Introduction

The plugin architecture of DSH splits extension capabilities into installable and activatable plugins. For developers who want to use DeepSeek Harness in a terminal, dsh-tui solves a specific problem: wrapping DSH into a minimal TUI, i.e., an interactive terminal surface for DeepSeek Harness. It is maintained by xiaoshihou514 and is licensed under MIT.

It is necessary to distinguish here: the community plugin directory is an independent site, not equivalent to the official app store; this article also does not present dsh-tui as an official component of DeepSeek/Huanshan. The following introduces what it is, how to install it, how to enable it, and what to check before installation, based on verified facts.

What is it

The one-sentence positioning of dsh-tui is:

A minimal TUI for DSH.

Another description in verified sources is:

An interactive terminal surface for DeepSeek Harness

In other words, it is not another standalone chat client, but a plugin that provides a terminal interaction form for DSH. The maintainer is xiaoshihou514, and the license is MIT.

Core Features

The verified capabilities are relatively straightforward:

  • Provide a minimal TUI for DSH.
  • Act as an interactive terminal interface for DeepSeek Harness.
  • Plugins are enabled via a DSH profile; the example command is dsh --profile tui.
  • The plugin includes dsh bundle patch configuration pointing to ./cordis.patch.yml.

Here, dsh bundle patch can be understood as the plugin’s declaration of a patch for the DSH bundle. The configuration in verified sources is:

{
  "dsh": {
    "bundle": {
      "patch": "./cordis.patch.yml"
    }
  }
}

Installation and Activation

The command sequence provided in verified sources is:

npm i -g @deepseek-ai/dsh
dsh plugin --profile tui add "github:xiaoshihou514/dsh-tui#main"

The first command is used to globally install @deepseek-ai/dsh. Verified sources do not explicitly state whether this command is a necessary prerequisite for installing dsh-tui; if a usable DSH CLI already exists on the machine, the second command can be executed directly.

The second command adds the plugin under the tui profile:

dsh plugin --profile tui add "github:xiaoshihou514/dsh-tui#main"

After adding, enable this profile with the following command:

dsh --profile tui

Typical Usage

The typical path is short:

  1. Globally install DSH CLI (if not already installed):
npm i -g @deepseek-ai/dsh
  1. Add dsh-tui in the tui profile:
dsh plugin --profile tui add "github:xiaoshihou514/dsh-tui#main"
  1. Start DSH with the TUI profile:
dsh --profile tui

The key to this usage is --profile tui. It is not a normal dsh call, but running dsh-tui in a separate profile to facilitate separation from other DSH plugins or configurations.

Environment and Dependencies

The confirmed runtime environment information in verified sources is as follows:

"engines": {
  "node": "^22.19.0 || >=24"
}

This means the recommended Node.js version falls within ^22.19.0 or >=24. In addition, package.json declares the package manager:

"packageManager": "pnpm@11.19.0"

and the publishing access configuration:

"publishConfig": {
  "access": "public"
}

Regarding peerDependencies, verified sources confirm the following version constraints:

{
  "@deepseek-ai/cordis": "^4.0.0",
  "@deepseek-ai/cordis-plugin-loader": "^1.0.2",
  "@deepseek-ai/dsh-agent": "^0.1.0-rc.5"
}

The full peerDependencies list is truncated in verified sources, so it cannot be used to judge all dependencies. It is recommended to check package.json directly in the repository before installation.

Applicable Scenarios and Notes

Suitable for these scenarios:

  • You are already using DSH but want a terminal TUI interaction entry point.
  • You want to enable a terminal interface separately under the tui profile without directly affecting other profiles.
  • You want to find a DSH plugin that is MIT licensed and maintained by the community.

Before installation, it is recommended to do three things:

  1. Check the source code. The plugin runs with the permissions of the current dsh process, and the code can affect behavior within that process.

  2. Check the license and dependencies. This article has verified the license as MIT; the peerDependencies list is truncated, so the repository’s package.json should be the standard.

  3. Confirm DSH version compatibility. npm i -g @deepseek-ai/dsh appears in verified usage examples, but whether it is a necessary prerequisite is not clearly stated; it is recommended to judge based on the local DSH installation status.

The community directory link only indicates that the plugin has a directory page entry and does not represent that it is a component in the official app store.

Links