Side Chat (dsh-side-chat-plugin)
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A Codex-style side chat for DeepSeek Harness: open a temporary read-only branch of the current session in the right sidebar, ask "how is it going?" or "confirm that conclusion" while the main session keeps working, and destroy it by closing the tab.
It is related to, but not the same as, a fork:
- Shared context — creation copies the main session's completed turns into the side session (the same fork seed the session controller uses), so it knows what happened before.
- Read-only — the side session runs in the read-only sandbox mode (
sandbox/mode: read-only), with approvals pinned to never and a tool guard on mutating tools. It can query, never write.
- Temporary — the side session is hidden from the left session list and lives only in the right sidebar. Closing the tab asks for confirmation and then destroys it (agent disposed, session files deleted).
- Non-interrupting — the main session keeps working. The side chat can read the main session's progress after its snapshot, and only hands a result back (as a queued follow-up turn) when you explicitly ask for it or it is genuinely necessary.
Features
| Capability | Description |
|---|
| Sidebar entry | Adds a "Side chat" box to the right sidebar's guide page |
/btw | Opens the side chat from the composer |
| Shared context | Seed cut at the main session's latest completed turn |
| Read-only | Sandbox mode + approval policy + tool guard (three layers) |
| Progress | side_chat_progress reads events after the snapshot: user requests, assistant replies, tool calls, todo list |
| Report back | side_chat_report queues a result into the main session; can be disabled in settings |
| Close confirmation | "Close this side chat?" dialog with "Don't ask again"; cancel reopens the tab |
| Destruction | Disposes the agent and removes the session's JSONL directory; success is verified through the persistence seam |
Install
dsh plugin add dsh-side-chat-plugin
Or from a local checkout while developing:
dsh plugin add /absolute/path/to/dsh-side-chat
Refresh the Web page afterwards; the plugin card appears in Settings → Plugins.
Usage
- Select a session in the left sidebar (a side chat belongs to the currently open session).
- Open the right sidebar and pick "Side chat" on the guide page, or type
/btw in the composer.
- Ask your question on the right. The side chat sees the main session's history up to creation time and can pull later progress with
side_chat_progress.
- To hand a conclusion over, ask it directly ("tell the main session this").
- Close the tab → confirm → the side chat is destroyed.
Settings
Right sidebar panel → "Side chat":
- Allow messages to the main session (on by default): when off,
side_chat_report is refused and the side chat stays local.
Plugin-row configuration (override the side-chat row in a profile or cordis.patch.yml):
| Field | Default | Meaning |
|---|
readOnly | true | Force the read-only sandbox in side chats |
allowReportToMain | true (volatile) | Whether reporting back is allowed |
progressEventLimit | 60 | Max events returned by one progress read |
preset | "" | Agent preset for side chats; empty inherits the main session's |
sessionsRoot | "" | Session storage root used for destruction; empty means $DSH_HOME/sessions |
How it works
- Host half (
src/) creates the hidden child with ctx.agents.create({ seed, inheritedEventCount, meta: { origin: 'subagent', parentSession, isSeeded: true }, setup }). The setup mounts the main session's preset, registers the read-only guard and the two tools, and appends sandbox/mode, approval/policy, subagent/descriptor.
- The
subagent/descriptor is required: the Web client refuses ordinary history reads for an origin: 'subagent' session, and only a descriptor-backed child can use the subagent history route.
- The side chat uses its own composer because, once the child carries a subagent address, the built-in composer routes prompts through subagent delivery; the plugin instead sends messages straight into the child's inbox over its own Connection RPC channel.
- Client half (
client/client.js) contributes two tab types (draft page and addressed conversation), a resource provider that retains the session, a conversation.composer chain entry that replaces the composer, a shell.overlay close dialog, the /btw client command, and the settings panel.
- Transport: an out-of-repo plugin cannot publish Typert Remote artifacts, and Connection's generic channel attributes its route to the service's own context, so the Host mounts its own authenticated
POST /side-chat/<endpoint> route on the web server (connection.requestRejection enforces the Host/Origin and browser-credential fence). Plain JSON, owner only.
Known limitations
- Confirmation happens after the close: the right sidebar exposes no close veto, so the dialog appears when the tab is already gone, and "Cancel" reopens the tab (brief close/reopen flash).
- Destruction depends on the JSONL session layout (
$DSH_HOME/sessions/<projectKey>/<sessionId>/). With another persistence backend or a custom root, set sessionsRoot; every removal is verified with sessionPersistence.stat() and a failure is reported honestly in the dialog.
- After an application restart the old side-chat session stays on disk as a hidden session; a new
/btw creates a fresh side chat and the old one is no longer reachable from the UI.
- Borrowing the subagent descriptor is an unsupported-but-stable interaction: a descriptor version bump upstream must be mirrored here. Baseline: dsh
0.2.1-rc.2 (commit 687f282e).
sandbox/mode: read-only guarantees writes fail; bash may still run read-only commands.- The plugin requires
webServer and connection, so it targets the Web/desktop deployments; a headless profile without a web server leaves the Host half inactive.
Development
npm install
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run build # emits lib/ for `dsh plugin add`
License
MIT © 2026 XBXyftx
