DSH Crew
A DeepSeek Harness plugin: dispatch work to DSH agents from Claude Code / Codex / Antigravity / Grok, without giving up the host's native subagent UI.
Native Progress UI • Tier Policy & Escalation • Dispatch Guardrails • Jobs Board • In-Host DSH Sessions • Vision & Image Gen (Native-First) • One-Click Install
npm: @zseven-w/dsh-crew · Current plugin release: 0.1.0-rc.4 · Tested with DSH 0.1.1-rc.1
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The DSH Crew settings page — host integrations, dispatch policy, execution and the multimodal bridge
## Why DSH Crew
DSH Crew is a plugin for [DeepSeek Harness](https://github.com/deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness) (DSH) — an open-source agent harness. It makes DSH agents dispatchable from Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity and Grok: the orchestrator keeps its own model, the work runs on a real DSH agent with that harness's tools, sandbox, presets and session history, and the host still shows it as a native subagent with live progress.
What runs the work is a DSH agent, not a bare model call. Tiers (`flash` / `pro`) select how much capability that agent gets from the harness's configured roster — DeepSeek V4 Flash and V4 Pro today — so a change of model in DSH needs no change here.
|
### 🧵 Native Progress UI
Workers appear as regular subagents in Claude Code / Codex / Antigravity / Grok — dispatch count, running step, tool calls and token usage all show up in the host's own task panel, plus a claude-hud statusline segment: `⚙dsh 1▶pro 2m14s 21.7k/606 ✓3`.
|
### 🎚️ Tier Policy and Escalation
`flash` for mechanical work, `pro` for reasoning, `effort` from `off` to `max`. `tier_policy` can clamp every dispatch to one tier at the tool layer, and `escalate_on_failure` retries a failed flash run once on pro — based on evidence, not on guessing difficulty up front.
|
|
### 🏛️ In-Host DSH Sessions
With the bundle installed in a DSH profile, each worker is a first-class DSH session: visible in the Web UI, grouped by working directory, mounted with the Agent preset you choose per tier. Without DSH running, dispatch falls back to a standalone DSH runtime, so CI and headless environments still work.
|
### 👁️ Vision and Image Generation
DSH's models are text-only. `describe_image` now prefers DeepSeek's own VL model (`deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp`) whenever a key is available, then falls back to the CLIs you already have — Claude, Codex, Grok, Antigravity — or any OpenAI-compatible API you configure. `generate_image` borrows the same CLIs' brush. Pasted images stay visible in the conversation and reach the model as text.
|
|
### 🛡️ Dispatch Guardrails
Every dispatch is checked before anything spawns. Worker→worker nesting is capped at origin-chain depth 3 and cycles are refused; a second worker on a workspace another job already holds is refused with the holder's info — never silently queued. Refusals are readable errors: wait or re-scope, don't bypass.
|
### 📋 Jobs Board
The DSH Crew panel doubles as a jobs board: every worker job — running or finished — is listed with tier, effort, live progress and tokens, held workspaces show their holders, and a job that vanishes mid-flight (e.g. a hub restart) is surfaced as an orphan ghost instead of disappearing silently.
|
|
### 🔌 Custom Providers
Bring your own endpoint (Base URL + API key + models) or a local command template. Each provider has a connectivity test that checks reachability and auth, then makes one real vision call so you find out now, not mid-task.
|
### 📦 One-Click Install
The settings page installs and updates the Claude Code plugin, the Codex role files and the Antigravity / Grok agents, skills and commands for you — marketplace registration, permission allowlist, HUD wiring, absolute paths rendered for this machine — and restores them just as easily. Every settings file is backed up first.
|
## How it works
```
Claude Code / Codex / Antigravity / Grok (orchestrator, keeps its own model)
└─ ds-flash / ds-pro ← native subagent shell (progress shows in the host's task UI)
└─ MCP: dsh_run_worker(tier, effort, cwd, worker=)
├─ worker="agy"/"grok" → that external CLI runs the task (explicit opt-in)
├─ hub reachable → session inside DSH (visible in the Web UI, grouped by cwd)
└─ otherwise → dsh-jsonrpc-agent runtime (worker.cordis.yml)
└─ DeepSeek V4 Flash / Pro (DSH SDK, event stream → progress and token stats)
```
## One run, two views
Dispatch fans out. Below, eighteen workers translate this README in parallel: the host counts them as its own subagents, while the harness runs them as real sessions.
Claude Code sees dsh-crew workers as native subagents, with a statusline segment tracking running tiers, elapsed time and tokens.
The DSH Crew panel sees the same run from the harness side: which host dispatched each job, its tier and effort, live progress and token usage.
The panel is also the jobs board: running and finished jobs stay listed with tier, progress and tokens, held workspaces name their holders, and a job that vanishes mid-flight (a hub restart) surfaces as an orphan ghost instead of disappearing silently.
## Install
Install into a DSH profile from npm:
```bash
dsh plugin --profile web add @zseven-w/dsh-crew@latest
dsh web
```
Or, for local development straight from the source tree:
```bash
dsh plugin --profile web add link:/path/to/dsh-crew
dsh web
```
The `link:` protocol symlinks the profile dependency to this repository, so rebuilds are visible immediately.
### Configure DeepSeek credentials (standalone only)
In hub mode — the installation above — workers run inside the DSH instance and use the DeepSeek credentials it is already configured with. Nothing else to set up.
Only the standalone fallback needs a key of its own: dispatching from a host with no DSH instance running launches a worker runtime as a separate process. Obtain an API key from [platform.deepseek.com](https://platform.deepseek.com) and write it to `~/.config/dsh-crew/.env`:
```
DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=sk-...
```
### Verify
```bash
node scripts/smoke.mjs
```
The smoke test dispatches one cheap job through whichever path is available — the hub when a DSH instance is running, standalone otherwise — and prints which one it used. Within about ten seconds you should see `smoke test passed — configuration OK`. On failure the reason is printed, scoped to the path that was tested.
Then open Settings → DSH Crew and install the host integrations — Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, Grok — with one click, or drive the same installer from the command line:
```bash
node src/install/cli.mjs claude # Claude Code plugin: marketplace + permissions + HUD segment
node src/install/cli.mjs codex # Codex agents + prompts
node src/install/cli.mjs agy # Antigravity MCP config + agents + skills
node src/install/cli.mjs grok # Grok MCP config + agents + commands
node src/install/cli.mjs all # all four hosts at once
# uninstall symmetrically (uninstall-claude | uninstall-codex | uninstall-agy | uninstall-grok):
node src/install/cli.mjs uninstall-claude
```
## Background and terminology
- **DSH** (DeepSeek Harness): DeepSeek's open-source agent harness, a code agent in Web UI form, similar to Claude Code but driving DeepSeek models.
- **MCP** (Model Context Protocol): Anthropic's AI tool integration protocol, enables LLMs to safely call external tools and data sources.
- **Cordis bundle**: DSH's plugin format; this project can run standalone as an MCP service or install into DSH Web as hub mode.
- **tier**: capability tier — which slot of DSH's configured model roster a worker gets. `flash` is fast and cheap (simple tasks), `pro` reasons harder (complex problems). Today they map to DeepSeek V4 Flash and V4 Pro; swap models in DSH and nothing changes here.
- **worker**: the DSH agent doing the work — a full session with its own tools, sandbox and preset, not a bare model call.
- **effort**: reasoning strength, `off` = no reasoning, `high` = high reasoning investment, `max` = maximum reasoning investment.
## Claude Code
### Installation
One-click installation (choose one):
- **DSH settings page** (when hub mode is installed): Settings → DSH Crew → "Install to Claude Code"
- **Command line**: `node src/install/cli.mjs all`
Both do the same thing: register local marketplace (parent directory `dsh-plugins/` as marketplace root) + `claude plugin install` + MCP tool permission allowlist + claude-hud worker status segment config (auto-backup settings.json before changes, idempotent). **Restart the session after installation for changes to take effect.**
### Usage
- Directly in conversation, say "dispatch X to ds-flash" or "dispatch X to ds-pro", and subagent executes the task
- Dispatch count and real-time progress shown in Claude Code task UI
- **HUD status line segment**: `⚙dsh 1▶pro 2m14s 21.7k/606 ✓3` (current tier / elapsed time / token usage / completion count)
- For local development, `statusline/statusline.sh` or `statusline/worker-segment.sh` can be independently integrated
- **Long-running tasks**: CC has timeout limits on MCP calls (`MCP_TOOL_TIMEOUT` adjustable), long tasks can have orchestrator use `dsh_spawn_worker` + `dsh_worker_result(wait_seconds)` polling
- **Local development and debugging**: `claude --plugin-dir /path/to/dsh-crew` to temporarily load
### Session commands
These override the global defaults for the current session only, and are enforced at the tool layer rather than by prompting:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `/dsh-crew:config` | Show or set this session's defaults: `tier=flash\|pro`, `effort=off\|high\|max`, `mode=auto\|hub\|standalone`, `timeout=`, `policy=auto\|flash-only\|pro-only`, `escalate=true\|false`, `reset` |
| `/dsh-crew:on` · `/dsh-crew:off` | Turn dispatch for this session on or off (off is a hard switch: the tool refuses) |
| `/dsh-crew:status` | Live status of worker jobs: tier, progress, tokens, current tool |
| `/dsh-crew:playbook` | Dispatch best practices: choosing flash vs pro, self-contained briefs, parallelism, verifying results, guardrails |
## Codex
### Installation
Recommended to use the installer (auto-renders paths for this machine, copies the `/dsh-config`, `/dsh-status` and `/dsh-playbook` prompts):
```bash
node src/install/cli.mjs codex
```
Or manually copy (requires manual path modification after copying):
```bash
cp codex/agents/*.toml ~/.codex/agents/ # global or project-level .codex/agents/
```
Role files come pre-configured with:
- MCP server mounting configuration
- `default_tools_approval_mode = "approve"` (**required**, otherwise tool calls are auto-cancelled in exec mode)
- `tool_timeout_sec = 3600`
**Note**: When manually copying, absolute paths in the `args` field must be updated to match actual installation location; the installer handles this automatically.
### Usage
- In interactive TUI, select "spawn ds-pro to ..." to dispatch tasks; Active/Done panels show progress
- `codex exec` mode can also directly call `dsh_run_worker`
### Session commands
Three prompts are installed for Codex:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `/dsh-config` | Show or set this session's defaults: `tier=flash\|pro`, `effort=off\|high\|max`, `mode=auto\|hub\|standalone`, `timeout=`, `policy=auto\|flash-only\|pro-only`, `escalate=true\|false`, `reset` |
| `/dsh-status` | Live status of worker jobs: tier, progress, tokens, current tool |
| `/dsh-playbook` | Dispatch best practices: choosing flash vs pro, self-contained briefs, parallelism, verifying results, guardrails |
## Antigravity (agy)
### Installation
```bash
node src/install/cli.mjs agy
```
Registers the dsh-crew MCP server in `~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json` and installs the `ds-flash` / `ds-pro` agents plus the `dsh-config`, `dsh-status` and `dsh-playbook` skills into `~/.gemini/config/` (all files backed up first). Restart the session after installation.
### Usage
- Pick `ds-flash` or `ds-pro` as the agent to dispatch tasks
- `dsh_worker_config` reads or overrides the session defaults
### Session skills
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| `/dsh-config` | Show or set this session's defaults (tier / effort / mode / timeout / policy / escalation / reset) |
| `/dsh-status` | Live status of worker jobs: tier, progress, tokens, current tool |
| `/dsh-playbook` | Dispatch best practices: choosing flash vs pro, self-contained briefs, parallelism, verifying results, guardrails |
### Caveats
- agy runs workers with **full approval** (`--dangerously-skip-permissions` + accept-edits): agy 1.1.16 has no workspace-scoped permission mode, so a headless worker must auto-approve tool requests.
Uninstall: `node src/install/cli.mjs uninstall-agy`
## Grok
### Installation
```bash
node src/install/cli.mjs grok
```
Writes the `[mcp_servers.dsh-crew]` section into `~/.grok/config.toml` and installs the `ds-flash` / `ds-pro` agents plus the `/dsh-config`, `/dsh-status` and `/dsh-playbook` commands into `~/.grok/` (all files backed up first).
### Usage
- Pick `ds-flash` or `ds-pro` as the agent to dispatch tasks
### Session commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `/dsh-config` | Show or set this session's defaults (tier / effort / mode / timeout / policy / escalation / reset) |
| `/dsh-status` | Live status of worker jobs: tier, progress, tokens, current tool |
| `/dsh-playbook` | Dispatch best practices: choosing flash vs pro, self-contained briefs, parallelism, verifying results, guardrails |
### Caveats
- By security design, grok does not start repo-level MCP servers in untrusted project directories (`grok mcp doctor` reports "folder untrusted"); a global install is unaffected — change directory or pass `--trust`.
- grok workers run with `bypassPermissions` (always-approve, as the grok docs recommend for headless automation); deny rules and hooks still apply.
Uninstall: `node src/install/cli.mjs uninstall-grok`
## MCP tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| `dsh_run_worker` | Blocking task dispatch (`tier`: flash/pro, `effort`: off/high/max, `cwd`, `worker`), waits for result |
| `dsh_spawn_worker` | Async dispatch, returns job id (for parallel fan-out); collect results with `dsh_worker_result` |
| `dsh_worker_status` | Real-time progress of all jobs (turn/step/current tool/token) + cwd advisory locks |
| `dsh_worker_result` | Fetch result, can specify `wait_seconds` to wait |
| `dsh_worker_cancel` | Cancel specified job, terminate its runtime process |
| `dsh_worker_config` | Read/set session defaults (tier, effort, mode, timeout, policy, escalation) and list `worker_profiles` |
Progress is simultaneously mirrored to `~/.config/dsh-crew/status.d/` (one shard file per writer, can be read by statusline / external monitoring).
## Dispatch guardrails
Every dispatch is checked before anything spawns — refusals are readable errors, never silent queues:
- **Origin chain**: each dispatch appends a hop to the worker→worker origin chain. Nesting deeper than the cap (`origin_depth_limit`, default 3) is refused, and so is any cycle (the same backend + cwd appearing twice) — the guard that stops recursive worker self-amplification.
- **cwd advisory lock**: one running worker per workspace. A second dispatch into a held workspace is refused with the holder's job id, backend and start time — wait for it to settle, cancel it with `dsh_worker_cancel`, or pass `allow_concurrent_cwd: true` (read-only tasks only).
## Dispatch playbook
How to dispatch *well* — flash vs pro, self-contained briefs, safe parallelism, verifying results, and the guardrails above — is bundled as a per-host playbook: `/dsh-crew:playbook` (Claude Code skill), `/dsh-playbook` (Codex prompt, Antigravity skill, Grok command).
## Explicit CLI backends
`worker="agy"` / `worker="grok"` pins a dispatch to that external CLI (backend × model × effort) instead of the DSH tier logic. It is explicit opt-in — there is no default, so set it only when the user asks for that CLI. Caveats: grok refuses to start repo-local MCP servers in untrusted folders, and agy runs workers with full approval (no workspace-scoped permission mode).
## Multimodal: vision and image generation
**DeepSeek is a text-only model** and does not support image input or generation. This plugin sources these capabilities externally through MCP tools:
**Native vision first**: when the vision provider is a built-in CLI (or explicitly `native`), `describe_image` first tries DeepSeek's own VL model `deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp` (direct API call; key from `DEEPSEEK_API_KEY` or `~/.config/dsh-crew/.env`). Any failure degrades gracefully to the CLI provider chain below, which is kept as the fallback. Image generation is untouched — the native model only ever looks at pictures.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| `describe_image` | Answer questions by viewing images (screenshots, designs, charts, etc.), results cached by provider + model + image + question |
| `generate_image` | Generate image from text description, save to specified absolute path; output is flat bitmap (requires OpenPencil for layer editing) |
**Session image pasting**: In DSH, switch model to `DeepSeek (vision) ◉` to directly paste images. Images remain in session and display normally; the plugin appends transcribed text after them and strips images before sending—you see the image, the model reads the text. The transcription follows the same native-first ladder: DeepSeek's VL model when a key is available, then your configured CLI provider.
### Configuration
In **DSH settings page → DSH Crew → Multimodal** (or directly edit `~/.config/dsh-crew/config.json`):
**Vision provider** (image viewing):
- `native` / `deepseek-native` (DeepSeek's own VL model — tried first automatically for every built-in provider whenever a key is available)
- `claude-code` (default, uses haiku, inexpensive)
- `codex` (uses GPT, can specify specific model)
- `grok` (uses Grok)
- `agy` (Antigravity)
- `custom` (OpenAI-compatible API or local command)
- `off` (disabled)
**Image generation provider** (image generation):
- `codex` (`$imagegen`, gpt-image-2)
- `agy` (Nano Banana)
- `grok` (Imagine)
- `custom` (OpenAI-compatible API or local command)
- `off` (disabled)
### Custom provider
Two integration methods:
**API**: Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
- Fill Base URL, API Key, model list
- Vision uses `/chat/completions` with inline base64 images
- Image generation uses `/images/generations`
- **Must specify "image generation model" to have generation capability**, otherwise provider only appears in vision selection
**CLI**: Local command template, placeholders substituted with safe references
- Vision: `{image} {question} {model}` → stdout as answer
- Image generation: `{prompt} {output} {size}` → command must write file to `{output}`
- Fill at least one command; whichever is filled determines capability
**Connectivity test**: Each custom provider has a test button
- API: Check endpoint reachability, auth, send real vision request to verify
- CLI: Check executable file, run real command to verify
- Image generation: Validate config only, no actual image output
**Borrowed subscription CLIs** (claude / codex / grok / agy) require you to be logged in locally; the plugin won't bypass their permissions for you.
## Hub mode
This package is also a valid DSH bundle (`dsh.bundle` + `cordis.patch.yml`). After installing into DSH Web profile with `dsh plugin add dsh-crew`:
- **Worker sessions become first-class citizens**: run as first-class sessions in DSH host (`agents.create` + per-session model/effort waterfall + default preset), appear in Web UI session list, can be opened anytime to view complete execution
- **Organize by working directory**: manage worker sessions by cwd in Web UI
- **Loopback API**:
- `POST/GET /_dsh/dsh-crew/jobs`: spawn tasks, list, long-poll results, cancel
- `GET /_dsh/dsh-crew/ping`: health check (MCP shim uses this to detect if hub is running)
- `POST /_dsh/dsh-crew/install`: one-click install of the host integrations — Claude Code / Codex / Antigravity / Grok (backend of `src/install/`)
- **Auto-detection**: the hosts' MCP shim auto-detects hub (`DSH_CREW_HUB` env var, default `http://127.0.0.1:3080`)
- DSH Web running → jobs enter hub mode (`mode: "hub"`)
- Not running → fall back to standalone runtime
## Solution selection and limitations
### Regular subscribers → shell subagent approach (recommended)
- **Current state**: Claude Code subagent shell uses haiku as intermediary; each dispatch adds hundreds to thousands of tokens
- **Trade-off**: Use small amount of Anthropic token in exchange for native task UI, real-time progress display, no extra configuration
- **Recommendation**: If you already subscribe to Claude Pro or use Claude Code, use this approach—convenient and transparent
### Pay-as-you-go / CI environments → direct router approach
- **Current state**: Claude Code subagent frontmatter doesn't support direct third-party model connection; this repo's router experiment in scratchpad requires API-key credentials for Claude Code, but subscription OAuth is blocked upstream by Anthropic with 403
- **Recommendation**:
- If using API-key credentials (not OAuth) and want to save Anthropic tokens, can run local router for direct DeepSeek connection
- CI environments typically also use API keys; this approach is more economical (all DeepSeek tokens)
- Requires self-testing of router integration (not officially supported)
### Running DSH Web → hub mode auto-enabled
- **Current state**: If `dsh plugin add dsh-crew` installed into DSH Web profile, jobs run as first-class sessions in host, appear in Web UI session list
- **Recommendation**: During local development iteration, recommend enabling hub mode; worker progress can be fully observed in Web UI; for cross-machine collaboration or environments without Web UI, use the dispatching-host shell approach
### Known items
- Codex role can theoretically try `model_provider` pointing directly to DeepSeek (unverified); this bridge doesn't depend on it
- Image generation output is flat bitmap; layer editing requires OpenPencil
- **Runtime dependencies**: Only `@modelcontextprotocol/sdk` and `zod`; `@deepseek-ai/*` are host runtime, provided by the DSH host (a plain npm install never pulls them)
- **Codex must configure**: `default_tools_approval_mode = "approve"`, otherwise tool calls are auto-cancelled
## Develop
```bash
pnpm install
node_modules/.bin/tsdown src/client/index.tsx --format cjs --platform browser \
--target es2022 --tsconfig tsconfig.client.json --out-dir .client-build --clean
node scripts/build-client.mjs # wraps the bundle for the DSH module loader
node scripts/smoke.mjs # dispatches one real flash task end to end
```
Runtime dependencies are only `@modelcontextprotocol/sdk` and `zod`; every `@deepseek-ai/*` package is host runtime provided by the DSH host (documented in the package's dshHostRuntime field, not in peerDependencies, so a plain npm install never pulls them), which keeps the plugin inside the host's single module realm.
## Ecosystem
- [DSH Android](https://github.com/ZSeven-W/dsh-android) — a live Android emulator or USB device inside the conversation, driven entirely through adb
- [DSH iOS](https://github.com/ZSeven-W/dsh-ios) — a live iOS Simulator and a USB-connected iPhone, inside the conversation
- [DSH Noema](https://github.com/ZSeven-W/dsh-noema) — long-term memory for DSH
- [DSH OpenPencil](https://github.com/ZSeven-W/dsh-openpencil) — inspect and edit `.op` design documents inside a conversation
## License
MIT