deepseek-harness-windows

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Windows desktop packaging for DeepSeek Harness

Features

• Windows installers built via CI/CD, for easy startup and consistent install/uninstall
• Closing the window minimizes to the tray; launch at login can be enabled.
• Pops a native Windows notification when a task completes
• Mica shell, plus a few detail tweaks for a more immersive feel

Command line and plugins

The installer offers an optional "Add dsh command-line tool to PATH" component. It writes a launcher to <install dir>\bin\dsh.cmd — %LOCALAPPDATA%\DeepSeek Harness for a per-user install, %ProgramFiles%\DeepSeek Harness for a machine-wide one — and adds that bin directory to PATH, so dsh works in any terminal:

dsh --help
dsh plugin --profile web list

The launcher uses the runtime bundled with the app — you do not need Node or npm installed.

Installing plugins

dsh plugin shells out to pnpm, so the runtime ships its own copy and dsh.cmd puts it on PATH for that child process only. Plugins therefore install on a clean machine with no global Node, npm, or pnpm:

dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-plugin-smooth-stream

Restart DeepSeek Harness afterwards — host-side plugin code loads with the server. Installing from a GitHub repository works too:

dsh plugin --profile web add github:SpookySandwich/dsh-plugin-rollout-scout

The installer can also pre-install dsh-plugin-smooth-stream as an optional component; the shell merges it into the web profile on first run.

A note on the PATH entry

Editing PATH from an installer is easy to get catastrophically wrong, so this one does not do it directly.

NSIS strings are capped at NSIS_MAX_STRLEN (1024 characters). A PATH longer than that comes back from ReadRegStr truncated or empty, and the usual read-append-write approach then writes that truncated value back — destroying the user's PATH. This is a well-known NSIS footgun and it is why an earlier build of this installer wiped PATH for users who enabled the option.

What ships instead:

• PATH is read and written by a PowerShell helper, not by NSIS, so no length cap applies.
• The value is read with DoNotExpandEnvironmentNames and written back as ExpandString, so entries like %SystemRoot%\system32 stay unexpanded rather than being frozen into literal paths.
• If the helper fails for any reason, PATH is left untouched — dsh.cmd still works via its full path.
• The append is idempotent, and the DshPathAdded marker is only recorded on success.
• Uninstall removes only the exact entry that was added, and only if the marker says this installer added it.

Per-user installs edit the user PATH (HKCU\Environment); machine-wide installs edit the system PATH.

This behaviour is covered by a regression test. It extracts the helper from installer.nsi — so it tests the code that actually ships, not a copy — points it at a throwaway registry key, and checks a 2000+ character PATH survives install and uninstall intact:

pwsh -File scripts/test-dsh-path.ps1

If you skip the component, the launcher is not created; you can still run the app normally, or add the bin directory to PATH yourself.

Architecture

Tauri 2 shell (Rust)                        sidecar (node.exe + node_modules)
  window: Mica + injected CSS                 node .../dsh/lib/bin.js web
  tray / notifications / autostart            -> http://127.0.0.1:<free port>
  spawn sidecar -------------------------->   WebView2 loads that local port

Layout

• shell/ — Tauri 2 shell (Rust logic + splash page).
• scripts/prepare-runtime.ps1 — builds the sidecar runtime (installs dsh + copies node.exe / node_modules).
• .github/workflows/release.yml — CI: fetch → prepare runtime → build → release.
• docs/SAFETY.md — safety rules for self-hosted environments (port/process isolation).

Development

Prerequisites: Rust (MSVC toolchain), Node 22+.

# 1. Prepare the dev sidecar runtime
npm install @deepseek-ai/dsh@latest --prefix sidecar --omit=dev --no-audit --no-fund

# 2. Install shell deps and run
cd shell
npm install
$env:DSH_RUNTIME_DIR = "D:/deepseek-harness-windows/sidecar"
npm run tauri dev

Packaging

./scripts/prepare-runtime.ps1   # produces shell/src-tauri/resources/runtime
cd shell
npm install
npm run tauri build             # NSIS installer in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/