Introduction

When developing or debugging with DeepSeek Harness (DSH), you often need to ask the model for details or troubleshoot issues while a main task is running. If you insert questions directly into the main conversation, it can pollute the model context of the main thread. If you fork a new session, the extra steps can feel cumbersome. You need a tool that lets you ask questions at any time without interfering with the main process.

What Is It

This is a client plugin for the DeepSeek Harness Web GUI, maintained by developer zclDragon. It implements a Codex-style /side command, allowing you to open a temporary forked conversation next to a running main conversation. This side conversation inherits the completed historical context of the main thread, enabling “ask while running,” without interrupting the main task.

Core Features

  • /side command: Quickly start or manage side conversations via a command.
  • Floating side panel: Provides switch and action entry points in the bottom-right corner of the interface, supporting creation, switching, and closing.
  • Real-time Q&A: Side conversations inherit the context of the main thread up to its last turn/end, and support streaming rendering and stopping.
  • Markdown rendering: Replies support Markdown formatting (headings, code blocks, tables, etc.), with streaming follow scrolling.
  • Concurrent execution without interruption: Side chat agents and the main agent run concurrently in the same process, so the main task is not blocked.
  • Removal on close: When the side panel is closed, the agent is disposed and archived, and it disappears from the interface.
  • No main-thread pollution: The /side command leaves only a single log entry in the main thread and does not enter the model context.

Installation and Enablement

  1. Run the install command:
    dsh plugin --profile web add @zhuchenglong/dsh-side-chat
  1. Restart dsh web or refresh the browser to take effect.

Typical Usage

  1. Open the GUI in a browser (default http://127.0.0.1:3080).
  2. In the main conversation interface, click the “💬 Side Chat” button in the bottom-right corner, or directly enter the /side command.
  3. In the side panel that appears, click “+ New” to create a side conversation.
  4. Enter a question in the input box, and the model will return the result in a stream.

Use Cases and Notes

  • Use cases: Suitable for real-time interactions while a main task is running, such as asking about code details, explaining errors, or performing multi-round debugging, without needing to create a separate conversation window.
  • Known limitations:
    • After a process restart, the “group relationship” of side chats is not automatically restored (the sessions themselves are persistent); you need to manually reassociate them.
    • The context inherited by side chats ends at the last turn/end on the main thread; an in-progress turn cannot be inherited.
    • A newly created side chat may take up to 3 seconds of polling refresh before appearing in the panel list.
  • Notes: This plugin is a community-maintained project and is released under the MIT license. Before installing, it is recommended to review the source code and license to ensure compliance with your usage standards.

Conclusion

This plugin solves the context pollution issue in DeepSeek Harness through lightweight side-panel interaction. For more details and source code, visit GitHub.