dsh-subagent-cwd

Enhanced subagent delegation tools for DeepSeek Harness (dsh) with per-call working-directory control.

Everything in dsh-subagent-tools (per-call model / provider / persona / toolFilter overrides, @preset: references, provider/model composite ids) plus a per-call cwd parameter — shipped with the two small provider patches that make cwd actually work.

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Choose one of the two packages — not both

Package	Per-call model/provider/persona/toolFilter	@preset:	cwd	Patches
dsh-subagent-tools	✅	✅	❌	none (bundle only)
dsh-subagent-cwd (this)	✅	✅	✅	2 provider patches

Install either one. Both expose the same tool surface (subagent / subagent_fork) and colliding installations would fight over the tool names.

Why cwd needs patches (and the other features don't)

SubagentStartRequest has no cwd field, and the in-process drive layer builds child session meta purely from childSessionMeta(parent, ...) — a per-call cwd is never forwarded. Two code paths create in-process children, and both must be patched or you hit the classic trap where the foreground path honors cwd while the background path silently ignores it:

Path	Package to patch	File
Foreground (one-shot)	@deepseek-ai/dsh-subagent-in-process-driver	lib/index.js
Background (continuable)	@deepseek-ai/dsh-subagent	lib/index.js (the BUNDLE — not lib/types/continuation.js!)

The second one is a bundle trap: package.json main/exports point at lib/index.js, which contains an inline copy of the continuation manager. Patching the source-shaped lib/types/continuation.js has no effect — always patch and verify the bundle.

Installation

# 1. install the plugin (npm / git / local)
dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-subagent-cwd

# 2. apply the two provider patches (required for `cwd`)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File patches\install.ps1    # Windows
# or: ./patches/install.sh                                       # POSIX

# 3. Web sessions: also run the preset adapter (see below)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install-preset.ps1     # Windows
# or: ./install-preset.sh                                       # POSIX

Restart dsh --profile web and start a NEW session.

Web sessions need the preset adapter

In the web profile, agent tools are provided by the mounted agent preset (the default standard preset composes subagent / subagent_fork pointing at @deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-subagent), not by the host plane — a bundle patch is invisible to Web sessions. install-preset.ps1 / install-preset.sh copies standard to $DSH_HOME/.agent-presets/standard-plus, rewrites its delegation rows to point at this package, and switches the default preset. Presets are read at session creation, so you must start a NEW session (live sessions cannot switch). Revert: pick standard in the UI (General > Agent preset) and delete standard-plus.

headless and other non-web profiles do not need the preset adapter.

Upgrading dsh

A dsh upgrade rewrites node_modules and wipes both patches. After every upgrade:

# re-run the installer (it is idempotent; it also detects version-mismatched anchors)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File patches\install.ps1

If the installer reports "anchor not found", the target packages changed shape — check for a new dsh-subagent-cwd release or file an issue.

Uninstall

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File patches\uninstall.ps1   # Windows
# or: ./patches/uninstall.sh                                     # POSIX
dsh plugin --profile web remove dsh-subagent-cwd

Example

Let a subagent work in a directory without the repo's AGENTS.md injected:
  subagent(description="Summarize this file", prompt="...", cwd="D:\\projects\\scratch\\notes")

Design

• The tool surface is a bundle. The shipped tool-subagent / tool-subagent-fork rows are disabled and replaced by this package's rows; no official package file is modified for the tool surface itself.
• cwd is the one capability that cannot stay a bundle-only feature. SubagentStartRequest has no cwd field, so a per-call cwd must be forwarded by the in-process subagent providers. That needs the two small patches (one hunk each) in patches/ — idempotent, backed up on first run, and node --check-verified. This is the entire reason this package exists separately from dsh-subagent-tools.
• Version contract: peerDependencies pin the public dsh packages (^0.1.0-rc.6). The patches target the same version; a dsh upgrade rewrites the dsh installation's node_modules and wipes both patches — re-run patches/install.ps1 / install.sh after every upgrade (see Upgrading dsh). The bundle itself lives in the profile's own node_modules and survives an upgrade, but a changed public API will make peerDependencies refuse to load.

Verified

Tested against a stock dsh 0.1.0-rc.6 install on Windows (headless + web):

• Everything dsh-subagent-tools verifies (per-call model/provider/persona/ toolFilter, @preset:, presetHints) ✅
• cwd on the foreground path ✅ — the child's pwd and its sandbox workspace both switch to the requested directory
• cwd on the continuable (background) path ✅ — background children honor the same directory (the classic "foreground works, background silently ignores cwd" trap does not occur)
• toolFilter scoping ✅
• patches/install.ps1 and patches/uninstall.ps1 round-trip ✅ (backup, apply, node --check, restore, re-verify)

Limitations

• Patches target rc.6 only. The two patches match exact anchors in the rc.6 bundle; a dsh upgrade invalidates them until re-run (or a new release).
• @preset: depends on the local preset layout — same caveat as dsh-subagent-tools.
• Web sessions need the preset adapter (install-preset.ps1) for the same reason as dsh-subagent-tools.

License

MIT