Install a DSH plugin in DeepSeek Harness: 3 entry points

Installing a DSH plugin comes down to three entry points: click-to-install in the DSH Plugin Hub market, install from the command line with dsh plugin --profile web add, or install from a local directory or offline package — choose according to whether you have a UI and whether you have a network.

DSH plugin install overview

This guide answers how to install a DSH plugin with a single three-entry cheat sheet: use the market to save effort, the command line for flexibility, and a local or offline package when the network is restricted. DeepSeek Harness is built on an "everything is a plugin" architecture, so "installing a plugin" really means adding it as a dependency into the current profile directory (default ~/.dsh/profiles/web), which the plugin tree then loads on the next start (source). If you haven't got the host running yet, start with How to install DeepSeek Harness. Compare the three entries first:

In one line: if you have internet and dislike fuss, use the market; if you have internet and want precise control, use the CLI; if you have no internet, use local or offline. All three end at the same action — write the dependency into a profile directory, then restart so it mounts.

Entry one: install from the DSH Plugin Hub market

Installing a DSH plugin from the market means no commands at all: open the market, search or filter by category, click "Install", then confirm "Install now" in the dialog. Its catalog is fed from the same source as dsh-plugin.org, which currently indexes 10,000+ community plugins (source). Go in order:

1. Open "Plugin market" — enter DSH Plugin Hub from the sidebar; it lands on the market by default. Expected: the plugin card list finishes loading, with a search box and a catalog count at the top.
2. Search or narrow by category — search covers plugin name, description and tags; typing the plugin or repo name is most precise. Expected: the list narrows live, with the result count shown above it.
3. Click "Install" on the target card — nothing installs yet; this only opens a confirmation. Expected: a "Confirm install" dialog appears; anything already installed shows "Installed" and follows update semantics.
4. Check the three items, then click "Install now" — verify the plugin name, the source repo and the install command that will run, then confirm. Expected: the dialog switches to live progress and prints output line by line; clicking "Cancel" sends no install request at all.
5. Restart the host as prompted — the result dialog offers "Restart now / Restart later". Expected: after the restart the plugin's capabilities appear and its status dot turns running.

When picking a DeepSeek plugin, check the compatibility badge (verified / unconfirmed) and the last update time on the card before deciding. Hub also takes over "what happens after" an install: the notification center records every install and update success or failure, and a failed one can be filed as an issue in one click; the installed list manages every plugin in the current profile with search, source filtering, update and uninstall. For a click-by-click walkthrough of this path and the confirmation dialog, see DeepSeek Harness plugin install: the shortest path.

Entry two: command line with dsh plugin add (profile ownership)

The unified command-line form is dsh plugin --profile <name> add <package-or-git-ref>, which forwards everything after --profile to pnpm inside that profile's directory (source). The crux is profile ownership: web is the profile the Web UI uses, headless is the no-UI mode, and installing into one only affects that one, leaving the other untouched. Go in order:

1. Start once so the profile initializes — run npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web. Expected: first launch generates the web profile from the bundled template (directory ~/.dsh/profiles/web).
2. Install an npm package — run dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-plugin. Expected: pnpm prints an added line and the dependency is written to the profile's package.json.
3. Install a GitHub repo — run dsh plugin --profile web add github:<owner>/<repo>. Expected: it pulls and installs from the git source, with output like the previous step.
4. Verify the dependency really landed — run dsh plugin --profile web why <package>. Expected: it prints the dependency chain, confirming the package wasn't pulled in indirectly by something else.
5. Restart dsh web — a DSH plugin installed from the CLI also needs a host restart to mount. Expected: the tools or UI entries the plugin provides show up.

# install an npm package
dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-plugin
# install a GitHub repo
dsh plugin --profile web add github:<owner>/<repo>
# confirm why a dependency is installed
dsh plugin --profile web why dsh-plugin

Why have --profile at all? Because DeepSeek Harness isolates "config + plugins" per profile: one profile equals one set of bundle patch layers plus its own node_modules, and the directory you launch dsh from becomes its default workspace root. So a plugin you want in both Web and headless mode must be installed into each. For the command's syntax details, where the action word goes and real plugin examples, see How to install a DSH plugin: the dsh plugin add command.

Entry three: local directory and offline install (works without internet)

When the plugin is source you checked out yourself, or the machine cannot reach npm or GitHub, go local: relative paths (., ../plugin and file:/link: forms) anchor to the directory you run the command from, so add . installs the copy in your hand rather than a same-named package from the internet (source). Go in order:

1. Enter the plugin source directory — run cd ~/code/my-plugin. Expected: pwd points at that directory.
2. Install this directory's copy — run dsh plugin --profile web add .. Expected: pnpm installs from the local path, installing the source you are editing rather than an online package of the same name.
3. Reference a sibling with file: / link: — run dsh plugin --profile web add file:../my-plugin. Expected: it references by file or symlink, so local edits reflect straight into the profile.
4. Switch to an offline method — with no internet, use an offline package or an internal npm mirror to avoid any public request. Expected: the install succeeds without touching the public network.

Why keep this path separate? Because intranet development, editing a plugin yourself and reproducing CI all need to bypass the public network: a local directory lets you edit and try as you go, and an offline package lets a closed network install plugins in bulk. For the details, see Install from a local directory and Offline install.

Notes and limits for using DSH plugins

1. A plugin belongs only to the profile it was installed into — one installed in web does not carry over to headless; switching profiles means installing again.
2. A restart is usually needed — the files are already in the profile, but the plugin tree loads them on the next start; restarting doesn't lose files, it just mounts them.
3. A first add of a git-source plugin can fail — pnpm 10 and later blocks build scripts for git dependencies by default; copy the allowBuilds key it prints into the profile's pnpm-workspace.yaml and rerun.
4. Installing means running third-party code — a plugin executes on your machine once installed, so read the source repo first and skip anything with unknown origins.
5. Don't mix the three entries — don't install the same plugin from both the market and the CLI; it causes version drift, so treat the version in the installed list as the truth.
6. Versions change — DeepSeek Harness is in developer preview and the vendor states breaking changes are coming (source), so treat the UI copy and commands as version-specific.

Rather than digging through docs and hand-typing dsh plugin add for every package name while checking the source yourself, put search, one-click install, the confirmation dialog and installed-plugin management on one screen with the market in DSH Plugin Hub.

Source: dsh CLI README, dsh CLI behavior reference, dshplugin/dsh-plugin-hub