Introduction

When DeepSeek Harness (DSH) runs in the background, users can easily overlook task completion status. Existing notification mechanisms or in-window DOM updates are not intuitive enough when switching away from the window. The dsh-done-badge plugin uses the native Windows taskbar interface to continuously display the number of completed tasks on the taskbar icon while the window is minimized or away.

Plugin Purpose

This plugin is maintained by SkuraSshly and released under the MIT License. The core problem it solves is: while the user is away from the DSH window, how to provide feedback on background task completion through the system-native UI.

Core Features

  • Tasks completed while away → the taskbar badge remains visible, with the count accumulating in real time.
  • Subagent sessions are not counted: launching multiple subagents for one task only adds +1.
  • Switching back to the main UI → the badge stays visible for 2 seconds so it can be read, then disappears and does not reappear.
  • Serial update queue: the badge does not retain stale values due to out-of-order PowerShell completions.
  • Zero dependencies: uses only the system-provided PowerShell; no runtimes need to be installed.

Installation and Activation

Install via CLI:

dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-done-badge

After installation, restart DSH Web or the desktop app for the changes to take effect.

Usage Example

  1. Send a message → minimize/switch away from DSH.
  2. For each task completed in the background, a red numeric badge appears on the DSH icon in the taskbar (displays the number of completed tasks and stays visible).
  3. Switch back to the main UI → the badge remains for about 2 seconds, then disappears and the count resets to zero.

How It Works and Notes

The plugin counts by listening to the turn/end event of session/event. The server calls assets/badge.ps1 (a zero-dependency script) through a serial queue and uses the native Windows ITaskbarList3::SetOverlayIcon interface to update the taskbar.

Locating the main window depends on the window title Deepseek Harness Desktop. If the taskbar badge does not appear, check the following logs:
* %TEMP%\dsh-done-badge-helper.log: helper invocation records (including the window handle).
* %TEMP%\dsh-done-badge-events.log: event chain logs (automatically rotated at 1 MB).

Notes:
* Supports only Windows taskbar badges. macOS does not currently support native badges; only in-window DOM badges are available.
* Zero dependencies; uses only the system-provided PowerShell.
* The serial update queue ensures that the badge does not retain stale values caused by out-of-order PowerShell completions.

Summary

dsh-done-badge provides native background task feedback for DSH. For further implementation details, see the GitHub source (https://github.com/SkuraSshly/dsh-done-badge).