DeepSeek Harness (dsh): What It Is, How to Install It, and What Is Actually Inside

Description and use

On version 0.2.1-rc.2, the web profile is composed of 193 separate @deepseek-ai/dsh-* plugin packages covering agent core, tools, subagents, context management, safety, models, sessions, MCP, and the Web UI itself. Three permission presets are available: read-only, workspace-write, and danger-full-access. DeepSeek describes dsh as experimental developer-preview software without a security audit.

Problem

A developer wants to install DeepSeek Harness (dsh) on Windows, inspect its plugin architecture, and understand its permission modes before using it for multi-step agent tasks.

Outcome

On version 0.2.1-rc.2, the web profile is composed of 193 separate @deepseek-ai/dsh-* plugin packages covering agent core, tools, subagents, context management, safety, models, sessions, MCP, and the Web UI itself. Three permission presets are available: read-only, workspace-write, and danger-full-access. DeepSeek describes dsh as experimental developer-preview software without a security audit.

Workflow

• Install Node.js
• Run npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web to boot the web profile and serve the Web UI at http://127.0.0.1:3080
• Add an API key in Settings → Models
• Choose a workspace folder
• Start a session
• Inspect the plugin tree with dsh --profile web --dump-config
• Review the three permission presets: read-only, workspace-write, danger-full-access
• Run dsh in a disposable VM/container for anything important, give it minimal credentials, keep backups, and review plugins before approving commands

Evidence

DeepSeek Harness, or dsh, is DeepSeek's open-source agent harness: the software that wraps a language model and turns it into an agent that can read files, run commands, search the web and work on a task over many steps.

Source

You need Node.js. The quickest start is one command: npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web

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That boots the web profile and serves the Web UI at http://127.0.0.1:3080 (add --no-open to stop it opening a browser). Then go to Settings → Models, add an API key, choose a workspace folder, and start a session.

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On my machine, npx -y @deepseek-ai/dsh --version reported 0.2.1-rc.2 and ran fine on Node.js 22.18.0.

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Running dsh --profile web --dump-default-config prints the full plugin tree without booting anything. On version 0.2.1-rc.2 the web profile is composed of 193 separate @deepseek-ai/dsh-* plugin packages.

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Most harnesses have a fixed core and an extension system bolted on. dsh is built on Cordis, a plugin framework in which plugins contribute services, typed events and reversible effects to a shared context.

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The shipped profiles are web, headless, sdk, sdk-minimal and acp, and the CLI help also shows a tui example.

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