Introduction

In the development workflow of DeepSeek Harness (DSH), project handover documentation often relies on outdated README files or verbal transfer, causing slow onboarding for new engineers and easy loss of critical information. dsh-project-handbook aims to convert a repository into an evidence-backed, immediately actionable project handover and onboarding handbook through automated scanning and structured templates.

Plugin Overview

This is an enterprise-grade project handover and onboarding handbook generator maintained by Gan-lang under the MIT License. It uses deterministic repository scanning and documentation quality gates to ensure that generated documentation is grounded in evidence rather than speculation, and supports multiple technology stacks.

Core Features

The plugin provides the following core capabilities:
1. Documentation Generation: Automatically generates project handover documentation with 15 sections, an onboarding checklist, a glossary, and an operations runbook.
2. Repository Reconnaissance: Performs deterministic scanning to identify programming languages, manifests, framework signals, CI jobs, deployment artifacts, environment variables, migration scripts, test layout, Git history, and technical debt markers.
3. Stack Awareness: Provides targeted reconnaissance playbooks for Java/Spring, Go, Python, Node/TypeScript, frontend, data/AI, and legacy operations projects.
4. Quality Gates: Checks documentation completeness, placeholder completion, referenced path validity, script-definition consistency, sensitive information leaks, and conflicts with the evidence base.
5. Safe Mode: Uses a read-only reconnaissance mode and does not run builds, migrations, or deployments, ensuring safety.

Installation and Enabling

Install through the DeepSeek Harness plugin management tool:

dsh plugin --profile web add github:Gan-lang/dsh-project-handbook

After installation, add the plugin to the bundle list in $DSH_HOME/profiles/web/package.json and restart dsh web.

Usage

Interactive Use:
Ask the model directly in any session:

Generate the handover documentation for this project. Make it enterprise project-level and suitable for newcomers to start with directly.

Standalone Script Execution:
The scripts included in the plugin can also be run standalone in a local Node.js environment.

  1. Repository reconnaissance:
node skills/project-handbook/scripts/project-inventory.mjs --root . --out .handover/inventory.json
  1. Documentation quality gate check:
node skills/project-handbook/scripts/check-handbook.mjs .handover/PROJECT-HANDBOOK.md \
  --root . \
  --facts .handover/inventory.json \
  --profile standard \
  --report .handover/check-report.md

Output Structure

After scanning completes, the following files are generated under the .handover/ directory:
- PROJECT-HANDBOOK.md: A 15-section project handover handbook.
- ONBOARDING-CHECKLIST.md: A first-day/first-week onboarding checklist.
- GLOSSARY.md: A domain and internal terminology glossary.
- RUNBOOK.md: Fault cards, release processes, and data repair guidelines.
- inventory.json / .md: The evidence base for all claims.
- check-report.md: The quality gate check report.

System Requirements and Limitations

  • Environment Requirements: Node.js version must be ^22.19.0 || >=24.0.0, with no runtime dependencies.
  • DSH Dependencies: The DSH host must provide the @deepseek-ai/dsh-skill-filesystem skill.
  • Operating Mode: Only read-only reconnaissance is supported; scripts cannot execute build, migration, or deployment operations.

Summary

dsh-project-handbook transforms project handover from “documentation writing” into “repository fact extraction and validation,” helping teams build a maintainable and auditable technical knowledge base.