How it works

dsh --profile desktop            (or the `dsh-desktop` menu launcher)
  └─ dsh-base + dsh-web-app      the whole web surface: server, /api, SPA
       └─ dsh-desktop-shell      this repo's plugin bundle: after the server
            binds, spawns dsh-desktop-shell <url> and watches it
                 └─ dsh-desktop-shell        (native client, src-tauri/)
                      opens a native WebView on http://127.0.0.1:<port>
                      window closed → exit 0 → plugin shuts the harness down

dsh-desktop is a profile for the DeepSeek Harness, composed from the standard bundles (dsh-base + dsh-web-app) plus this repo's dsh-desktop-shell plugin. The plugin spawns the native Tauri client on the served loopback URL; the WebView loads the exact same 127.0.0.1 origin a browser would, so the whole SPA works unchanged and same-origin. The client exposes window.__TAURI__ to that origin (withGlobalTauri), and the plugin pipes agent-lifecycle notifications to the client over a stdin control channel ({"event":"notify", ...} JSON lines). The window title follows the chat open in the UI right now: the browser half reads the active session from the harness's sessions service and mirrors it into the native window and the custom title bar.

Install options

One installer per platform (from the releases page): .deb on Linux, .dmg on macOS, .exe (NSIS) on Windows. The installer places the client binary and registers an app-menu entry; the first launch of the installed app bootstraps the plugin profile into dsh and opens the window. The client binary is also a plugin installer:

dsh-desktop-shell install            # bootstrap the profile + install client/launcher
dsh-desktop-shell install --prefix /usr  # OS-package layout (menus under /usr/share)
dsh-desktop-shell                    # same as install, then boot the profile
dsh-desktop-shell --version

From source (Linux/macOS dev path), install.sh works as before:

./install.sh            # full bootstrap (builds the client if needed)
./install.sh --no-build # use an existing client binary, never build
./install.sh --rebuild  # force a client rebuild

install.sh creates $DSH_HOME/profiles/desktop (bundle copied and linked, no pnpm/registry needed), builds the client if missing, installs dsh-desktop-shell + the dsh-desktop launcher to ~/.local/bin, installs the icon into the hicolor theme, and registers a desktop menu entry. Idempotent: re-running refreshes the bundle copy and never touches your profile's cordis.patch.yml user layer. The binary's own install mode is the cross-platform equivalent (it embeds the bundle, so one artifact installs everything).

Release artifacts (CI-built)

Every v* tag builds, bundles, and publishes per platform:

• Installers — DeepSeek Harness_<tag>_amd64.deb (Linux), .dmg + .app (macOS), NSIS .exe (Windows)
• Update tarballs — dsh-desktop-<tag>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz, -macos-aarch64.tar.gz, -windows-x86_64.tar.gz (client binary + bundle/)

The in-app one-click update downloads its platform tarball, swaps the client binary, refreshes the plugin bundle, and restarts. Nothing is ever applied automatically; background checks are opt-in (off by default).

Configuration

The dsh-desktop launcher resolves the dsh CLI: $DSH_DESKTOP_DSH → $DSH_BIN → dsh on PATH. DSH_HOME is inherited (defaults to $HOME/.dsh).

The native client honors:

• DSH_DESKTOP_NO_SINGLE_INSTANCE=1 — skip the single-instance guard so a second harness can run side by side (development/debugging)
• DSH_DESKTOP_BIN — an explicit client binary path

Client binary resolution in the bundle plugin: config.bin → DSH_DESKTOP_BIN → $DSH_HOME/bin/dsh-desktop-shell → dsh-desktop-shell on PATH → ~/.local/bin/dsh-desktop-shell. With no binary found the harness still serves the web UI (degrades to browser use).

The window is frameless; the web surface draws the title bar (drag region, minimize/maximize/close, resize edges) and the right-hand explorer panel (Files/Preview tabs). The shell exits with code 0 when the user is done and code 11 after a one-click update (the plugin relaunches the profile).

Layout

bundle/                  the dsh-desktop-shell plugin package (bundle contract)
  cordis.patch.yml       inserts the desktop-shell row
  lib/index.js           spawn/watcher plugin (webServer, appExit, stdin control,
                         loopback-only /dshd-file route: local files for the
                         preview panel — markdown images, .html pages, assets)
  lib/client.js          browser half: title bar, explorer panel (markdown /
                         web / image / hexdump previews), settings tab
dist/index.html          loading page shown while the WebView boots
dsh-desktop              launcher wrapper: exec dsh --profile desktop
install.sh               one-command bootstrap (profile + client + icons + menu entry)
src-tauri/               the native render client (the actual app)
  src/main.rs
  src/lib.rs             arg dispatch (url | install | no-arg), frameless window,
                         tray, close-to-tray, single-instance, stdin control
  src/install.rs         plugin installer mode (embedded bundle, cross-platform)
  src/fs.rs              explorer commands (list dir, read file, stat, hexdump,
                         home, parent)
  src/commands.rs        desktop_* commands the settings tab invokes
  src/settings.rs        persisted desktop preferences (dsh-desktop.json)
  src/tray.rs            tray icon + menu (show/hide, updates, quit)
  src/update.rs          update orchestration (check, emit, notify, apply, restart)
  src/updater.rs         GitHub releases API client (assets, suggest + one-click)
  src/log.rs             file + stderr logging (dsh-desktop.log)
  Cargo.toml
  tauri.conf.json
  capabilities/default.json
test/client-smoke.mjs    renders client.js (title bar module + explorer + settings)
                         and exercises the preview helpers (markdown image
                         rewrite, TOC, URL normalization, path resolution)

The installed profile lives at $DSH_HOME/profiles/desktop/:

profiles/desktop/
  package.json           dsh.profile.bundles: base + web-app + dsh-desktop-shell
  cordis.patch.yml       your patch layer
  packages/dsh-desktop-shell/   a copy of bundle/ (refreshed by install.sh)