Introduction

In the DeepSeek Harness (dsh) web profile, the session interface usually does not directly display whether the backend service is still available. Manually refreshing the page can determine if the page opens, but if you want to continuously observe the dsh web service status, initiating an extra model request is inappropriate and consumes tokens.

dsh-alive provides a resident status indicator for this problem: it judges whether the service is online via a local process ping, without calling an LLM and without consuming tokens. Below is an introduction to its features, installation methods, and usage considerations.

What is it

dsh-alive is a dsh Web interface plugin maintained by AikenFra under the MIT license.

Its function is to display a status dot in the top-right corner of the dsh web session header:

  • Green: Online
  • Red: Offline
  • Yellow: Checking

The current package.json version is 0.1.1, requires Node >=18, and has been tested on dsh 0.1.0-rc.6 web profile.

Core Features

dsh-alive provides relatively focused capabilities, mainly revolving around “online status visibility”:

  • A resident status dot in the top-right corner of the session header: green = online, red = offline, yellow = checking.
  • Auto-checks every 15 seconds, no manual refresh required.
  • Zero token consumption: pure in-process ping, does not call any LLM.
  • Out of the box, no configuration required.
  • When the service is unavailable, the status dot turns red; it automatically reverts to green once restored.

How it Works

The backend registers an in-process HTTP endpoint in the dsh service process:

GET /dsh-alive/ping

This endpoint responds directly without going through any model.

The frontend injects the component via dsh’s slot system, mounted at:

conversation.session.header.utilities

The frontend polls the above ping endpoint every 15 seconds and updates the status dot based on the response.

Installation and Activation

First confirm that DeepSeek Harness (dsh) is installed on the local machine and ready to use under the web profile.

Using the Plugin Install Command

The command dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-alive marked in the README is suitable for the installation method after npm publishing. After execution, it installs to the web profile:

dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-alive

After installation, restart the dsh web service:

dsh web

After restarting, open the browser page and press Ctrl+F5 to force refresh. You should see the status dot in the top-right corner of the session header.

Local or Manual Installation

If the npm package publishing status has not been confirmed, you can use a local installation method.

  1. Put this repository into the specified directory:
~/.dsh/profiles/web/dsh-alive
  1. Add the dependency in the local profile’s package.json:
{
  "dependencies": {
    "dsh-alive": "file:./dsh-alive"
  }
}

Corresponding file path:

~/.dsh/profiles/web/package.json
  1. Append the plugin name to the list configured in the dsh profile dsh.profile.bundles:
"dsh-alive"
  1. Restart dsh web:
dsh web
  1. Open the page and hard refresh, for example by pressing Ctrl+F5.

Uninstall

Uninstall using the plugin command:

dsh plugin --profile web remove dsh-alive

After uninstalling, restart dsh web:

dsh web

Typical Usage

Suitable for quickly confirming whether the service is available after starting dsh web:

  1. Start the dsh web service:
dsh web

  1. Open the dsh web page.

  2. Check the status dot in the top-right corner of the session header:

  • Green indicates online.
  • Red indicates offline.
  • Yellow indicates checking.
  1. Wait for about 15 seconds; the status dot will automatically update without manual refresh.

If the service recovers, the status dot will automatically change from red back to green.

Applicable Scenarios and Notes

Suitable for the following scenarios:

  • Using dsh’s web profile and wanting to observe the service online status without consuming tokens.
  • When locally debugging dsh web, needing to quickly discover if the service has crashed.
  • When the page is open for a long time and you want the status dot to continuously indicate the backend service status.

Need to pay attention to the following points:

  • dsh-alive depends on dsh’s slot system conversation.session.header.utilities and the webServer service injection, requiring the dsh web client framework version to match.
  • After installation, you must restart dsh web and hard refresh the page, otherwise the frontend component may not take effect.
  • This plugin will register an in-process HTTP endpoint and inject the frontend component. It is recommended to check the source code, dependencies, and MIT license before installation. The materials in this article do not provide a separate permission model description; evaluate its runtime impact based on the current dsh process permissions.
  • dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-alive is marked in the materials as applicable after npm publishing; if the npm package publishing status has not been confirmed, prioritize using the local or manual installation method.
  • This article does not cite star counts, categories, or specific directory page addresses because this information has not explicitly appeared in verified materials.

Conclusion

The value of dsh-alive is quite direct: it uses a process heartbeat once to replace an extra model call and permanently displays the online status in the dsh web interface. The current reference repository is:

https://github.com/AikenFra/dsh-alive

The directory page URL has not been confirmed in the verified materials, so this article does not provide a specific directory page address.