DeepSeek Desktop brings the local DeepSeek Harness Web UI and the official DeepSeek Chat website into one native desktop window. Use the title-bar switch to move between Chat and Harness without merging their accounts, conversations, credentials, or storage.

This is a community desktop project built on DeepSeek Harness. It is not an official DeepSeek product and does not bypass the official website's login, WAF, or embedding policies.

Screenshots

Chat mode

The Chat mode opens the official DeepSeek Chat page in an isolated, persistent browser partition. The screenshot shows the signed-out entry page; users can sign in through the website's own interface.

Harness mode

Harness mode runs the local Web UI with its workspace sidebar and agent composer.

Highlights

• Two modes in one window. Chat and Harness are independent retained views selected from the native title bar.
• Official Chat embedding. Chat loads https://chat.deepseek.com/ directly, keeps authentication in its own Electron partition, and never becomes a Harness model provider.
• Local Harness runtime. Harness starts and supervises the local Host, Web UI, sessions, workspaces, tools, and agent configuration.
• State that stays separate. The modes do not share cookies, credentials, conversations, attachments, prompts, or navigation state.
• Theme synchronization. Light, dark, and system preferences stay synchronized across both modes while each renderer keeps its own page implementation.
• Native desktop behavior. macOS and Windows use platform-aware title-bar controls; both sidebar layouts avoid overlapping the mode switch.
• MIT licensed. The repository includes the MIT license. Third-party packages keep their own license notices.

Platform support

The current desktop composition targets:

• macOS Apple Silicon (arm64), tested locally.
• Windows (x64), packaged through the Electron Builder configuration.
• GitHub Releases provide unsigned macOS arm64 DMG/ZIP and Windows x64 NSIS/ZIP artifacts for each tagged desktop release.

Linux remains available for the underlying Harness Web UI, but the native desktop packaging path is not currently a release target. Release artifacts are unsigned; platform signing and notarization require the credentials described in the desktop release guide.

Requirements

• Node.js ^22.19.0 or >=24.0.0
• pnpm 11.7.0
• A DeepSeek API key for Harness model requests when the selected profile requires one.
• A supported desktop host for Electron development or packaging.

Run from source

pnpm install
pnpm run dev:desktop

The development command builds the required Host, client, Web, and Electron layers before opening the desktop app. The first Chat selection opens the official website, where the user completes login if needed.

Build a desktop artifact

pnpm run package:desktop

The packaging command builds the application, stages the Host runtime dependency tree, and creates an unpacked application for the current platform. Signed macOS distribution requires the release credentials described in the desktop release guide.

Download a release

Push a vX.Y.Z tag whose version matches apps/desktop/package.json to start the desktop release workflow. GitHub Actions builds unsigned macOS Apple Silicon and Windows x64 artifacts, then attaches them to a GitHub Release. Download the latest files from the Releases page.

First launch on macOS

The current macOS release artifacts are not Apple-signed or notarized. If macOS reports that the app is damaged or cannot be opened after you download it from this repository's Releases page and move it to Applications, run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/DeepSeek Desktop.app"

This command removes the download quarantine attribute only from this application. Run it only for DeepSeek Desktop downloaded from this repository's Releases page.

Repository layout

apps/desktop/       Electron application, native shell, and dual-mode controller
apps/web/           Harness Web frontend
packages/           Harness and client plugin workspaces
assets/screenshots/ README screenshots
docs/               Architecture, testing, and contributor documentation
vendor/             Pinned Cordis source

The core Harness architecture and plugin contracts remain owned by the upstream deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness project. This repository adds the desktop composition and its platform integration.

Contributing

Read AGENTS.md and the development guide before changing the repository. Focused checks for the desktop surface include:

pnpm --filter @deepseek-ai/dsh-desktop run typecheck
pnpm --filter @deepseek-ai/dsh-desktop run test:electron
pnpm run build:desktop

Please do not commit generated lib/, dist/, runtime-host/, node_modules/, or Playwright output directories.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• LINUX DO — Community support and inspiration

License

This project is released under the MIT License.

DeepSeek and DeepSeek Chat are trademarks and services of their respective owners. Embedding the official website remains subject to its current terms and technical policies.