@jmcc-guo/dsh-ssh
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AI-managed SSH connections with a live multi-tab terminal panel for DeepSeek Harness.
SSH terminal panel + AI connection manager for DeepSeek Harness (DSH).
The AI agent can autonomously create, address, and tear down SSH connections
right from the conversation (ssh_connect / ssh_exec / ssh_list /
ssh_status / ssh_disconnect / ssh_exec_read / ssh_exec_kill /
ssh_delete), while a XShell/Uniterm-style multi-tab terminal panel in the
Web GUI shows every command — model and human — in real time on the same
screen.
Features
- Model-driven connection lifecycle — the agent connects by name or by
parameters, runs commands with exit codes and readable failures, lists and
inspects AI-managed connections, disconnects and deletes them. The same
server may hold several independent connections (each with its own name,
session state and command queue).
- Auto-save & reuse — every connection is persisted by name (globally
unique). After a DSH restart,
ssh_exec on a saved
name automatically re-establishes the connection from its saved settings.
- Unified AI management — there is no source distinction: every saved
connection, whether created by the AI (
ssh_connect) or from the Settings
page, is managed by the AI agent. It appears in ssh_list and is
immediately addressable by ssh_exec / ssh_status / ssh_disconnect /
ssh_delete — no transfer step exists or is needed.
- Keep-alive & reconnect — idle keep-alive per connection; automatic
reconnect only for unexpected drops (network blips, server resets) with
exponential backoff (bounded attempts); every explicit disconnect stays
down (tab close,
ssh_disconnect, Settings "Disconnect" button). A
"reconnected — the shell state was reset" notice is shown after an
automatic reconnect.
- Execution mutex (every connection) — while an AI command runs on a
connection, human keystrokes are dropped server-side with a visible "AI is
executing…" hint (the user may only type when the AI is not executing on
that terminal); a model
ssh_exec against a connection whose shared
terminal shell is still active waits until the shell falls quiet (no
output/input for shellQuietWaitMs, default 2 s) or returns a readable
"busy" result instead of interleaving output.
- Tab semantics — closing a tab disconnects immediately (no confirmation
dialog); AI
ssh_disconnect keeps the tab open showing "disconnected" (one
click to reconnect); a model connect that has no tab re-opens one
automatically. Connecting a saved connection (tab bar "+", the
Settings-page Connect button) never rejects an already-open connection:
when a tab for that connection is already open, the call opens a FRESH
independent session in a new tab — even when the same connection is already
connected in another tab — and only connects the primary session (the one
the model tools address) when no tab is open yet.
- Live terminal panel — two surfaces, one state — the panel body can
live in DSH's native right details column (the conversation shrinks
instead of being covered; closing restores the original right column
untouched; a slim SSH rail on the right edge reopens it) or inside
dsh-better-sidebar:
when that plugin is installed, the same panel body registers as a sidebar
tab (
dsh-ssh:terminal — visible in its + menu, with a live
connection-count badge), and the AI-connect auto-open lands there (opening
and expanding the sidebar). Both surfaces share the one host-managed state
stream, so switching never forks the terminals. panelSurface (see
settings below) chooses the surface: auto (default — sidebar when
installed), sidebar (prefer sidebar), native (always the built-in
column). Without dsh-better-sidebar everything falls back to the native
column automatically. Each connection owns one real interactive shell
(PTY): the
login banner (motd / Last login), the remote prompt user@host:path$,
input echo and cd updates all come from the remote shell, exactly like a
native SSH client. There is no input box and no copy control — click
the terminal and type; keystrokes go straight into the remote shell
(arrows, Tab, Ctrl-C, paste, IME supported). A blinking block cursor shows
while the terminal is focused. AI-run commands appear in the same
scrollback with source tags. Multi-tab, ANSI colors, scrollback. The view
stays pinned to the newest output as it arrives — even large output bursts
follow to the bottom; scrolling up to read history is respected (no forced
jump), but whenever the AI starts operating the connection the terminal
slides back to the bottom so the AI's live output is visible.
- Settings page — "SSH Connections" under Settings manages everything:
create, edit (rename supported), delete connections and their credentials
(passwords / private keys stored in the DSH credential store), and
connect/disconnect. The terminal column itself contains no CRUD.
- Credential hygiene — passwords and private keys live in the DSH
credential store under generated references; the records file, logs and
tool results never contain secret material; inline secrets in tool
arguments are rejected with guidance; auth failures return scrubbed,
readable reasons.
- Settings — the
dsh-ssh settings namespace (heartbeat, reconnect
policy, timeouts, output caps, records path) can be overridden through the
DSH settings system / profile patch.
- Bilingual UI — Chinese and English copy.
Requirements
- Node.js >= 18 (ESM)
- pnpm (lockfile:
pnpm-lock.yaml)
- A DeepSeek Harness (DSH) installation with the
web profile
- For the test suite: a reachable SSH server (the included tests target a
local WSL OpenSSH instance; see
scripts/test-acceptance.mjs)
Install into a profile
# from npm (recommended)
dsh plugin --profile web add @jmcc-guo/dsh-ssh
# or directly from GitHub
dsh plugin --profile web add "github:jmcc-guo/dsh-ssh#v0.5.0"
# or from a local checkout
dsh plugin --profile web add <path-to-this-repo>
The bundle patch (cordis.patch.yml) mounts the dsh-ssh row. Override
config in the profile patch with the same row id:
- id: dsh-ssh
config:
heartbeatIntervalMs: 20000
reconnectMaxAttempts: 8
outputLimitBytes: 2097152
Restart the profile process afterwards (plugin-set changes and the client
bundle graph are composed at boot).
Troubleshooting
ssh2 is bundled — no build steps needed
ssh2 and its full dependency closure are shipped bundled inside the
package (bundleDependencies), so installing @jmcc-guo/dsh-ssh never runs
dependency build scripts: no allowBuilds edits, no
ERR_PNPM_IGNORED_BUILDS. ssh2 runs on its pure-JS implementation, which is
fully functional (verified against a real SSH server); the optional native
crypto binding is intentionally not compiled.
Peer-dependency warnings
pnpm peers check may report "missing peer" for the @deepseek-ai/* packages
even though DSH provides them: with the hoisted profile layout, external
plugins resolve host packages at runtime from the shared profiles/node_modules
tree, which pnpm's static peer check does not cross. The warnings are benign —
the plugin loads fine (verified at runtime).
Settings namespace (dsh-ssh)
| Key | Default | Meaning |
|---|
heartbeatIntervalMs | 30000 | ssh2 keep-alive interval |
keepaliveCountMax | 3 | keep-alive failures before the connection is considered dead |
connectTimeoutMs | 15000 | SSH handshake / TCP connect timeout |
reconnectBaseDelayMs | 2000 | first auto-reconnect delay (doubles per attempt) |
reconnectMaxDelayMs | 60000 | backoff cap |
reconnectMaxAttempts | 5 | max automatic reconnect attempts |
execTimeoutMs | 120000 | default ssh_exec completion wait |
busyWaitTimeoutMs | 20000 | default mutex wait when the connection is busy |
reconnectWaitTimeoutMs | 30000 | default wait while reconnecting |
shellQuietWaitMs | 2000 | shared-shell silence required before AI may run |
outputLimitBytes | 1048576 | per-connection terminal buffer cap |
execOutputMaxBytes | 200000 | cap on output returned to the model per command |
recordsPath | $DSH_HOME/storages/dsh-ssh/connections.json | records file override |
panelSurface | auto | where the Web panel lives: auto = dsh-better-sidebar when installed, else the native column; sidebar = prefer dsh-better-sidebar (falls back to native when absent); native = always the built-in details column. Applied live to open panels |
Model tools
ssh_connect — create a new connection (host/port/user + auth by
credential reference or key file path) or re-establish an existing one.ssh_exec — run a command on a saved connection by name; auto-reconnects
when offline, waits through reconnect/busy states (with timeouts), returns
output + exit code; long commands return an execId for
ssh_exec_read / ssh_exec_kill.ssh_exec_read — incremental output of a running (or finished) command.ssh_exec_kill — terminate a running command (SIGINT through the pty).ssh_list — all saved connections with live status (every connection is
AI-managed).ssh_status — detailed status of one saved connection.ssh_disconnect — explicit disconnect (no auto-reconnect; optional
delete); the panel tab stays open showing "disconnected".ssh_delete — delete a saved connection record (disconnects first).
Secret rule for the model: never pass passwords or private keys inline in
tool arguments (they are recorded verbatim in the session log and rejected).
Use auth.passwordRef / auth.privateKeyRef (a stored credential or
environment variable) or auth.privateKeyPath (a key file on the host).
New secrets can be stored through the panel's connection form, which routes
them into the DSH credential store.
Security notes
- The panel channel (
/ssh/ws) applies the harness browser-trust fence:
loopback/trusted-host Host, same-origin Origin, cross-site fetch-metadata
rejection.
- Secrets never leave the credential store: the records file holds
references only; error messages are scrubbed; logs contain no secrets.
- Commands run through real PTYs on the remote host: ANSI output works,
interactive programs work, and termination is a genuine SIGINT to the
foreground process group. User keystrokes flow through the shared shell's
PTY; while an AI command runs on a connection the host drops keystrokes
(input mutex — the user may only type when the AI is not executing on that
terminal).
Repository layout
lib/index.js plugin entry: config schema, manager + tools + panel channel wiring
lib/manager.js SshManager — connection lifecycle, keep-alive/reconnect, mutex, PTY shells
lib/tools.js model tools (ssh_connect / ssh_exec / ssh_exec_read / ssh_exec_kill / ...)
lib/ws.js panel WebSocket channel (/ssh/ws) with the browser-trust fence
lib/store.js persisted connection records
lib/client.js Web GUI client: multi-tab terminal panel + settings UI
cordis.patch.yml bundle patch that mounts the dsh-ssh row
scripts/ test suites (see below)
Development / tests
scripts/ contains the acceptance suite and helpers (requires a reachable
SSH server; the included tests target a WSL OpenSSH instance):
node scripts/test-acceptance.mjs # 64-check manager-level acceptance suite
node scripts/smoke.mjs # quick smoke test
node scripts/test-panel-ws.mjs # panel WebSocket channel drive (test web instance on :3081)
node scripts/test-rename.mjs # focused rename test (no SSH server needed)
node scripts/test-connect-tabs.mjs # focused connect/tab-semantics test (no SSH server needed)
node scripts/test-panel-channel.mjs # focused panel WS channel test (no SSH server, no DSH instance needed)
node scripts/test-client-surface.mjs # dual-surface (native column / dsh-better-sidebar) logic — no server needed
Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome. Keep the model-facing surface (tool
names, parameter semantics, result shapes) backward compatible, and make sure
secrets never end up in logs, records or tool results.
License
MIT
