Introduction

In the plugin ecosystem of DeepSeek Harness (DSH), ds-notify-plugin provides a way to receive conversation completion status on the Windows desktop. While developers wait for long responses to be generated, they often need to switch screens or handle other tasks, which can easily lead to missing the completion signal of the main conversation. This plugin monitors the status of the main conversation and displays a native Windows notification banner in the bottom-right corner of the taskbar, allowing you to stay aware of progress even when you are not looking at the screen.

Plugin Overview

This plugin is maintained by JohnWes7 and is open-sourced under the MIT License. It is designed for the Windows platform and relies only on the system’s built-in PowerShell and WinRT, introducing no third-party dependencies.

Core Features

  • Windows-only: The plugin supports only Windows 10/11 and automatically becomes inactive on non-Windows platforms.
  • Main conversation only: Notifications are triggered only when the root node (main conversation) completes a turn. Sub-agents or workflow agents do not generate interruptions.
  • Displays conversation title: The notification content includes the current conversation title (whether automatically generated or manually renamed). If no title exists, fixed text is displayed.
  • Debounced merging: Continuous completion signals within 1.5 seconds are merged into a single notification to avoid frequent pop-ups.
  • Zero dependencies: It uses the built-in PowerShell and WinRT, requiring no additional modules.
  • No modification of dsh files: The plugin is mounted through the Bundle mechanism, so upgrading DSH will not overwrite or break it.

Installation and Activation

Before installation, ensure that Windows 10 or 11 is installed and the system’s powershell.exe is available.

  1. Run the installation command in the terminal:
    dsh plugin --profile web add ds-notify-plugin
  1. After installation, you must restart dsh to load the plugin.

Typical Usage

While the main conversation is generating a response, you can close the dsh window or work on other tasks. Once the response is complete, a notification banner containing the conversation title will appear in the bottom-right corner of the Windows taskbar.

To uninstall the plugin, run the following command and then restart dsh:

dsh plugin --profile web remove ds-notify-plugin

Notes

  • Notification source: The plugin displays notifications by borrowing the shortcut identity (AUMID) of PowerShell, so the notification source will show as “Windows PowerShell.” This is normal behavior.
  • Focus Assist interference: If Windows “Focus Assist” or “Do Not Disturb” is enabled, notifications may be silently blocked by the system.
  • Restart requirement: After installing or uninstalling the plugin, dsh must be restarted for the changes to take effect.

Conclusion

For developers who need to maintain state synchronization across multi-turn conversations, this lightweight plugin provides a simple desktop-level feedback mechanism. For more details, see the GitHub repository.