
• Styles use --dsw-* theme tokens; literals are limited to project accent artwork. All classes are prefixed pj-.

Moving workspaces and conversations between projects

Everything can be migrated without deleting or recreating sessions, through the project metadata only (session logs are never touched):

• Drag a conversation row onto any project section → the session is assigned to that project (drag it onto Other conversations to remove it from its project).
• Drag a workspace group header (under Other conversations) onto any project section → the directory moves into that project (removed from any other project's directory list, never duplicated) and every conversation in that directory is assigned to it. While dragging, every project shows a dashed drop outline and the hovered target is highlighted.
• Menu path (same result without dragging):
  • workspace group ⋯ → Move workspace to project → pick the target;
  • project ⋯ → Move working directory to another project… → pick the directory → pick the target project (or Remove from project (back to Other conversations));
  • conversation ⋯ → Move to project → pick the target (or No project).

Moving a directory between projects also makes future sessions created in that directory (including the shipped Cmd+N flow) land in the target project, and the project keeps the workspace title as a nested folder group.

Workspace headers (both inside projects and under Other conversations) expose their own menu: Rename workspace…, Move workspace to project, Remove from project and Delete workspace. Deleting a workspace removes only its registration, puts its conversations back under Other conversations, and never deletes a conversation.

"Session unavailable" in the Desktop app (not this plugin)

Symptom: opening any historical session shows Session unavailable in the composer, session rows vanish from the sidebar and titles fall back to session ids. It reproduces with this plugin disabled, so it is a runtime/profile problem, not a bug in this bundle.

Two different causes were diagnosed by booting the shipped runtime against a copy of a real ~/.dsh:

0.2.1-rc.5: standing subagent settings vs. preset scope

rc.5 mounts @deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-subagent/model-selection-settings as a standing row while its presets request modelSelectionSettings: true inside a preset scope, so every session whose recorded preset carries the flag fails with agent-preset/invalid and renders without a live composer. Fixed upstream in 0.2.2 (the flag is gone); apply scripts/fix-rc5-session-unavailable.mjs only on rc.5, and --remove it after upgrading:

node scripts/fix-rc5-session-unavailable.mjs --presets <app>/dsh/node_modules/@deepseek-ai/dsh-web-app/presets
node scripts/fix-rc5-session-unavailable.mjs --remove    # after upgrading

After upgrading to 0.2.2: a leftover rc.5 workaround breaks the new presets

0.2.2 genuinely fixed the upstream bug — its shipped presets no longer contain modelSelectionSettings (verified: 0 occurrences in dsh-web-app/presets). The regression right after the update came from the rc.5 workaround still being applied: the preset override block restated the old preset definitions, so it replaced 0.2.2's presets with rc.5 wiring. On 0.2.2 the stale tool-subagent-control/list-agents row never starts and session creation fails:

agent-preset/invalid — tool-subagent-list-agents
(@deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-subagent-control/list-agents): never started

which the conversation view renders as "Session unavailable" again. Measured by booting 0.2.2-rc.1 against a profile copy: stale block + old packages → create fails with the error above; stale packages alone → create succeeds.

Therefore the workaround must be removed when the runtime no longer needs it:

node scripts/fix-rc5-session-unavailable.mjs --remove   # idempotent

The script also refuses to apply when the shipped presets carry no modelSelectionSettings flag, so it cannot be re-applied on 0.2.2+.

Old @deepseek-ai/* copies left in the profile after an update

Independently, packages older than the app that sit in ~/.dsh/profiles/<profile>/node_modules shadow the copies bundled in the app. A stale @deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-subagent (0.2.1-rc.5 inside a 0.2.2 runtime) is declared incompatible, so tool-subagent, tool-subagent-fork and subagent-model-selection-settings get disabled and the delegation tools go missing; bundles pinned to the old version (dsh-subagent-codex, dsh-subagent-claude-code, …) are skipped. Session creation still works, but subagent features silently disappear.

Fix: move the stale copies out of the profile so the app's matching versions are resolved, then restart:

cd ~/.dsh/profiles/<profile>
mkdir -p .removed-stale-$(date +%Y%m%d)
mv node_modules/@deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-subagent \
   node_modules/@deepseek-ai/dsh-brand \
   node_modules/@deepseek-ai/dsh-sdk-protocol \
   .removed-stale-$(date +%Y%m%d)/ 2>/dev/null
# bundles pinned to the old runtime: update them in Plugins -> Installed,
# or drop them from dsh.profile.bundles

This plugin is compatible with both runtimes: with either fix in place its sidebar renders (including inside 0.2.2-rc.1) and sessions open and send normally. 0.2.1 also labels user forks as origin: "subagent"; the plugin hides only spawned teammates (delegationDepth > 0), so forks stay visible.

Compatibility with other sidebar plugins

The installed sidebar-touching plugins were audited and the browser keeps their integration surfaces intact:

Plugin	Integration surface	Status with Projects
dsh-timeline	DOM-injects its starred-folder section before [data-slot="sidebar.workspaces"]; resolves session rows as div[role="treeitem"][aria-selected]; injects "Star Chat to Folder" into host menus found as body > [role="menu"]	Works: the slot anchor is preserved (its folder section renders above Projects), every row follows the shipped treeitem/title DOM contract, and menus/modals are portaled to document.body, so its injected menu item appears and opens its own dialog
dsh-cost-meter	Registers sidebar.footer.action entries and styles its own footer stack	Works unchanged: footer actions are outside the replaced region
dsh-notification, dsh-plugin (hub), dsh-thoughtdag, dsh-dafeiyu, dsh-plugin-whale-pet	No sidebar.workspaces DOM or row-slot usage (audited client bundles)	No interaction
shipped ui-workspace browser	Registers the slot at priority 0; its child row-extension slots (e.g. schedule marks) are only rendered by its own component	Our entry shadows it at priority -1; if our component crashes it abdicates and the shipped browser returns. Child-slot extensions are not rendered while Projects is active (non-crashing degradation)

Live verification with dsh-timeline + dsh-cost-meter + Projects mounted in one real DSH host: our sidebar rendered 57/57 sessions as timeline-compatible treeitems, timeline's starred-folder section appeared above Projects, timeline's "Star Chat to Folder" item was injected into our session menu and opened its dialog, cost-meter's footer card rendered normally, our menus/search stayed functional, and the browser console reported no errors.

Known limits (v1)

• The shipped ui-workspace browser's child extension slots (sidebar.workspaces.session.menu.item, sidebar.session.row.leading, …) are not rendered by our browser, so shipped/third-party row decorations registered there (for example the schedule mark) do not appear while it is active. The shipped built-in session actions are re-implemented directly in the project menus, and dsh-timeline's DOM-based decorations do work (see above).
• Global shortcuts owned by ui-workspace (Cmd+N / Cmd+K) keep their shipped behavior; our search field is opened through the header icon.
• Collapsed sections, archived filter and the last viewed state are stored in the browser's localStorage; project data lives Host-side.
• The empty-Session scan and permanent deletion run through the Host half, so a client bundle that hot-reloads before the Host half does cannot see them: the scan is skipped and the cleanup falls back to archiving blank Sessions, telling the user to restart the app once. After that restart the sidebar hides legacy empty chats automatically and the same menu entry deletes them from disk. Empty Sessions created during the current app run are always archived first and purgeable on the next start.