dsh-desktop

DSH Desktop is an independent, community-built Windows desktop shell for DeepSeek Harness. It does not re-implement the agent loop; instead it wraps the official Harness Web UI with native Windows menus for projects, sessions, models, agents, tools and change review. The README states clearly that the project is not affiliated with or endorsed by DeepSeek, and that Harness itself remains a developer preview. How it works The user opens a local Git repository (Ctrl+O), and the app binds the matching Harness workspace and session, remembering recent repositories. Harness stays the source of truth for sessions: they can be created, searched, resumed, renamed, archived and branched from the desktop UI. The host also surfaces agent state (idle, running, waiting for approval, unavailable) and lets a running turn be stopped or redirected. Steering and queue submission remain the official Harness controls, including Ctrl+Enter steer and the queued-message up-arrow; the desktop menus only focus or invoke those official controls rather than maintaining a second queue protocol. Review and recovery The persistent right-hand panel shows a bounded real Git Diff next to Harness; files can be accepted (staged) or rejected one at a time or in a safe batch, while pre-existing edits are protected. A Git delivery center shows repository, branch, upstream, ahead/behind counts, staged and unstaged work, recent commits and public GitHub PR checks, and can create a local commit from already-staged content after a fingerprint check and native confirmation. Automatic code checkpoints snapshot the working tree through a temporary Git index before an agent turn, excluding credential-like paths and leaving the branch, working tree and real index untouched. Checkpoint recovery is previewed, creates a safety point, preserves sensitive files, recycles newly created files and does not move the branch or HEAD. Up to twelve verified local safety points can be compared, and checkpoints can optionally be linked to a completed Harness turn to restore code only or to create and switch to an official child session. Workspace and inspection tools A lazy left-hand file browser browses the active workspace, searches bounded filenames, opens safe text files in a read-only Quick Look surface, and can reveal the selected diff file in the tree. PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF and PDF files can be inspected in memory with fit, zoom and PDF page controls, with format identified by real signature rather than extension. Workspace HTML can be opened through a software-managed random loopback port, or an existing localhost development server can be connected, with clear ready/offline/stopped states and owned-port cleanup. An isolated persistent Windows PowerShell PTY runs in a native dock on native confirmation; Harness may request a bounded read of the foreground session but cannot start, write, resize or stop the PTY, and the software-managed DeepSeek key stays outside the terminal environment. A global command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) runs a fixed, keyboard-accessible allowlist of workbench actions. The whole interface can be scaled from 80% to 140% and reset in one action, with compact 1024x720 keyboard access retained. Extensions, Office, Wiki and tasks A metadata-only extension center inspects Skills, Plugins, Hooks and MCP with the official live inventory as authority, showing scope, permission, version, states, profiles and rollback points without reading skill prose, plugin configuration, hook scripts or MCP keys. Bundled Skills provide editable Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx) and PowerPoint (.pptx) creation and structural inspection, including exact rollback-backed text replacement, with documented limits such as no macros, legacy formats, tracked changes or pixel-identical rendering. A guided local Wiki center configures a Markdown vault, maintains provenance-bound release-knowledge pages, and can distil selected DSH session history through a preview-and-confirm flow. Harness-native tasks and subagents can be inspected, and independent background schedules can run in separate worktrees with run history, daily caps and approval notifications. Other features include an isolated Side Chat forked from a completed session, in-app network settings for direct, Windows system or custom HTTP(S) proxy use, redacted support export and verified SHA-256 backups of sessions and settings. Security, runtime and release channels The desktop shell is loopback-only with a random port, renderer sandbox, context isolation, no Node integration and restricted navigation. DeepSeek credentials use DPAPI-encrypted storage and are excluded from ordinary backups. The installer bundles pinned Node.js and Harness runtimes, so users do not need to install Node.js first. The README lists known limits: the Windows installer is not code-signed, upstream builds remain alpha/rc previews, terminal tabs and split panes are absent, custom proxy authentication and SOCKS are not included, and various operations are disabled while the PTY or an agent is active. Release channels separate a maintainer-approved Stable baseline (V1.1.0) from the current pre-release Latest (V1.1.11), and the project warns that Session V3 data cannot be opened by older executables, so an independent pre-upgrade backup is required before upgrading or downgrading. Development requires Windows x64, Node.js v24.19.0 and pnpm, with pinned archive fetching and a fixed production runtime closure.