DSH’s core philosophy is “everything is a plugin.” When developing agentic applications, allowing the assistant to interact directly with a browser or desktop apps is a common requirement. Existing approaches often require introducing an additional Electron runtime or browser environment, increasing complexity. The dsh-unified-computer-use plugin provides a lightweight solution: it leverages the locally installed Chrome browser and supports controlling native applications.

This is a client plugin maintained by xiaoiver. Its core value is enabling the DSH assistant to open, read, and operate web pages, as well as view and control local applications. The browser uses the locally installed Google Chrome and runs in a separate window.

Core Features

  • Operate web content
  • Operate local applications
  • Use the installed Google Chrome
  • Native app picture-in-picture
  • Detect system permissions

Installation and Activation

  1. In DSH Desktop’s “Plugins” menu, click “Add Plugin”.
  2. Enter the following installation command:
    github:xiaoiver/dsh-unified-computer-use#v0.2.0-alpha.7
  1. After installation and activation, fully quit and reopen DSH Desktop.

Typical Usage

  • Web operations: Directly ask the assistant to open example.com and report the page title.
  • Text processing: Ask the assistant to summarize the page that was just opened.
  • Calculation: Use the local calculator to complete 123 + 456 = 579.
  • Permission management: In the plugin settings, click “Authorize required permissions”.

Settings

On the plugin detail page, you can configure the following:
* Native app operations: Turning off this option retains only Chrome web operations.
* macOS system permissions: Detect Accessibility and Screen Recording status. Click the button to request permissions or open System Privacy Settings.
* Advanced settings: Adjust invocation timeout, idle release time, and the native target count limit.

Notes

  • The browser uses a separate window and does not reuse the login state or tabs from your daily Chrome.
  • It does not currently take over existing browser windows.
  • File upload and download are not currently available.
  • Real-time picture-in-picture currently supports macOS native applications only.
  • The first use of the native helper requires downloading approximately 47MB from GitHub.
  • Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions are required.

Once these steps are complete, the DSH assistant can operate web pages and local applications. The plugin directory and GitHub repository are available from the links below.