dsh-subagent-dynamic-model

A DeepSeek Harness Cordis plugin for delegating subagent work to a configured model route that can differ from the parent agent's current model.

What it adds

• subagent_model: a delegation tool whose model argument is restricted to user-configured aliases.
• Per-model tags and routing descriptions embedded in the tool schema and system prompt.
• model_subagent_catalog: a read-only view of models advertised by registered LLM providers.
• configure_subagent_models: a namespace-scoped model-facing tool for reading or updating this plugin's settings without filesystem access.
• model-subagent-setup: a guided skill for selecting routes, generating routing guidance, obtaining confirmation, and saving through the constrained configuration tool.
• Settings → Subagent Models: a Web settings page for manually adding, editing, and removing routes.
• A hot-reloaded subagent-dynamic-model namespace in ~/.dsh/settings.yaml.
• Foreground execution and durable continuable background subagents.

With an empty models list, only the catalog tool, settings page, and setup skill are registered. This provides a bootstrap state for initial setup.

Requirements

• DeepSeek Harness 0.1.0-rc.6 or compatible
• The Web profile for the settings page
• A preset exposing the normal skill loader/tool
• The Host spawn subagent provider, included by standard DSH profiles

Install

# From npm once published
dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-subagent-dynamic-model

# Or from this checkout
dsh plugin --profile web add ./dsh-subagent-dynamic-model

If cordis-plugin-development is still installed, remove it first:

dsh plugin --profile web remove cordis-plugin-development
dsh plugin --profile web add ./dsh-subagent-dynamic-model

Restart dsh web after installation and refresh the page. Open Settings → Subagent Models, or invoke:

/model-subagent-setup

Configure through the Web UI

The Subagent Models settings page provides controls for:

• model alias, display name, LLM provider route, and exact model id;
• comma-separated routing tags and the “when to use” description;
• optional per-model output-token caps;
• subagent backend, delegation depth, and background execution.

On DSH rc.6, the built-in Web settings API exposes only a fixed namespace allowlist. This plugin therefore uses a package-owned, same-origin Host endpoint backed by the same Settings service, schema validation, persistence, and revision conflict protection. Successful changes apply live: the old delegation tool is removed and the updated schema and prompt guidance are registered immediately.

The endpoint rejects non-loopback connections and cross-origin mutations, so the page is unavailable from a non-local browser connection.

Configure through the model-facing tool

configure_subagent_models is the preferred path for agent-assisted setup:

• action: "get" reads the current normalized settings.
• action: "update" replaces the complete model list and optionally changes the backend, depth, or background policy.
• The tool calls the Settings service directly and can modify only subagent-dynamic-model; it accepts no filesystem path and cannot read or write other namespaces.
• Updates pass the same schema and provider-capability validation as the Web UI, persist to settings.yaml, and apply live.

The update action is intentionally documented for direct user-requested changes only. The setup skill must show the complete proposed list and receive explicit confirmation before calling it.

Configure through settings.yaml

Merge the following namespace into ~/.dsh/settings.yaml:

subagent-dynamic-model:
  subagentProvider: spawn
  maxDepth: 3
  enableRunInBackground: true
  models:
    - alias: fast
      provider: acme
      model: acme-fast
      displayName: Acme Fast
      tags: [fast, routine]
      description: Use for quick, well-scoped tasks where low latency matters.
    - alias: deep
      provider: acme
      model: acme-reasoner
      displayName: Acme Reasoner
      tags: [reasoning, review]
      description: Use for difficult analysis, architecture decisions, and adversarial review.
      maxTokens: 16384

See examples/settings.yaml for a copyable document fragment. The settings file is watched; valid edits apply without changing a Cordis patch.

Settings reference

Field	Default	Purpose
models	[]	Routes exposed to AI agents. An empty list leaves setup/catalog only.
models[].alias	required	Stable selector shown in the tool's model enum.
models[].provider	required	Exact registered LLM provider route.
models[].model	required	Exact model id interpreted by that provider.
models[].displayName	alias	Human-readable label in routing guidance.
models[].tags	[]	Lowercase kebab-case routing tags.
models[].description	required	One sentence describing when to use this route.
models[].maxTokens	provider default	Optional cap for an initially created or resident child. DSH rc.6 does not restore it after a continuable child is cold-resumed.
subagentProvider	spawn	Subagent execution backend, not the LLM provider.
maxDepth	3	Maximum delegation depth enforced by the backend.
enableRunInBackground	true	Enable durable background children and default to them.

The delegation tool is always named subagent_model. Legacy toolName values from versions before 0.4 are ignored and are removed the next time the namespace is saved.

The live catalog is advisory: some adapters accept model ids they do not advertise. Manually entered ids remain allowed but should be user-confirmed.

Migrating from 0.1

Version 0.1 stored these values in an id-targeted profile cordis.patch.yml entry. For 0.2:

1. Copy that entry's config object under subagent-dynamic-model: in ~/.dsh/settings.yaml.
2. Remove the old - id: dsh-subagent-dynamic-model override from the profile patch. The plugin's bundle already mounts the row.
3. Restart DSH once to load the new Host schema and Client settings page. Future settings changes apply live.

Development

pnpm install
pnpm test

Project layout:

dsh-subagent-dynamic-model/
├── lib/
│   ├── index.js
│   ├── client.js
│   └── model-catalog.js
├── skills/model-subagent-setup/SKILL.md
├── examples/settings.yaml
├── test/
│   ├── client.test.js
│   ├── model-catalog.test.js
│   └── plugin.test.js
├── cordis.patch.yml
└── package.json

The Client bundle is plain window.__ModuleLoader__.load(...) JavaScript and requires no build step.

License

MIT