donsetch-dsh
First-class DonSeTch web access for DeepSeek Harness (dsh). One install line, and every dsh agent gets the full DonSeTch suite: fetch, search, and crawl with browser-grade stealth, keyless engines, BYOK providers, and an auto-updating native binary. No API key required to start.
Install
dsh plugin --profile web add github:dondai44423/donsetch-dsh
Restart dsh web (bundle plugins activate on the next boot). On first start the plugin downloads the correct DonSeTch binary for your platform from GitHub Releases, verifies its SHA256 against the release sidecar, and registers the tools. That is the whole setup: no API key, no config file.
Add the dsh-plugin topic to your repo mentions: this repo is already on it. The plugin also works in headless profiles:
npx @deepseek-ai/dsh --profile headless "research the latest donsetch release notes"
What you get
donsetch_web_fetch: one URL to full markdown, browser-grade rendering and stealth where neededdonsetch_web_search: keyless engines out of the box, or your own keys via BYOK providers (Exa, Tavily, Serper, SerpApi, SerpBase, Bright Data, TinyFish, plus plugin adapters)donsetch_web_crawl: whole-site crawling with sitemap discoverydonsetch_status: self-diagnostics (degraded daemons get one automatically)
The tools are registered in-process on the harness tool registry, not as mcp__* imports, so they flow through dsh's permission, timeout, and cancellation pipeline like any native tool, and they show call/result cards in the Web workbench.
Why it is not just an MCP config
dsh ships a built-in MCP client. Pointing it at donsetch mcp works, but this plugin is the first-class version:
| built-in MCP config | this plugin |
|---|
| Install | you write a config row | one plugin add |
| Binary download + SHA256 verify | manual install | automatic |
| Auto-updates with donsetch releases | never | yes, throttled, swappable between calls |
| Tool names | mcp__donsetch__... | donsetch_... |
| Config changes from the CLI | restart everything | live daemon restart on config file change |
| Workbench cards | generic | per-tool call/result summaries |
| Status + doctor for the agent | none | donsetch_status |
| Harness schema contract | none | parameters comply with the enforced implicit parameter schema |
| Correctness gate in CI | none | the plugin runs inside a real dsh ToolRuntime on every push |
How customization works
The plugin uses the exact same config file the standard DonSeTch CLI uses, so every part of DonSeTch's normal customization applies unchanged:
donsetch keys add exa <key> # add a provider key
donsetch keys default exa # switch default provider
donsetch doctor # engine diagnostics
donsetch mcp ... # identical surface elsewhere
CLI changes land in the live dsh plugin within seconds: the plugin watches the config file and swaps the daemon without a dsh restart.
Configuration
All defaults are sensible; the plugin works with zero configuration. Options come from the bundle patch (edit $DSH_HOME/cordis.patch.yml to override) plus environment variables.
| option | default | description |
|---|
toolPrefix | donsetch | Model-facing tool name prefix, [A-Za-z0-9_]{1,16} |
channel | stable | Update channel: stable (releases) or latest (includes prereleases) |
autoUpdate | true | Check GitHub Releases and swap in newer verified binaries between calls |
updateIntervalHours | 24 | Minimum gap between update checks |
callTimeoutMs | 180000 | Per-tool-call timeout |
bootTimeoutMs | 20000 | Daemon initialize + tools/list timeout |
fallbackToPath | true | Use a donsetch already on PATH when the download fails (degraded mode, told honestly in donsetch_status) |
pinnedVersion | current | donsetch release a fresh install pins (floor, not ceiling) |
Environment: DONSETCH_DSH_PREFIX, DONSETCH_DSH_CHANNEL, DONSETCH_DSH_AUTOUPDATE=off, DONSETCH_BIN (path to a local donsetch binary), DONSETCH_DSH_CACHE_DIR.
Patch-layer example ($DSH_HOME/cordis.patch.yml, later layers win):
- override:
- id: donsetch
config:
toolPrefix: web
autoUpdate: false
Updates
Two-layer update story. The plugin glue is a bundle: re-running dsh plugin add against a newer pin (or letting the repository panel track the branch) keeps it current. The donsetch binary updates itself: on a throttled schedule it checks GitHub Releases on your channel, and when a newer release appears it downloads, SHA256-verifies against the release sidecar, and swaps the daemon between in-flight calls. A failed verify aborts the install and keeps the current binary; nothing partial ever replaces a working daemon.
Reliability notes
- The daemon runs supervised (
donsetch mcp --supervised), so crashes restart transparently and the next tool call revives cleanly.
- Cancellations reach the real daemon (
notifications/cancelled), the in-flight fetch or crawl actually stops.
- Plugin unload kills the daemon: hot-reload leaves no orphan processes.
- Downloads are atomic: temp dir, hash check, rename into place, stale dirs removed.
- The update check never blocks tool service and never runs a paid query.
Compatibility
Developer preview caveat: DeepSeek Harness is iterating fast and its APIs are moving. This plugin pins no host-train imports at all (it talks to the harness only through the ctx handed to apply()), which keeps it installable across harness updates. Verified against:
| harness | npm dsh | dsh-tools |
|---|
| DeepSeek Harness 0.1.1-rc.2 (npm latest) | @deepseek-ai/dsh | 0.1.x train |
| DeepSeek Harness 0.1.2-alpha.1 (source docs) | source | 0.1.x train |
Node ^22.19.0 || >=24.0.0 (the harness requirement).
Known upstream gap: the npm dsh CLI cannot boot dsh web on Linux GitHub runners because the pty.node linux-x64 prebuild is missing from the published package (upstream discussion #1686). The plugin itself does not need pty; only the web boot smoke is affected, which CI runs on Windows instead.
Troubleshooting
Tools are missing in a session. Ask the agent to call donsetch_status, or check the plugin log lines ([donsetch] ...) on the dsh host. The status tool reports the daemon state, binary version, last boot error, and the donsetch doctor output.
First install failed. Offline? The plugin falls back to a donsetch on PATH (degraded, told honestly). To pin a local binary instead, set DONSETCH_BIN=/path/to/donsetch.
I want the old-version binary. Delete the versioned dir under ~/.cache/donsetch/dsh/bin/ and the plugin reinstalls the pinned release.
Development
npm install
npm test # typecheck + build + unit/integration suite (fake daemon harness)
npm run live # real donsetch binary: handshake + tools/list + fetch + search
npm run lint # house style (no em-dashes in shipped text)
dist/ is committed on purpose: git installs then skip build scripts entirely and dsh users never see the pnpm 10 allowBuilds prompt.
The repo is structured like donsetch itself: project.md + status.md are private working docs, gitignored, updated after every finished task.
License
AGPL-3.0-only, matching DonSeTch. See donsetch.
