Introduction

DeepSeek Harness (DSH) is a development framework based on a plugin architecture. When installing plugins with dsh plugin add in offline environments, pnpm usually fails directly because it must access the network to resolve the npm registry. dsh-plugin-offline-packager solves this pain point: on an online machine, it completes dependency resolution, build, and packaging, generates a self-contained offline installer package, and provides it for use in offline environments. It also supports uploading the packaged result to the dsh-admin plugin marketplace for distribution in offline environments.

Core Features

The plugin provides the following capabilities:

  • Packaging via conversation: Registers the offline-pack tool, which can be invoked via natural language in the DSH Web UI without memorizing commands.
  • Three plugin sources: Supports npm package names (such as @deepseek-ai/dsh-base), GitHub repositories (with branch specification), and local paths.
  • Self-contained offline package: Uses the bundleDependencies mechanism to carry the complete production dependency closure inside the tarball, so offline installation does not require registry access.
  • Intelligent peerDependencies exclusion: Peer dependencies provided by the DSH host are not included in the offline package, avoiding duplication with the host instance or type incompatibility.
  • Automatic build: For GitHub and local sources, the plugin automatically installs dependencies and runs prepare / build, and build artifacts are included directly in the package.
  • Offline metadata: Generates a .meta.json file recording the package name, source, packaging time, DSH version, packager version, and bundled dependency list for auditing.
  • Built-in installation guidance: For pnpm ≥ 11 supply chain policy issues, includes automatically generated offline installation resolution commands.
  • Zero self-dependencies: The plugin itself is bundled as a single file with esbuild, and its installation does not depend on any runtime.
  • Compatibility: Built with @deepseek-ai/dsh-tools@0.1.6-alpha.2 and @deepseek-ai/cordis@^4.0.2, compatible with DSH 0.1.6-alpha.2.

Installation and Enablement

The following prerequisites are required to install this plugin:
* DeepSeek Harness (DSH) is installed, with versions validated on 0.1.5-alpha.1 / 0.1.5-alpha.2 / 0.1.6-alpha.2.
* Node.js >= 22, npm, and pnpm available on the system (dsh plugin depends on it to forward).
* git is required when packaging from a GitHub source.

Run the following commands to install:

# 1. 进入项目目录
cd dsh-plugin-offline-packager

# 2. 安装依赖并构建
npm install

# 3. 安装到 DSH profile（以 web profile 为例）
dsh plugin --profile web add .

After installation, restart DSH. Verify the installation:

dsh --profile web --dump-config | grep offline-packager

Typical Usage

Via AI Conversation

Directly enter natural language instructions in the DSH Web UI:

请将 @deepseek-ai/dsh-base 打包为离线安装包

AI will invoke the offline-pack tool and return the generated file path and the offline installation command.

Via Command Line

Install the generated offline package:

dsh plugin --profile web add ./deepseek-ai-dsh-base-0.1.5-alpha.2.tgz

How It Works

  1. Source retrieval: Places the plugin source into a temporary staging directory based on the source (npm, GitHub, or local path).
  2. Dependencies and build: Installs dependencies and runs build scripts (prepare / build) inside the staging directory.
  3. Packaging: Installs production dependencies (excluding peer dependencies), writes the actual installed top-level dependencies into bundleDependencies, then runs npm pack --ignore-scripts to pack.
  4. Metadata: Generates a .meta.json file containing version, source, and other information.

Scenarios and Caveats

  • Packaging requires network access: The installation side is offline, but the packaging process still needs access to the npm registry or GitHub.
  • Platform consistency: Plugins with native binary dependencies must be packaged on the same platform (OS/arch) as the target offline machine; otherwise, cross-platform optionalDependencies may be unavailable.
  • peerDependencies: The plugin’s peerDependencies are not packaged into the offline package; the target machine must already have the corresponding DSH host framework.
  • Local path limitations: Packaging from a local path does not guarantee success for all projects and may fail due to build errors.
  • pnpm ≥ 11 configuration: If the target machine uses pnpm ≥ 11, the minimumReleaseAge policy is enabled by default, and offline installation may fail because metadata cannot be fetched. Set minimumReleaseAge: 0 in pnpm-workspace.yaml, or append --config.minimum-release-age=0 to the installation command.
  • Windows path limitations: On Windows, the full path containing the .tgz file must not include spaces; otherwise, dsh plugin add reports an ENOENT error.

Summary

This plugin resolves the difficulty of installing DSH plugins directly in offline environments by pre-resolving dependencies and performing builds in an online environment. Developers can generate self-contained .tgz packages that, combined with built-in metadata and installation guidance, enable secure and stable plugin deployment in network-restricted environments.

Plugin Directory
GitHub Repository