Introduction

The core philosophy of DeepSeek Harness (DSH) is “everything is a plugin,” allowing developers to customize their workflows through extensions. For developers who habitually spend long sessions in a terminal or web interface, on-screen feedback is often limited to text output, which can feel lacking in interactivity. The dsh-ds-vpet plugin aims to provide a visual companion for the DSH web interface through an interaction experience inspired by the “Virtual Desktop Pet Simulator,” while also offering practical utilities.

Plugin Overview

dsh-ds-vpet (DSH Desktop Pet) is maintained by developer Kotegawa-Chisa. It is a client-side plugin for the DSH web environment and does not modify DSH core logic. Through character sprite switching, speech-bubble dialogue, and desktop interactions, it simulates the behavioral patterns of a virtual desktop pet, supports querying account balance via API, and provides visual feedback.

Core Features

  1. Multi-State Sprites and Interactions

    • Sprite switching: Supports three states—normal, waiting (randomly one of two), and celebration after thinking completes—so the sprite automatically changes with the state.
    • Click interaction: Clicking the character triggers a rapid sequence of meows.
    • Drag and zoom: You can hold the mouse and drag to move the pet (the character has a squash-and-stretch deformation effect while dragging), and use the mouse wheel to resize it (30% to 300%).

  2. Time-Based and Dialogue System

    • Time-based speaking: Includes dedicated lines for eight time periods, such as morning, noon rest, and late night.
    • Bilingual support: All lines support real-time switching between Chinese and English.
    • Thinking detection: While the DSH model is in a thinking state, the plugin monitors state changes; after thinking ends, the sprite automatically switches to the celebration state and displays a comment.

  3. Practical Tools

    • Balance counter: Queries the account balance using the DEEPSEEK_API_KEY credential and displays it in real time in the interface. When the balance falls below the configured warning threshold, the counter turns red.
    • Gear settings: Provides a dark blue themed settings panel where you can configure topmost display, balance counter toggle, hide/summon the desktop pet, speaking frequency, and language preference.

  4. Customization

    • Sprite replacement: The plugin relies on PNG files under the assets/ directory. Users can replace 1.png (normal), 2.png and 3.png (waiting), and 4.png (celebration) to change the sprite appearance.

Installation and Enablement

Before installation, make sure DeepSeek Harness is correctly installed and the dsh web service can start normally.

1. Local Path Installation (Recommended)

After cloning or downloading the repository locally, add the plugin using its absolute path:

dsh plugin --profile web add /绝对路径/dsh-ds-vpet

2. GitHub Subpath Installation

dsh plugin --profile web add 'github:<你的用户名>/dsh-ds-vpet#path:/'

3. Post-Installation Configuration

  1. Restart the service: Newly added plugins require restarting dsh web before they can be loaded.
  2. Refresh the page: Refresh the page in the browser (Ctrl+F5). The desktop pet will usually appear in the bottom-right corner of the page.
  3. Open settings: Open DSH settings, find the “Desktop Pet” tab, and adjust parameters such as sprite size, speaking frequency, and language as needed.

Typical Usage

  • Daily Companionship: The plugin automatically triggers greeting or reminder lines based on the current time.
  • Balance Monitoring: Enable the balance counter in settings to monitor API usage quota in real time.
  • Changing the Appearance: Place prepared PNG images with transparent backgrounds in the plugin’s assets/ folder, keep the file names unchanged (such as 1.png), and refresh the page to make the changes take effect.

Notes

  • Display-only plugin: This is a client-side plugin responsible only for interface presentation and interaction; it does not modify DSH core code.
  • API Dependency: The balance counter feature depends on the DEEPSEEK_API_KEY environment variable. If this credential is not configured, balance display will be unavailable.
  • Asset Sources: The built-in sprite assets are sourced from the internet. Users should be mindful of asset copyright when replacing them.
  • Caching Mechanism: Balance query results are cached with a 30-second refresh cycle.

Summary

dsh-ds-vpet is a DSH plugin combining entertainment and practical utility. By simulating the interaction style of a virtual desktop pet, it alleviates the monotony of long command-line sessions, while features such as balance monitoring support development decisions. Developers can customize it into a dedicated coding companion according to their needs by replacing assets and adjusting configuration.

GitHub Repository | Community Directory