Introduction

DeepSeek Harness (DSH) uses a plugin-based architecture, and version iterations of the toolchain directly affect runtime compatibility and functional behavior. Keeping the Harness itself up to date is an easily overlooked part of routine maintenance. dsh-update-checker is intended to address this issue: as a Profile plugin, it automatically checks for new versions in the npm registry at startup and provides a clear update notification in the Web interface sidebar.

What is This?

dsh-update-checker is a DSH Profile plugin maintained by HarryLi-7. Its core role is to monitor releases of the @deepseek-ai/dsh package. When a new version is detected, it displays a silent GUI notification in the Web interface sidebar, allowing the update to be initiated by clicking it. The plugin uses the MIT License.

Core Features

The plugin implements the following features:

  1. Version checking mechanism
    • Checks registry.npmjs.org/@deepseek-ai/dsh at startup (non-blocking startup).
    • Caches check results for 6 hours, and repolls every 30 minutes in the Web GUI.
  2. Intelligent display
    • Shows a notification only when a new version is actually detected.
    • If the registry is unreachable or a network error occurs, it fails silently without reporting errors or displaying error messages.
  3. Sidebar interaction
    • Displays a footer item at the bottom of the Web sidebar.
    • In the expanded state, shows an icon and version number (e.g., “vX.Y.Z available”).
    • In the collapsed state, shows only the icon.
  4. Action popover
    • Clicking the notification opens a Popover showing the current version and latest version.
    • Provides one-click copy of the update command.
    • Provides a link to the npm page.
    • Provides an “Ignore this version” option to suppress notifications for a specific version.
  5. Design and resources
    • Automatically adapts to the DSH GUI design system (uses --dsw-* tokens).
    • Zero disk usage; pure in-memory operation at runtime.
    • Only persists user-ignored version numbers (stored in browser localStorage, with the key name dsh-update-checker.dismissed).

Installation and Activation

To install this plugin, ensure pnpm is installed in the environment.

# 从包含插件的目录执行
dsh plugin --profile web add ./dsh-update-checker

After installation, you can verify that the configuration is effective with the following command:

dsh --profile web --dump-config

If the output includes the # == dsh-update-checker layer, the configuration was successful. For a running Harness, the plugin only takes effect after a restart, because the Profile’s package.json does not support hot reloading.

Typical Usage

When the plugin detects a new version, the sidebar displays a notification. Click the copy button in the notification popover to obtain the update command:

npx --yes @deepseek-ai/dsh@latest --profile web

Stop the current Harness process, run the command above in a terminal, and then reopen the GUI to complete the update.

To uninstall the plugin, run:

dsh plugin --profile web remove dsh-update-checker

Use Cases and Cautions

This plugin is suitable for developers who need to update DSH Harness frequently to obtain the latest features or fixes. Please note:
* The plugin runs with the permissions of the current DSH process; it is recommended to review the source code and license before use.
* Older versions of DSH do not support the dsh plugin command; you must manually copy the plugin files to $DSH_HOME/profiles/packages/ and edit cordis.patch.yml.

Summary

dsh-update-checker provides a low-intrusion way to manage Harness version updates. Through silent sidebar notifications, developers can promptly learn about available updates and reduce potential issues caused by staying on an outdated version. For more details and source code, see the project homepage.