Introduction

DeepSeek Harness (DSH) native terminal tools rely on Unix-style subprocess handling. On Windows, this can lead to process leaks, improper signal handling, or terminal hangs. dsh-subprocess-win32 is a Cordis runtime plugin and preset management package designed specifically for DeepSeek Harness. It provides a native Windows subprocess engine and preconfigured optimized Agent presets, addressing process management limitations specific to the Windows platform.

Core Features

  • Native Windows subprocess engine (subprocess-win32): Replaces Unix-centric subprocess handling logic, performs process-tree inspection and clean termination for Windows terminal tools and Git Bash, ensures zero orphan processes, and does not affect Linux/macOS behavior.
  • Two preconfigured Windows Agent presets:
    • Minimal (Windows): Lightweight preset that minimizes token overhead and persists Git Bash and str_replace_editor.
    • Anchored Standard (Windows): Two-stage progressive loading preset. It starts without tool redundancy and unlocks heavyweight tools such as PowerShell, Web, and sub-agents on demand.
  • Safe PowerShell lifecycle manager: Provides a unified command interface for environment diagnostics (doctor), automated setup (setup), atomic updates (update), rollback, and uninstallation (uninstall), with no hidden background changes or silent PATH tampering.

Installation and Enablement

Before installing, ensure the environment meets the requirements: Windows x64, Node.js 22.19+, Git for Windows, and an available DSH installation.

Use the DSH plugin command to add the local package to the specified profile:

dsh plugin --profile web add C:\src\dsh-subprocess-win32

For layouts managed by the Windows installer, the explicit lifecycle entry point is located at:

$setup = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\DeepSeekHarness\setup\dsh-subprocess-win32.ps1"

After installation is complete, start a new empty session and select Minimal (Windows) or Anchored Standard (Windows). Existing sessions retain their original Agent composition.

Typical Usage

Use the $setup script to perform the following operations:

  1. Run diagnostics: Check the environment state.
    & $setup -Action doctor
  1. Run setup: Install the plugin package.
    & $setup -Action setup -PackageSource C:\src\dsh-subprocess-win32
  1. Preview update: Inspect the update without applying it.
    & $setup -Action update -DryRun -PackageSource C:\src\dsh-subprocess-win32
  1. Apply update: Apply the update after confirmation.
    & $setup -Action update -PackageSource C:\src\dsh-subprocess-win32
  1. Rollback: Restore if the update fails.
    & $setup -Action rollback
  1. Uninstall: Remove the plugin.
    & $setup -Action uninstall

Use Cases and Notes

  • Use cases: Stable DSH operation is required on Windows, especially when using Git Bash or terminal tools.
  • Permissions and security: Git/MSYS Bash may encounter exit code 0xC0000142 when DSH workspace write tokens are restricted. The Windows fallback cannot provide Linux’s landlock mechanism, so command output must be treated as untrusted, and DSH’s approval policy must remain enabled.
  • Performance note: The Minimal alignment primarily focuses on the model-visible schema and prompt surface, and does not claim the same latency or cache behavior as Linux.
  • Resource management: Do not copy Codex’s .codex-plugin manifest into this package.
  • Uninstall scope: Managed uninstallation only stops registered DSH processes/tasks, removes the two DSH presets, and removes the specified %LOCALAPPDATA%\DeepSeekHarness root directory. It does not delete project source code, .agents/skills, .codex/skills, Codex plugins, Codex MCP configuration, or Edge applications.

Conclusion

This plugin is part of the DeepSeek Harness ecosystem and is intended to solve platform-specific process management issues for Windows users. For more details, refer to the official catalog and source repository.