DSH Desktop

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A desktop product around the unmodified published DeepSeek Harness packages: the full Web UI running with no Node HTTP server and no port, composed entirely as Cordis plugins over the @deepseek-ai/* family. The desktop shell — the window, tray, and system integration — rides on Electron; every capability (the socketless webserver, the renderer connection, the shell itself) is a plugin row, so each is replaceable from configuration without touching a published package.

• Upstream project: DeepSeek Harness — the open-source agent harness this product wraps.
• Plugin store: dsh-market — the community plugin market, built in.

Features

Full Web UI with a zero-socket host

Runs the complete DeepSeek Harness Web UI (session log, tools, model route, agent loop) in a desktop window. The host never binds a socket: a virtual webServer interceptor provides the official route-registry contract without a port, the renderer wire client rides an Electron IPC bridge instead of HTTP/WebSocket, and every host route (the /api plane, the session-log download, and any plugin route) dispatches in-process. The official modules, ui-theme, web-runtime, and frontend-static rows activate unchanged.

Built-in plugin market

Ships dshmarket as the default plugin market: open Settings → Plugin Market, browse, search, and one-click install community plugins. The market's /dsh-market/* routes dispatch through the in-process host, and the desktop provides the market's host contract (desktopProfiles + desktopPnpm). Installs run the real dsh plugin --profile desktop … CLI with the bundled pnpm, so the packaged app installs plugins even without a system Node or pnpm. Installed plugins load at the next boot through a profile-anchored loader hook.

System tray and close-to-tray

A system tray (show / restart host / quit) is always present, and its labels follow the app's actual display language. A General-settings preference controls what closing the window does: quit the app, or hide to the tray and keep the host running in the background.

In-process host reboot

Changes that cannot hot-load (for example a market install that needs a restart) apply through Restart host in the settings General section or the tray's Restart host item: the host disposes and re-boots in-process, the IPC bridge is re-installed, and the renderer reloads — the Electron process, window, and tray stay up.

Agent presets shipped

The desktop composes the shipped agent-preset root, so the roster matches dsh web: the standard, code, minimal, and cordis presets resolve at system trust and session start never fails with preset not found.

Boot self-healing

A broken plugin install never blocks the app from opening: bundles whose packages cannot be resolved are dropped from the profile manifest (with a warning) before mount, and the app recovers on the next clean boot.

Runtime modes

From source (development)

pnpm install         # resolves @deepseek-ai/* from the dist-tags recorded in upstream.json
pnpm build           # compile the TypeScript sources (tsc + esbuild + the verify:upstream gate)
pnpm check           # strict type-check + tests for every package
pnpm start           # build, then launch the Electron app

Packaged app

dsh-plugin-desktop ships installable artifacts through electron-builder:

pnpm package:dir      # unsigned unpacked app for the current host (dist/<platform>-unpacked)
pnpm dist:mac         # macOS DMG (on a macOS host)
pnpm dist:win         # Windows x64 NSIS installer (on a Windows host)
pnpm dist:linux       # Linux AppImage + deb + rpm (on a Linux host)

Headless boot proof

The transport is verified headless — a fake bridge and a profile boot run with no browser, no socket, and no window:

pnpm -r test          # headless boot proof + client carrier tests

The Electron window is the runnable shell over the same in-process host the tests boot.

Screenshots

Screenshots are added by the maintainer. The blocks below are placeholders — drop the images into docs/screenshots/ and update the paths.

The main window: the full DeepSeek Harness Web UI in the desktop shell.

The built-in plugin market: browse, search, and one-click install.

References

• Upstream project — DeepSeek Harness (dsh): the open-source agent harness this desktop wraps. This repository consumes the published @deepseek-ai/* packages resolved from the dist-tags recorded in upstream.json (next for the dsh family, latest for the cordis framework); there is no upstream source checkout here.
• Plugin store — dsh-market (dshmarket): the community plugin market. The desktop ships it as the default market; third-party plugins published to the awesome-dsh-plugin registry appear there.

Technical overview

Zero-socket transport

Piece	Row / package	Replaces
Socketless webserver	dsh-plugin-desktop/webserver	the official webserver row (disabled)
Renderer wire client	dsh-plugin-desktop-connection	the official connection row (disabled) — node half re-exports upstream, client half rides Electron IPC
Boot manifest	Electron preload (window.__DSH_BOOT__)	the server index tap
RPC dispatch	ipcMain (connection.createSharedFetchHandler + apiProxy)	the HTTP/WebSocket carrier
Virtual-host HTTP proxy	dsh-plugin-desktop-connection client + dispatchHttpRequest (main)	the host HTTP surface — any webserver route dispatches in-process over IPC

Repository layout

upstream.json                    upstream provenance (dist-tags + pinned-copy version/commit)
packages/
  dsh-plugin-desktop/             shell row, virtual webserver, Electron main, packaging
  dsh-plugin-desktop-connection/  renderer wire client over Electron IPC
docs/                            architecture map
.agents/notes/                   Agent Notes (decision records)

Model Experience

The desktop is a presentation and transport surface over the standard DeepSeek Harness agent. It changes no model-facing behavior: the same session log, tools, model route, and agent loop run underneath. The transport (Electron IPC instead of HTTP/WebSocket) and the socketless host are invisible to the model.

Known limitations

• The Electron shell is minimal: one window plus the IPC bridge. Terminal, profile management, updates, and signed releases are deferred.
• The host reboot is manual (a settings action and a tray item); auto-triggering waits on a durable host-readable signal.
• The renderer ConnectionController is a pinned copy of the upstream source; verify:upstream fails the build when the installed family differs, forcing a reapply from the recorded commit.
• The desktop keeps a zero-socket host; the deepseek-harness-desktop project is the alternative loopback-carrier design for comparison.