DeepSeek Harness Guide (dsh guide)

DeepSeek Harness (dsh) is DeepSeek's open-source agent framework: the runtime that turns a model into an agent that reads files, runs commands and searches the web. Its defining idea is that everything — tools, model adapters, the UI, even the main loop — is a plugin.

The harness itself is open source (MIT). Model usage is separate: you connect your own provider (for example the DeepSeek API), and that provider bills you directly for tokens. Most community plugins are open source too — check each repo's license.

Install the CLI globally (npm install -g @deepseek-ai/dsh), run dsh --profile web to open the Web UI, and paste your API key on the page — skipped if your environment already has one. A headless CLI, Python and TypeScript SDKs, and an ACP server are also available.

In dsh, installing usually means adding an entry to your profile or patch config — each plugin's README documents its own install line. The plugin is then loaded into the plugin tree, and removing the line removes everything it registered.

Not quite. Claude Code and Codex ship a ready-made agent; DeepSeek Harness ships an agent runtime you assemble, where plugins replace or extend any part. Same job family, different philosophy.

Add the dsh-plugin topic to your public repo, and open a PR to the community lists this directory syncs from. The topic route is automatic; curated entries add a category and description.