@zhengjunyao/dsh-restart

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A restart button for DeepSeek Harness. Installing or updating a plugin changes host-side code, and only a fresh dsh web process picks it up — that used to mean going back to a terminal. Now it is one click in the Web GUI: the page reconnects on its own, and if the new process fails to boot, the error is shown right there (an in-page overlay, plus a recovery console on its own port that stays up even when DSH is dead).

An agent cannot restart DSH on its own. The dsh_restart tool only files a request; it takes your click on 「批准并重启」 in the panel to actually run (see "Human approval gate" below).

Why

A self-restart is the moment things go wrong invisibly: the tab loses its server, the new process crashes, and the only trace is in a terminal you already left. dsh-restart handles all of that — and, now that agents can call tools, one more: an agent restarting the host and telling you afterwards, which is why a restart request waits for your click by default.

Features

• One click: the settings card 「重启」 and a sidebar entry next to your other plugin entries. A human click needs no second confirmation — the click is the consent.
• Human approval gate (on by default): when an agent calls dsh_restart, nothing is restarted. It files a request (~/.dsh/dsh-restart/pending-approval.json, valid for 15 minutes by default), which shows up in three places at once:
  • a red confirmation card in the settings panel — reason, requester, submission time, a live countdown, and two buttons: 「批准并重启」 / 「拒绝，保持运行」;
  • a red dot on the sidebar restart icon (visible without opening anything);
  • a macOS desktop notification. Until you click, the host does nothing at all; an unanswered request simply expires. Approving is single-use: the request is deleted before the restart starts, so a repeated click or a replayed request can never restart twice.
• Two strategies, auto-detected — when the host is a launchd job (com.dsh.web, KeepAlive), the helper delegates with launchctl kickstart -k and only observes (spawning our own host would race the job for the port); otherwise it relaunches the exact same command (argv / cwd / env / Node flags) after waiting for the port to be actually released, instead of guessing with a fixed delay.
• The new process's stdout+stderr stream into a log, the lines that look like errors are lifted out, and the helper's recovery console (http://127.0.0.1:3099 by default, CORS-open) keeps answering after DSH is gone — showing phase, boot log, error lines and exit code, with a one-click retry.
• Auto-reconnect: the page probes /api/dsh-restart/probe and reloads itself as soon as the new host answers (autoReload, on by default).
• Failure handling: error lines are detected (Error / EADDRINUSE / MODULE_NOT_FOUND / stack frames), the boot log is shown in the overlay, and maxAttempts (default 2) automatic retries run before giving up.
• Readiness is not "the port answers": dsh web binds its port before the plugin tree loads, so the helper only reports ready once the port answers, the process is still alive, and the boot output carries no fatal line — held over readyConfirmMs (4s) first, then watched for bootWatchMs (30s) so a host that reports ready and dies seconds later is reclassified as a failed restart instead of a silent success.
• Agent tools:
  • dsh_restart_status (read-only): host pid/port/version/uptime/command, helper phase and failure, recent restarts, the boot log's error lines, and whether a restart request is currently waiting for you;
  • dsh_restart: still requires confirm: true, but that flag is only the caller describing itself — it proves nothing and unlocks nothing. With the gate on, the tool files a request and tells the agent to send you to the panel.
• Stale-tab recovery: a restart's failure state lives in the page, so once the host is back (or launchd rescued it) the page clears that leftover "boot failed" text by itself — it keeps probing a failed state, re-checks on focus, and drops a persisted failure the moment the host answers.
• Fresh-token self-heal: every dsh web boot mints a new launch token, so an old tab's URL is refused with 401 once its cookie is gone. The page then swaps the current process's token for a cookie in place (same authority as the tab, no navigation) and reloads only after the tab really authenticates — a restart ends with the app back on screen, not with an address to copy. If even that fails it falls back to the clickable 「用新 token 地址打开」 link, so a dead cookie can never turn a reload into the host's plain-text 401 page.
• Bookmarkable entry: GET /api/dsh-restart/goto always answers 303 with a relative Location carrying the current process's token, so the one URL that never expires is also the one that works on any authority.
• The waiting overlay says don't reload manually (the port is dead for ~3–5s, then the page returns by itself): refreshing inside the restart window lands on ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED, where the browser has replaced the page and no client-side recovery can run.
• History at ~/.dsh/dsh-restart/history.json (a user-approved restart is recorded as source: "user-approved"), logs under ~/.dsh/dsh-restart/logs/, config at ~/.dsh/dsh-restart.json (0600).

Install

1. Install the plugin (npm for releases, link: for local development, or from GitHub):

   dsh plugin --profile web add @zhengjunyao/dsh-restart   # npm
   dsh plugin --profile web add link:/path/to/dsh-restart  # local development
   dsh plugin --profile web add github:zhengjy01/dsh-restart
   

   Expected: the command succeeds and @zhengjunyao/dsh-restart appears in ~/.dsh/profiles/web/package.json dependencies.

2. Restart DSH once so the host half loads — the last manual restart you need; from then on, restart from the panel.

   Expected: the page reconnects and reloads itself; a restart icon appears in the left sidebar and a 「重启」 card in the settings page.

Screenshot slot 1 — what it looks like after install Capture: the settings card at 「设置 → 插件配置 → Web 插件 → 重启」, expanded (host pid, version, launch command, restart history, collapsed settings). Range: the whole card, ~680px wide. No redaction needed (it holds a local port and pid, no token). Suggested file: docs/images/dsh-restart-01-panel.png After adding it, replace this block with: ![Restart panel](docs/images/dsh-restart-01-panel.png)

1. Verify it works: the panel shows host facts and the last boot log, which means both halves loaded.

Screenshot slot 2 — sidebar entry in its shared row Capture: the sidebar's bottom row with this restart icon beside the other plugin entries (hovering shows the title 「重启 DSH」). Range: just that row, not the whole window. No redaction needed. Suggested file: docs/images/dsh-restart-02-sidebar.png After adding it: ![Sidebar entry](docs/images/dsh-restart-02-sidebar.png)

Usage

Restarting it yourself

1. Open 「设置 → 插件配置 → Web 插件 → 重启」 (or click the sidebar restart icon).
2. Click 「立即重启」: the overlay appears with the phase (dispatch → old process exits → new host boots → ready) and the elapsed time; the new host answers and the page reloads itself. If it fails to boot, the overlay shows Error: … plus the log tail, with buttons to copy the error, ask the helper to retry, or open the recovery console.
3. The panel also shows host facts, the last boot log (with error lines), restart history and plugin settings.

When an agent asks for a restart (the approval gate)

1. An agent in some session calls dsh_restart → nothing restarts; it only files a request, and its reply tells you to go confirm it.
2. You get the macOS notification, the red dot on the sidebar icon, and the red card in the panel.
3. Open the panel, check the reason and the requester, then pick:
   • 批准并重启 — restarts as above; the request is consumed and cannot run twice;
   • 拒绝，保持运行 — the request is dropped and the host is untouched.
4. Doing nothing is also fine: after approvalTtlMinutes (15 by default) the request expires.

Screenshot slot 3 — the approval card (the star of this feature) Capture: the red-bordered card 「有一个会话请求重启 DSH（尚未执行）」 showing the reason, the requester, the countdown, and both buttons. Range: the card itself, including the countdown badge in its top-right corner. Redaction: mask the current user name or personal paths if they appear in the reason or requester. Suggested file: docs/images/dsh-restart-03-approval-card.png After adding it: ![Approval card](docs/images/dsh-restart-03-approval-card.png)

Screenshot slot 4 — sidebar badge and desktop notification Capture (a pair is fine): ① the red dot on the sidebar restart icon; ② the macOS notification 「DSH：有一个重启请求，等你确认」 in Notification Center. Redaction: mask any home path / user name inside the notification text. Suggested file: docs/images/dsh-restart-04-badge-and-notification.png After adding it: ![Badge and notification](docs/images/dsh-restart-04-badge-and-notification.png)

Screenshot slot 5 — recovery console when a boot fails Capture: the in-page overlay with Error: … and the log tail, or the http://127.0.0.1:3099 recovery console. Redaction: mask absolute paths and the user name in the log. Suggested file: docs/images/dsh-restart-05-recovery-console.png After adding it: ![Recovery console](docs/images/dsh-restart-05-recovery-console.png)

Configuration

~/.dsh/dsh-restart.json (0600; seeded from the plugin row on first load, and editable from the panel):

Key	Default	Meaning
enabled	true	Master switch (off = no routes, no tools)
announceToAgent	true	Announce the plugin's tools and behaviour in the system prompt
entry	sidebar	Entry point: sidebar / ball / both / off
requireApproval	true	Must an agent-requested restart wait for your click? Turning it off restores the old "confirm and go" behaviour (not recommended — it removes the gate)
approvalTtlMinutes	15	How long a pending request stays actionable (1–120; it expires after that)
notifyOnApproval	true	Post a macOS desktop notification when a request is filed (darwin only)
restartMode	auto	auto (delegate when launchd manages the host) / launchd (force; errors when no job) / helper (force self-relaunch)
fallbackPort	3099	Recovery-console port (tries +1…+9 when busy)
bootTimeoutMs	120000	How long a boot may take before the attempt fails
maxAttempts	2	Launch attempts per restart request
killGraceMs	6000	Grace period before the helper SIGKILLs the old host
portFreeTimeoutMs	25000	How long to wait for the old host to release its port
lingerMs	4000	How long the helper keeps its console up after readiness
readyConfirmMs	4000	Stability window after the port answers before "ready" (0 = skip)
bootWatchMs	30000	Window to reclassify a reported-ready-then-dead boot as a failure (0 = skip)
logLines	200	Lines of boot log kept for display
autoReload	true	Reload the page once the new host answers
showOverlay	true	Show the full-screen overlay while restarting
probeIntervalMs	1200	Reconnect probe interval
historyLimit	30	Restart records kept

HTTP surface

All loopback-only (127.0.0.1 / ::1) and same-origin, matching the other dsh-* panels — everything below lives under /api/dsh-restart/:

Method	Path	Meaning
GET	/status	Host + helper + config + history + the pending request
GET	/probe	Tiny liveness probe (polled hard while reconnecting)
GET	/auth	This process's fresh token URL (deliberately cookie-free, still loopback-only)
GET	/goto	Bookmarkable entry: 303 to the current token (relative, so cookies stay on this authority)
POST	/restart	Hand over the restart; replies 202 before this process exits (the panel button uses this)
GET	/approval	The pending agent request + its deadline + the gate switch
POST	/approval	Your decision: { id, decision: "approve" | "deny" }. Approve consumes the request first, then hands over
GET	/logs	Boot-log tail + the lines that look like errors
GET	/history	Restart records
POST	/config	Patch the config / reset: true
GET	/helper	Live helper state, read through the host
POST	/helper/retry	Ask a failed helper to try again

How it works

you click 「立即重启」 (a human click is the consent)
      │ POST /api/dsh-restart/restart
      ▼
  host (old process) ──writes pending-spec.json──▶ detached helper (zero deps)
      │ replies 202, SIGTERMs itself ~0.7s later              │
      ▼                                                       │ waits for the port
   process exits ─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
                                                              ▼
                                     spawns the new host with the same command
                                     (stdout/stderr → logs/<stamp>-<pid>.log)
                                                              │
                     status.json ◀── phase/progress/errors ───┤
                     http://127.0.0.1:3099 ◀── recovery console┘
                                                              │
   page polls /probe ──▶ new host answers ──▶ location.reload()┘

an agent calls dsh_restart (gate on)
      │ files pending-approval.json only (no restart)
      ▼
  sidebar badge + desktop notification + approval card
      │ you click 「批准并重启」
      ▼
  POST /api/dsh-restart/approval ──▶ consume the request (single-use) ──▶ the path above
                                                                          (source=user-approved)

Compatibility

• Requires DeepSeek Harness ≥ 0.1.5-rc.1 (declared as dsh.engines.dsh).
• Verified against: 0.1.5-rc.1 and 0.1.7-rc.2 on macOS with Node 25.8.1 — host half, browser half and a real restart.
• Platforms: only macOS has actually been exercised. When the host is launchd-managed, the helper delegates with launchctl kickstart -k; elsewhere it falls back to relaunching the same command itself (the launchd path is platform-guarded; Linux and Windows are untested). The desktop notification is macOS-only as well (elsewhere it is silently skipped — the request itself is still on disk).
• Compatibility is also derived from the union of the @deepseek-ai/dsh-* peerDependencies ranges, which is what the plugin market displays. Since this version the peerDependencies range explicitly declares compatibility with DSH 0.2.0-rc.2 (^0.2.0-rc.2 is now included), so no compatibility warning appears on 0.2.0-rc.2. No functional change.

Tests

pnpm test    # 275 assertions across eight suites

• smoke — config store round-trip and clamping, history, log tailing with error detection, launch signature, host identity;
• approval — the gate: 0600 on disk, a newer request replaces an older one, a mismatched id must not execute, approving is single-use (a replay does nothing), denying leaves no residue, an expired request never restarts, empty state is a no-op;
• helper — the real helper against fake hosts: crash capture + console + manual retry, and a successful relaunch, plus the three readiness edges (crash after the port answers, silent exit after the port answers, and an error-shaped health-check noise line that must not be mistaken for a failure);
• routes — synthetic req/res across every route, including the loopback/cross-site/method guards and the connection→token-URL wiring;
• handoff — end-to-end on fake ports: restart → old process really exits → helper relaunches generation 2 → the port answers with a new pid;
• launchd — pid→job matching and observe mode (which must never spawn), plus a boot-fatal line in the managed log that must not be reported as ready;
• selfheal — the real browser bundle with stubbed globals: a persisted "boot failed" whose host recovered is cleared on mount, and a 401 page gets the current token URL instead of a dead reload;
• client — the browser half's registration and rendering contract.

Limits

• Only restarts: it does not install plugins or repair a profile (that is dsh-doctor's job).
• A restart always interrupts the current turn and connection — replacing the host process cannot be invisible. What is guaranteed is that the interruption is observable, recoverable, and its errors readable.
• The helper registers no OS-level service; it lives for one restart and exits after readiness (or stays put on failure until you deal with it).
• What the approval gate does and does not cover (honest statement): it guarantees that the legitimate path cannot restart on an agent's say-so — the tool only files a request, and your click is the only thing that turns it into a restart. It is not an adversarial sandbox: any process that can run a shell on this machine (including an agent) could bypass the plugin and call launchctl kickstart -k com.dsh.web directly, and this plugin does not pretend otherwise. It solves "a session restarted DSH and you only found out later", and it makes every restart carry a record of who approved it.
• dsh_restart still asks for confirm: true: that is the caller's own claim, meant to make an agent explain itself first. It is not your consent — your consent is the click, and history.json records it as source: "user-approved".

License

MIT