DeepSeek Harness Desktop Implementation

August 22, 2026 · View on GitHub

Goal and Non-goals

Implement and verify the confirmed intent. Do not add auto-update installer, notarization, a second session database, or a custom question protocol. Updater-check is a settings entry, not an auto-installer.

Intent Baseline

Confirmed project intent — deepseek-harness-code@0.1.0-BETA2, @deepseek-ai/dsh@0.1.1-rc.2, Electron 43.4.0.

Read Set

  • Project intent — approved scope and acceptance; verified 2026-08-20.
  • Architecture overview — process/trust boundaries including 8 plugins, Routing Suite, Skills, and Global Prompt; verified 2026-08-20.
  • Upstream baseline — pinned versions (0.1.1-rc.2), routing archive digests (SHA-256), 8-plugin inventory, official protocol; verified 2026-08-20.
  • Testing — verification layers (unit → anchored 108 → plugin 24 → package 4 → e2e) and gates; verified 2026-08-20.
  • Anchored Standard — pinned source (db4527a), progressive state contract, and experiment boundary; verified 2026-08-20.
  • Lifecycle — system Node auto-detection and watchdog state machine.

Milestones

  1. Bootstrap and baseline: workspace, lockfile, official Harness launch, minimal docs, initial tests.
  2. Desktop host: secure window/preload, lifecycle controller, close behavior, menu, navigation policy, system Node auto-detection.
  3. Watchdog and diagnostics: IPC disconnect recovery, circuit breaker (5 s / 10 s, open on 3rd in 5 min), health state (5 s probe, 3 failures), rotating redacted logs (5 × 10 MB).
  4. Official plugins, presets, Routing Suite, and Skills: 8 Web bundles (desktop, ui-motion 1.1.0, model2 1.1.0, ui-polish, updater-check, prompt-principles, vision-router 1.7.1, better-sidebar 0.12.3) + composition (MCP + subagents) + superpowers (coding mode) + global prompt + managed progressive anchored-standard preset + auto-assembled immutable dsh-routing-suite (injector 0.3.3 / mode-boost 0.1.0 / router-preset eff787e) + bundled Superpowers skills 6.2.0.
  5. Packaging: icon, universal app/DMG (asar: false), ad-hoc signing, targeted quarantine guidance, runtime closure (51 runtime artifacts + 35 production dependencies + 8 critical versions + 10 bundled plugin packages + SHA-256 routing digests).
  6. Acceptance: unit/integration/fault/security/package tests, mount verification, Computer Use, live soak if credentials exist (BETA1 shipped; BETA2 integration re-verified).

Dependencies and Risks

  • Cross-architecture packaging may need x64 execution/download support. If an upstream Mach-O is single-arch, produce two clearly labeled equivalent DMGs and record evidence.
  • Live V4 Flash acceptance depends on credentials entered by the user.
  • Harness RC behavior is version-pinned at 0.1.1-rc.2; upgrades require official-source revalidation.
  • A user-authored same-name preset is never overwritten; it produces a bounded conflict notice while Standard remains available.
  • Routing Suite is now an immutable SHA-256-pinned snapshot; no runtime updater. Changes require a reviewed app release (verified by check-runtime-closure.mjs + fetch-routing-suite.mjs).
  • V4 Pro quality gains require a future credentialed paired experiment and are not a package acceptance gate.

Test and Acceptance

Follow testing strategy. Every runtime change starts with an observed failing test. Final claims require fresh pnpm build → pnpm check → pnpm preflight:runtime → pnpm dist:* --universal → verify-macos-artifact.mjs verification.

Decision Log

  • 2026-08-15 — Architecture A confirmed: Electron + official Harness plugin + independent watchdog.
  • 2026-08-15 — Standalone repository chosen because the parent directory is not a Git repository.
  • 2026-08-17 — Runtime switched to system official Node.js (>=22.13 auto-detected); portable download removed.
  • 2026-08-20 — Bumped to 0.1.0-BETA2 / 0.1.1-rc.2 with 8 integrated plugins, immutable routing snapshot, vision-router + better-sidebar service, and global prompt ownership model.

Progress

  • 2026-08-15 — Created the minimum documentation router and implementation plan.
  • 2026-08-15 — Started official Harness rc.6 on loopback with an isolated DSH_HOME and verified HTTP 200 at the Web root.
  • 2026-08-15 — Completed the secure Electron host after independent spec and quality reviews; 13 test files / 37 tests, typecheck, and Host build passed.
  • 2026-08-15 — Completed independent Watchdog, shutdown ACK integration, circuit persistence, secure relaunch, and rotating redacted logs; integrated suite reached 16 files / 54 tests.
  • 2026-08-15 — Generated and XML-validated the accessible native SVG architecture diagram.
  • 2026-08-15 — Completed the official plugin, deterministic client build, Settings integration, route animation cleanup, reduced-motion path, and real pinned-Harness boot test.
  • 2026-08-15 — Built the ad-hoc-signed Universal App and DMG; verified every Mach-O, absence of quarantine, DMG mount/layout, and SHA-256.
  • 2026-08-15 — Booted the final packaged App with 39 Web client entries and HTTP 200 for the Web root, desktop plugin, and official question UI.
  • 2026-08-15 — Final automated baseline: 18/57 unit, 2/11 plugin, 1/2 package, and 1 Playwright browser test plus typecheck, lint, format, docs, security, and package inspection.
  • 2026-08-16 — Repaired the latest packaged Standard preset failure by pinning compaction/invariants peers, verified real workspace switching/session restoration, migrated plugin controls to official Harness Button/Menu primitives with locale-aware copy and overflow-safe layout, simplified startup to a monochrome system-matched spinner, and added a mandatory runtime dependency preflight.
  • 2026-08-16 — Replaced the anchored Standard fallback Web bundle with the pinned progressive Agent Preset. Added strict two-tool bootstrap, durable promotion/unlock reconstruction, compaction epochs, subagent residency, atomic app-owned installation, conflict preservation, legacy preference migration, installer provenance, and official rc.6 roster/session-create integration tests.
  • 2026-08-16 — Added strict optional-preset isolation so corrupt packaged resources publish an unavailable notice without blocking Standard, then completed 84 unit, 108 vendored, 20 plugin/integration, 4 package-contract, and 1 Playwright tests. The real Harness test uses a loopback mock provider to capture the serialized two-tool first request and five-tool second request.
  • 2026-08-16 — Rebuilt the 271 MiB Universal DMG and verified the pinned preset provenance, dependency resolution, signature, quarantine state, and all 49 Mach-O layouts. Final SHA-256 is b651c04dfeb5d21de9a8d5dbb10e9f04ab3c07cc789566eb89bcd587ee92c4c9.
  • 2026-08-16 — The prior streaming dissolve and active ThinkingOrb integration were retired after visual defects. The desktop bundle now defers all streaming and Think rendering to the official Harness component tree; the packaging gate is rerun against this native-rendering configuration.
  • 2026-08-17 — Switched to system Node auto-detection, fixed macOS icudtl/GPU crash (clean bundle reinstall), fixed plugin-tree missing dsh-subagent-* composition links, verified warm start ~6 s, single-instance lock, and 8-preset mode menu.
  • 2026-08-20 — Bumped to 0.1.0-BETA2 / 0.1.1-rc.2: 8 integrated plugins (ui-polish, updater-check, prompt-principles, vision-router, better-sidebar service, superpowers, code-brand, composition), immutable routing snapshot with SHA-256 pins, global prompt + global dsh CLI ownership model, system Node host contract, runtime closure 35 artifacts / 8 critical versions, docs synchronized across workspace and repository.
  • 2026-08-20 — Integrated the unfinished fix/preset-locale-copy worktree onto 0.1.1-rc.2: four product-owned preset IDs now use locale-aware zh/en client copy with English-only managed fallbacks, while unknown user presets remain metadata-driven. First-launch runtime staging now excludes and self-cleans accidental .mimosa hook state that previously surfaced as a misleading Node package installation failure.
  • 2026-08-20 — Consolidated all branch/worktree differences on main, restored the exact 0.1.1-rc.2 macOS sidebar safe-area patch, made package tests regenerate ignored installer assets, migrated nested agent-named resources to the docs/resource layer, and verified build + 303 unit + 108 Anchored + 24 plugin + 33 package + 2 Playwright tests, check, and the 51-artifact runtime closure.
  • 2026-08-20 — Diagnosed the installed BETA2 first-launch ENOENT unlink .../@deepseek-ai__dsh.patch from live process evidence: one Electron main process had launched two Watchdogs and overlapping runtime installs because a merge retained two lifecycle registration blocks. Consolidated readiness/updater/shutdown under the single lifecycle authority and added a single-flight startup regression before rebuilding the Universal DMG.
  • 2026-08-20 — Verified the lifecycle-race repair with 304 unit tests (3 skipped), 108 Anchored, 24 plugin/real-Harness, 33 package, and 2 Playwright tests; check, the 51-artifact runtime closure, mounted Universal artifact inspection, and hdiutil verify passed. Rebuilt DMG SHA-256: 59c48b8fcf9dd08777a4997ac3064b95ea594dda04c613b4f75eefa7c09c56f4.

Discoveries and Deviations

  • Local machine has Node 26.7.0 and npm 11.19.0 but no global pnpm; project commands use an exact temporary pnpm 11.19.0 runner.
  • Harness 0.1.1-rc.2 returns 404 for /api/health and /api/; host health uses child liveness plus the 2xx Web root.
  • electron-builder 26.15.3 uses singleArchFiles / x64ArchFiles; no universalArchFiles option exists. Both official Electron 43.4.0 macOS architecture archives are cached locally for packaging.
  • The approved “5/10/20-second backoff” and “third crash opens the circuit” cannot both schedule a third restart. The implementation chooses the safer explicit circuit rule: restart after 5 and 10 seconds, then open the circuit on the third abnormal exit within five minutes.
  • Harness package discovery returned an empty client graph from the tested ASAR layout. The verified release uses asar: false and an app-owned official bundle manifest, producing 39+ entries.
  • Universal assembly preserves paired architecture-qualified native packages; shared Electron and Chromium Mach-O files are true Universal binaries.
  • Harness 0.1.1-rc.2 may serve the Web root before Cordis registers agentPreset.list; integration readiness now waits on that exact API condition and six consecutive diagnostic repetitions passed.
  • Computer Use remains blocked by the locked Mac/permissions, and live V4 Flash soak remains blocked by absent user-entered credentials. See the acceptance report.

Documentation Write-back

After each verified module, update its implementation facts and content_stage; at final verification update architecture, lifecycle, testing, operations, status, and this plan.

Completion Conditions

All applicable code/tests/packages/runtime evidence/docs/SVG agree, no secrets are captured, and unresolved external blockers are explicit.