dsh-tab-indicator

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A DeepSeek Harness (DSH) web plugin that puts the agent's running/done state on the browser tab, so you can see from any other tab whether work is still running.

Features

• Live running badge — while one or more root sessions run, the favicon shows a blue badge with the count (1, 2, … 9+).
• Count instead of a dot — a single run leaves the title untouched; (N) appears only when more than one run is active. There is no title dot.
• Done check — when a run finishes, the tab shows a green check for about a second. If other runs remain, the count badge comes back; if none remain, the check stays only while the tab is hidden or the window is unfocused and clears when you return.
• Static by design — the favicon is repainted only when the count or the running/done state changes. This avoids Chrome restarting its own favicon loading indicator on every frame, which makes the bookmark icon churn.
• Theme aware — uses the light or dark favicon variant the browser is currently showing, regenerates it when the color scheme changes, and restores the original <link> elements when idle.
• No polling — the host pushes a full snapshot over Server-Sent Events; the page catches up automatically after a host restart.
• Local only — no outbound requests and no DeepSeek API key.

Requirements

• DSH 0.2.1.x with the web profile. Tested with 0.2.1-rc.3.
• For development and tests, Node.js ^22.19.0 || >=24.0.0 (the DSH requirement).
• No DeepSeek API key: the plugin never calls an external service.

Install

Install this repository directly from GitHub:

dsh plugin --profile web add github:zz0-0/dsh-tab-indicator
systemctl --user restart dsh-web

Or with an explicit git URL:

dsh plugin --profile web add git+https://github.com/zz0-0/dsh-tab-indicator.git
systemctl --user restart dsh-web

Then hard-refresh the DSH web page (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + R). The plugin injects its browser script into the DSH index page, so the refresh is needed the first time. The systemctl line assumes the Linux user service; if you run dsh web manually, restart that process instead.

Local development install

dsh plugin --profile web add link:/path/to/dsh-tab-indicator-plugin
systemctl --user restart dsh-web

Update

dsh plugin --profile web add github:zz0-0/dsh-tab-indicator
systemctl --user restart dsh-web

Remove

dsh plugin --profile web remove dsh-tab-indicator
systemctl --user restart dsh-web

Usage

• While one or more root sessions run, the favicon shows a blue count badge (1, 2, … 9+). The tab title is unchanged for one run and gets (N) when more than one run is active.
• When a run finishes, the tab shows a green check for about a second. If other runs are still active, the count badge returns. If nothing remains, the check stays only while the tab is hidden or the window is unfocused; it clears when you return.
• The count is global to the DSH host, not limited to the current workspace; a run in another session still counts.
• Subagent turns are part of their root turn and do not add to the count.
• The count is turn-level. A background job that outlives its turn is not counted; see Limitations.
• No polling: the host pushes a complete snapshot over SSE, and the browser catches up after a host restart.
• The page title is owned by React (DocumentTitle). A MutationObserver re-applies the (N) / ✓ decoration whenever the application rewrites the title.
• The favicon is intentionally static between state changes; see Why the favicon is static.

Why the favicon is static

The icon is repainted only when the running count or the running/done state changes. It is intentionally not animated between those changes.

Chrome treats every <link rel="icon"> href change as a fresh favicon load. Its own loading indicator — including the one on the bookmark bar — restarts for each load, so a continuously animated favicon makes the bookmark icon churn. Chrome has no native animated favicon (GIF favicons show the first frame only, and SVG/CSS animation is ignored), so there is no way to animate the icon without that reload behavior. A static badge is the deliberate trade-off.

How it works

The plugin is a DSH bundle: package.json declares dsh.bundle.patch = ./cordis.patch.yml, and that patch inserts the dsh-tab-indicator entry into the web profile. It has two halves:

Half	File	Role
Host	lib/index.js	Tracks running root agents, publishes the SSE snapshot, serves GET /dsh-tab-indicator/events and GET /dsh-tab-indicator/client.js, and injects the client into the index page.
Browser	client.js	Injected into the DSH index page. Consumes SSE, decorates the title, and paints the static count/check badge over the page's favicon.

The SSE snapshot is small:

GET /dsh-tab-indicator/events   text/event-stream
data: {"type":"state","running":1,"sessions":["…"],"at":…}

• ctx.agents.roots() seeds the snapshot for agents that are already running when the plugin loads.
• agent/status (idle / running) and agent/disposed keep it current.
• A 2-second reconciliation against ctx.agents.roots() repairs a transition missed across a plugin reload and removes a session whose agent is no longer running.
• connection.requestRejection guards the stream with the same browser cookie used by the rest of the Web API.
• ctx.webServer.tapIndex inserts <script defer src="/dsh-tab-indicator/client.js?v=1">.

The browser half (client.js) consumes the stream, decorates the title, and paints a count/check badge on a 64×64 canvas over the page's original favicon. It repaints only when the count or state changes.

Privacy

• No outbound requests — the host makes no network calls, and the plugin needs no DeepSeek API key.
• Local only — the browser only talks to your local DSH server: the SSE stream, the injected client script, and the page's own favicon asset used to draw the badge.
• No telemetry and no credential handling.

Troubleshooting

• No badge after install — restart dsh-web and hard-refresh the page; confirm the profile lists dsh-tab-indicator.
• The count stays after a chat finished — first check whether another root session or background turn is still active. The host reconciles every 2 seconds; if the running host predates that fix, restart dsh-web.
• The favicon does not return to normal — reload the page. Bookmark icons can lag behind the tab icon because the browser caches them.
• There is no animation — intentional, see Why the favicon is static.
• The badge shows 9+ — more than nine root sessions are running.

Development

The plugin has no build step: plain ESM on the host and a classic browser script.

git clone https://github.com/zz0-0/dsh-tab-indicator.git
cd dsh-tab-indicator
dsh plugin --profile web add link:$(pwd)
systemctl --user restart dsh-web

• client.js is served with Cache-Control: no-store. With a link: install, edit and hard-refresh the browser.
• lib/index.js is host-side: edit and restart dsh-web.
• A git install keeps its own copy under the profile's node_modules; reinstall the plugin (or sync client.js into the installed package) after editing the checkout.

Files

File	Role
package.json	DSH bundle metadata
cordis.patch.yml	Inserts the plugin into the web profile
lib/index.js	Host: agent tracking, SSE route, client injection
client.js	Browser: title count/check, static favicon badge, flash/done state
test/host.test.mjs	Node tests for the host half
test/browser.test.mjs	Chromium test for title/favicon/done behavior
screenshot.png	README screenshot

UI integration

The browser half does not patch React. It uses the stable browser surfaces:

• link[rel~="icon"], including the media="(prefers-color-scheme: …)" light and dark variants supplied by the DSH page
• document.title, which DocumentTitle owns; a MutationObserver keeps the (N) / ✓ decoration after the application rewrites it
• /dsh-tab-indicator/events for the host snapshot
• ctx.webServer.tapIndex for the injected client script

Tests

Run the host tests:

node --test test/host.test.mjs

Run the browser test (point the variables at a local Playwright core and Chromium; the DSH development checkout ships both):

PLAYWRIGHT_CORE=/path/to/playwright-core/index.mjs \
CHROMIUM_PATH=/path/to/chromium \
node --test test/browser.test.mjs

Generated test artifacts land in test/out/ and are git-ignored.

Limitations

• It tracks turn-level activity. A background job that outlives its turn is not counted; adding the jobs service would be the next step if that matters.
• It is a Web-profile plugin: it needs webServer and agents.
• The favicon is a data:image/png URL. If a deployment adds a Content Security Policy, img-src must allow data: (the current Web index has no CSP).
• A fully closed browser cannot show anything, by definition.
• The favicon is static between state changes; see Why the favicon is static.

License

MIT