Preface¶

Looking up a 3GPP specification is often not as simple as opening a single PDF. Documents like TS 23.501, TS 38.300, and TS 38.331 easily run to hundreds of pages, with continuous supplements added in Releases 15 through 18; content such as Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), dual connectivity, and mission-critical communications is scattered across different TS documents. What often blocks engineers in practice is not reading the full text immediately, but rather “which specification does this requirement correspond to, and what does the current Release specify?”

Large language models are unreliable for this kind of task. If they answer based on memory for specification numbers, chapter ranges, and version boundaries, they can easily mix content from Rel-15 with enhancements from Rel-17. DeepSeek Harness (dsh) packages models, tools, sessions, and interfaces as plugins, leading to a wave of community-built tools that embed professional knowledge into assistants. comm-protocol-hub does exactly this: it puts summaries of around 70 3GPP protocols into a local knowledge base across 8 categories, letting the assistant use three tools—search, browse, and detail—to locate entries first before deciding whether to open the official documentation.

This article is organized after cross-checking the community directory page, GitHub repository README, and source code: what this plugin is, which categories it covers, how to install it, and how to use it in conversations. DeepSeek Harness itself is open-sourced by DeepSeek AI, with the core philosophy of “everything is a plugin”; deepseek-harness-plugin.com is an independent community directory with no official affiliation to DeepSeek / Magic Square.

What It Is¶

comm-protocol-hub is a 3GPP protocol knowledge base plugin for communications engineers and AI assistants, maintained by GitHub user Thanksgiver233 under the MIT license, and primarily written in TypeScript. The community directory categorizes it under “Tools and Capabilities”. Its npm package name is dsh-comm-protocol-hub, with the current package.json version being 1.0.0. As of August 18, 2026, the repository has approximately 10 stars (the directory page showed 5 at the time, please refer to GitHub for the latest count).

It does not aim to stuff hundreds of pages of specifications into the context window, but rather organizes scattered protocols into a searchable structured index. As stated in the repository README: it covers over 70 specifications from Release 15 to 18, categorized by Terrestrial Network (TN), Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN), holographic communications, near-field/far-field communications, hybrid communications, secure communications, and more, replacing manual PDF flipping with three DSH tools. The corresponding source code is 8 JSON files under src/data/, totaling 70 records.

First, it is important to clarify the capability boundary: each record only includes an ID, name, category, Release, a description, several key features, and a link to the homepage of the 3GPP Portal. It is not the full specification text, nor an official 3GPP product. The same TS (for example, TS 23.501) will be split into multiple index entries by topic. The query results are suitable for positioning and cross-referencing; you still need to open the official PDF for actual implementation work.

Core Functions¶

8 Categories of Protocol Indexes¶

The data is split into files by category and merged in memory during queries. The repository README corresponds one-to-one with the JSON files, with the following counts:

The category enumeration is hardcoded in src/types.ts as: TN, NTN, HOLOGRAPHIC, NEAR_FIELD, FAR_FIELD, HYBRID, SAFETY, MISC. To add new entries, you only need to add an entry to the corresponding JSON file without modifying the tool code.

The fields for each record are fixed: id (e.g., 3gpp-ts38.300), name, category, subcategory, release, description, keyFeatures, and an optional url. Currently, all url values in the dataset point to https://portal.3gpp.org/ and do not link to specific TS documents.

Three DSH Tools¶

The host side loads the above JSON via CommProtocolService, then registers three tools through src/host/tools.ts.

comm_protocol_query: Search by keyword or number. Parameters include optional query, category, and limit (default 20, maximum 50). The query will perform case-insensitive inclusion matching across the ID, name, category, description, and key features; leaving it blank returns all summaries (limited by the service configuration maxResults, default 50). The category parameter is used for further filtering, with values being the 8 enumerations listed above.

comm_protocol_browse: Browse by category. When no category is passed, it returns an overview and count of all 8 categories; when passed, it only expands that category. You can also use limit to control how many entries are returned per category.

comm_protocol_detail: Retrieve a single entry’s details by protocolId. The examples given in the tool description are 3gpp-ts38.300, 3gpp-ts37.820, and 3gpp-ts38.342. If no matching entry is found, it returns an empty result and prompts you to check the ID.

There are currently only two service configurations: enabled (default true) and maxResults (default 50, range 5~200). It is inserted into the current profile with ID comm-protocol-hub and package name dsh-comm-protocol-hub in cordis.patch.yml, with an empty configuration object, so it runs with default values after installation.

Web Frontend Panel¶

package.json declares dsh.client.platform as web and injects @deepseek-ai/dsh-client-runtime. The client registers two components in the conversation slot:

• comm-protocol-panel: ProtocolPanel, which supports searching, filtering by category, and expanding cards to view descriptions and key features
• comm-protocol-node: ProtocolNode, which displays a single protocol as an inline conversation card

The protocol data is embedded in the plugin, so no external network access is required for queries. The README describes this as “ready to use out of the box”. The interface capabilities are only declared for the Web profile; headless scenarios can still use the three tools mentioned above, just without the panel.

Installation and Activation¶

The installation command given on the community directory page is as follows, run it in the DeepSeek Harness terminal:

dsh plugin add github:Thanksgiver233/comm-protocol-hub

If you do not already have Harness installed, the official repository startup method is:

npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web

The default Web UI is available at http://127.0.0.1:3080. The plugin’s client declares platform: web, so the repository README recommends installing it to the web profile:

npx -p @deepseek-ai/dsh dsh plugin --profile web add github:Thanksgiver233/comm-protocol-hub

You can also install from a local path during development:

npx -p @deepseek-ai/dsh dsh plugin --profile web add <path-to-comm-protocol-hub>

You need to restart the corresponding profile after installation. The directory page also notes that if you need a reproducible installation, you should pin the commit hash. The latest commit on the current main branch is 8b7b07d88315ffe85ead1d680e72f9b83f07853d (August 14, 2026), with the installation command as follows:

dsh plugin add github:Thanksgiver233/comm-protocol-hub#8b7b07d88315ffe85ead1d680e72f9b83f07853d

Installing from GitHub pulls the source code, which may execute build scripts during installation. Only install repositories you trust; check the source code and license before installing. The plugin runs with the permissions of the current dsh process and does not drop privileges additionally.

DeepSeek Harness is currently in developer preview, and the official README notes that there will be breaking changes. The plugin’s peer dependencies are @deepseek-ai/cordis, @deepseek-ai/dsh-tools, and @deepseek-ai/schemastery (all >=0.1.0), with React as optional. If the versions do not match, first check the current Harness API before deciding whether to install.

Typical Usage¶

After installing and restarting the profile, you can ask questions in natural language. Two scenarios directly from the repository README are provided below for you to test as-is.

1. Look up a single specification: TS 38.300¶

帮我查一下 TS 38.300 讲了什么

The assistant should call comm_protocol_detail with protocolId set to 3gpp-ts38.300. The current entry in the knowledge base is categorized under TN, with the subcategory “NR Physical Layer”, Release marked as Rel-15/16/17, the description stating it is the overall 5G NR physical layer specification, and key features including numerology, frame structure, bandwidth part, and TDD/FDD.

Note: What is returned is a summary organized by the plugin author, not the table of contents of TS 38.300. To view the formal definitions of frame structure or BWP, you still need to download the PDF for the corresponding Release from the 3GPP Portal.

2. List NTN-related protocols by category¶

NTN 有哪些相关协议？

The corresponding call in the README is comm_protocol_query with category=NTN. Currently, there are exactly 10 entries in this category, covering NTN architecture (TS 37.820), NR physical layer adaptation (TS 38.821), mobility, Direct-to-Cell, and more. You can also use the browse tool instead:

查看全息通信所有协议

This will call comm_protocol_browse with category=HOLOGRAPHIC, expanding the 6 entries under that category.

When expanding the knowledge base yourself, follow the repository’s development instructions:

cd comm-protocol-hub
pnpm install
pnpm typecheck
pnpm build

Append entries to the corresponding JSON file in src/data/, ensuring the fields match the ProtocolEntry interface. The available categories remain the 8 enumerations listed earlier.

Applicable Scenarios and Notes¶

It is suitable for the following use cases:
- Communications engineers using DSH to locate protocols: first confirm “which TS, which Release, and what are the key features”, then refer to the original text
- When writing code or documentation related to 5G/NTN/dual connectivity, ask the assistant to search the local index first to reduce reliance on memory for specification numbers
- Teaching or internal Q&A: browse by category to quickly see which directions the knowledge base covers

Please note the following points when using it:

It is an index, not a specification library. The 70 records are summaries. Some entries split the same TS by topic (for example, TS 23.501 has one entry each under TN, NTN, holographic, far-field, hybrid, Rel-18, and other categories). The titles and TS numbers are organized by the plugin maintainer and should not be treated as a direct copy of the 3GPP official catalog. Engineering conclusions must be cross-checked against official documents on the 3GPP Official Website and 3GPP Portal.

Links currently only point to the portal homepage. Each record’s url is https://portal.3gpp.org/ and does not deep-link to specific specifications. The so-called “traceability” refers to reminding you to verify on the official site, rather than allowing you to open that specific chapter directly.

The panel is only available in the Web UI. The three tools are registered at the tool layer; ProtocolPanel / ProtocolNode are only declared for the web client. When not using the Web UI, you can still trigger the tools via conversation, just without the category panel.

Permissions and Source. The plugin runs with the permissions of the current dsh process, and may execute code during installation. Check the source repository and MIT license before installing; for a reproducible environment, pin the commit and do not long-track the floating main branch.

Ecosystem Position. DeepSeek Harness is the open-source agent runtime from DeepSeek AI; this plugin is a community project, and the directory site is not an official app store. The README’s claim of being “the first DSH protocol knowledge base for the communications field” is the project’s own positioning, and this article has not conducted a full directory survey, so it should not be treated as a verified industry conclusion.

Summary¶

comm-protocol-hub embeds summaries of 70 3GPP protocols across 8 categories into DeepSeek Harness, using three tools—comm_protocol_query, comm_protocol_browse, and comm_protocol_detail—for local retrieval. For those who frequently switch between TS numbers and Releases, it shortens the step of “first finding which document it is”; it cannot replace official PDFs, nor should it be treated as the specification text itself.

Community Directory: https://deepseek-harness-plugin.com/zh-CN/plugins/comm-protocol-hub/

GitHub: https://github.com/Thanksgiver233/comm-protocol-hub