dsh-projects
Claude-Desktop-style Projects for DSH Desktop (the desktop DSH profile
only — Web and headless profiles are untouched).
The shipped DSH sidebar groups conversations by Workspace (directory). This
plugin replaces that sidebar region with a project-first browser:
- create projects (name, color, one or more working directories);
- every conversation lives inside a project;
- each conversation can use a different directory, chosen when it is
created (or switched later through Change working directory), backed by the
Host's real
workingDirectory service — the same durable, model-visible
mechanism as the working_directory tool;
- sessions outside any project stay visible under Other conversations,
still grouped by Workspace, so nothing is lost;
- empty conversations are hidden and can be deleted for real: the Host keeps
reusable blank Sessions from every "New Session" click (
blank: true); only
the empty Session that is currently open is shown. The Host also scans legacy
Sessions whose catalog row is not marked blank but whose log contains no
conversation events at all (only tiny header/metadata logs are inspected), so
old "Badstuff"-style empty chats are hidden too. View options → Delete empty
conversations (N) permanently removes both kinds from disk through a
validated Host route (never touches a conversation with content; sessions
still live in the current app run are archived and can be purged after the
next start);
- projects keep the workspace hierarchy: inside a project, conversations
stay grouped under their workspace (folder + title + count), so moving a
workspace into a project preserves its identity instead of flattening the
chats; workspace headers have their own
+ (new conversation directly in
that directory — assigned to the containing project, or ungrouped under
Other conversations) and ⋯ menu (new conversation, move to another
project, rename, remove from project, delete workspace);
- pinned sessions, relative times, running/pending/unread status dots,
archive/unarchive, rename, fork, pin and copy-ID work from the new rows.
Install (desktop profile)
The plugin ships as a normal DSH bundle and is published on npm as
@wxysskd/dsh-projects.
Three equivalent ways to install it into the desktop profile
(~/.dsh/profiles/desktop):
# 1. from npm (registry install; also works from Plugins -> Add plugin)
plugin_manager install_bundle target=@wxysskd/dsh-projects@1.0.0
# or: desktop-cli plugin --profile desktop add @wxysskd/dsh-projects@1.0.0
# 2. from the self-contained release tarball
npm run pack # -> dist/wxysskd-dsh-projects-1.0.0.tgz
plugin_manager install_bundle target=/abs/path/dist/wxysskd-dsh-projects-1.0.0.tgz
# 3. source link for development (client.js edits hot-reload)
desktop-cli plugin --profile desktop add link:"$PWD"
The npm package contains only runtime files (index.js, client.js,
cordis.patch.yml, locale/*.json, icon.svg, package.json, README.md,
LICENSE), plus SHA-256/manifest in dist/. See
docs/INSTALL.md for installation, the market index,
activation/verification and rollback details.
Plugin market (Discover tab)
DSH has no official built-in market; the Discover tab reads index sources the
user adds. This repository publishes a format-1 index with a commit-pinned Git
install target:
https://aobakaolengmian.github.io/dsh-projects/market/index.json
Add that URL as an index source in Plugins → Discover and install
Projects from the card; the same index is readable by the plugin_market
tool and by any other DSH Desktop user:
Projects in the Discover tab
The market entry installs the published npm package
(@wxysskd/dsh-projects@<version>), the same artifact as the tarball. See
market/README.md for the format and how to regenerate it
(npm run market). Installing from the market still needs one app restart for
the Host row.
Data
Project metadata is Host-owned and durable, independent of session logs:
$DSH_HOME/storages/dsh-projects.json — projects, session→project
assignments, last recorded working directory per session;- sessions themselves stay owned by the Session Controller (nothing is
rewritten into session logs by this plugin).
HTTP routes served from the existing DSH web server (same origin as the GUI):
| Method | Path | Purpose |
|---|
| GET | /dsh-projects/state | complete project state |
| GET | /dsh-projects/health | liveness + counts |
| POST | /dsh-projects/mutate | project.create, project.update, project.delete, session.assign |
| POST | /dsh-projects/cwd | change one conversation's working directory |
| POST | /dsh-projects/purge | permanently remove validated empty sessions (rejects content) |
| GET | /dsh-projects/empty-sessions | list sessions that hold no conversation content |
POST routes require content-type: application/json and x-dsh-projects: 1
and a 64 KiB body limit.
Build
npm install # dev-only: esbuild, react, react-dom, playwright
node scripts/build.mjs # src/client/* -> client.js (committed artifact)
npm run pack # build + dist/<name>-<version>.tgz + SHA-256 + manifest
node harness/build.mjs # mock harness bundle
node harness/shoot.mjs # screenshots -> harness/shots/
npm test # host/model tests (node --test)
Design notes
- The browser entry registers into the shipped
sidebar.workspaces single slot
at priority: -1, shadowing ui-workspace's browser. The shipped entry stays
registered underneath: if our component crashes, its entry is abdicated and
the original sidebar comes back.
- The client bundle imports only
react / react-dom / react/jsx-runtime
from the shell's shared module table and uses ctx services for everything
else (sessions, workspaces, uiWorkspace, locale, slots).
- Styles use
--dsw-* theme tokens; literals are limited to project accent
artwork. All classes are prefixed pj-.
Moving workspaces and conversations between projects
Everything can be migrated without deleting or recreating sessions, through the
project metadata only (session logs are never touched):
- Drag a conversation row onto any project section → the session is assigned
to that project (drag it onto Other conversations to remove it from its
project).
- Drag a workspace group header (under Other conversations) onto any
project section → the directory moves into that project (removed from any
other project's directory list, never duplicated) and every conversation in
that directory is assigned to it. While dragging, every project shows a
dashed drop outline and the hovered target is highlighted.
- Menu path (same result without dragging):
- workspace group
⋯ → Move workspace to project → pick the target;
- project
⋯ → Move working directory to another project… → pick the
directory → pick the target project (or Remove from project (back to Other
conversations));
- conversation
⋯ → Move to project → pick the target (or No project).
Moving a directory between projects also makes future sessions created in that
directory (including the shipped Cmd+N flow) land in the target project, and the
project keeps the workspace title as a nested folder group.
Workspace headers (both inside projects and under Other conversations) expose
their own menu: Rename workspace…, Move workspace to project, Remove
from project and Delete workspace. Deleting a workspace removes only its
registration, puts its conversations back under Other conversations, and never
deletes a conversation.
Compatibility with other sidebar plugins
The installed sidebar-touching plugins were audited and the browser keeps their
integration surfaces intact:
| Plugin | Integration surface | Status with Projects |
|---|
dsh-timeline | DOM-injects its starred-folder section before [data-slot="sidebar.workspaces"]; resolves session rows as div[role="treeitem"][aria-selected]; injects "Star Chat to Folder" into host menus found as body > [role="menu"] | Works: the slot anchor is preserved (its folder section renders above Projects), every row follows the shipped treeitem/title DOM contract, and menus/modals are portaled to document.body, so its injected menu item appears and opens its own dialog |
dsh-cost-meter | Registers sidebar.footer.action entries and styles its own footer stack | Works unchanged: footer actions are outside the replaced region |
dsh-notification, dsh-plugin (hub), dsh-thoughtdag, dsh-dafeiyu, dsh-plugin-whale-pet | No sidebar.workspaces DOM or row-slot usage (audited client bundles) | No interaction |
shipped ui-workspace browser | Registers the slot at priority 0; its child row-extension slots (e.g. schedule marks) are only rendered by its own component | Our entry shadows it at priority -1; if our component crashes it abdicates and the shipped browser returns. Child-slot extensions are not rendered while Projects is active (non-crashing degradation) |
Live verification with dsh-timeline + dsh-cost-meter + Projects mounted in one
real DSH host: our sidebar rendered 57/57 sessions as timeline-compatible
treeitems, timeline's starred-folder section appeared above Projects, timeline's
"Star Chat to Folder" item was injected into our session menu and opened its
dialog, cost-meter's footer card rendered normally, our menus/search stayed
functional, and the browser console reported no errors.
Known limits (v1)
- The shipped
ui-workspace browser's child extension slots
(sidebar.workspaces.session.menu.item, sidebar.session.row.leading, …) are
not rendered by our browser, so shipped/third-party row decorations registered
there (for example the schedule mark) do not appear while it is active. The
shipped built-in session actions are re-implemented directly in the project
menus, and dsh-timeline's DOM-based decorations do work (see above).
- Global shortcuts owned by
ui-workspace (Cmd+N / Cmd+K) keep their shipped
behavior; our search field is opened through the header icon.
- Collapsed sections, archived filter and the last viewed state are stored in
the browser's
localStorage; project data lives Host-side.
- The empty-Session scan and permanent deletion run through the Host half, so a
client bundle that hot-reloads before the Host half does cannot see them: the
scan is skipped and the cleanup falls back to archiving blank Sessions, telling
the user to restart the app once. After that restart the sidebar hides legacy
empty chats automatically and the same menu entry deletes them from disk.
Empty Sessions created during the current app run are always archived first
and purgeable on the next start.
