During the use of DeepSeek Harness (DSH), compaction operations (whether triggered automatically or executed via the /compact command) generate summary information. This information is usually displayed only in the current terminal or interface, without persistent storage. If you need to recall the compaction result at a specific point in time or troubleshoot issues, there is often no direct data source. The dsh-workspace-history plugin addresses this issue by recording each compaction summary to the workspace filesystem and providing a visual interface for review.

Core Capabilities

The plugin persists each compaction summary to the workspace directory. Each compaction operation corresponds to an independent Markdown file, with a filename based on a Unix timestamp and a short session ID. The file header includes the full session ID, workspace path, and compaction statistics, facilitating later troubleshooting.

In the Workspace Overview tab, the plugin adds a History sub-tab. Assuming the dsh-workspace-overview plugin is installed, this sub-tab lists log entries in reverse chronological order, and clicking one renders the specific summary content on the right side. Recording is enabled by default, and can be disabled at any time in granular settings.

Installation and Activation

Before installation, make sure DeepSeek Harness has been installed and a profile has been configured (for example, web).

  1. Create the plugin directory and clone the dependencies and plugin source code:
mkdir -p ~/dsh-plugins && cd ~/dsh-plugins
git clone https://github.com/joao-paulo-santos/dsh-granular-settings.git
git clone https://github.com/joao-paulo-santos/dsh-workspace-overview.git
git clone https://github.com/joao-paulo-santos/dsh-workspace-history.git
  1. Use pnpm to add the plugins to the current profile:
pnpm dsh plugin --profile web add ~/dsh-plugins/dsh-granular-settings
pnpm dsh plugin --profile web add ~/dsh-plugins/dsh-workspace-overview
pnpm dsh plugin --profile web add ~/dsh-plugins/dsh-workspace-history
  1. Verify that the configuration has been merged correctly:
pnpm dsh --profile web --dump-config

After completing the steps above, restart Harness. The History sub-tab will then appear in Workspace Overview.

Typical Usage

  1. In the granular settings tab, ensure the “Save compaction history” toggle is enabled.
  2. Go to the Workspace Overview tab and click the History sub-tab.
  3. Select a record in the left list; the right side will display the Markdown-format summary for that compaction.

Dependencies and Notes

The plugin has explicit dependencies.

  • Hard dependency: The dsh-granular-settings plugin must be installed. This plugin provides the toggle control for “Save compaction history”; without it, the plugin cannot run.
  • Optional dependency: dsh-workspace-overview provides the UI for the History sub-tab; installing it enables the visualization feature. dsh-md-view is used to render summaries in Markdown format, and installing it improves the reading experience.

All log files are stored uniformly in the <workspace>/.dsh/history/ folder under the workspace directory. Additionally, the plugin writes diagnostic information to .dsh/history/.diag.log.

Summary

dsh-workspace-history persists a record of each compaction operation in DeepSeek Harness through the filesystem, providing developers with auditable log management capabilities. If you need to track workspace state changes over the long term, this is an essential auxiliary tool.

GitHub: https://github.com/joao-paulo-santos/dsh-workspace-history