dsh purge vs uninstall: DSH plugin data on DeepSeek Harness

dsh purge is not an official DeepSeek Harness command — the official CLI has no purge subcommand at all; dsh-purge is a community DSH plugin, and "purge" in the sense of wiping data means deleting directories under $DSH_HOME (source). Most people who search the term mash three different things into one: a command that does not exist, a plugin whose name collides, and the instinct to "clear everything". This article does not repeat uninstall steps — those live in uninstall DeepSeek Harness commands. It does one thing: draw the line between a data wipe (the "purge" instinct) and uninstalling a DSH plugin, then cover when to wipe, how to do it at the file layer, and what mis-clearing costs. If you first want the concept itself, see what is dsh purge; to look a plugin up by name, use DSH Plugin Hub.

Three look-alikes: dsh purge, dsh-purge (a DSH plugin) and "wiping data"

dsh purge, dsh-purge and "wiping data" are three different things: dsh purge is a subcommand that does not exist, dsh-purge is a community DSH plugin, and "purging the data" means deleting the $DSH_HOME directory. Where each comes from, exactly which entry modes the official CLI has, and what the dsh-purge plugin really does are all spelled out in what is dsh purge, so this article does not repeat them. Just remember one thing: purge is not an official command — get that right and the boundary and file-layer steps below start from the correct premise.

The boundary between a wipe and uninstalling a DSH plugin

Wiping data (purge) touches the contents of the data directory, while uninstalling a DSH plugin touches the dependency manifest and the load list — the two never substitute for each other. Side by side, the boundary is obvious:

The two mistakes people make most are mirror images of each other:

1. Wanting to drop one plugin, they wipe the data: sessions, keys and other plugins go with it, at a cost far beyond the benefit. Dropping a plugin should go through remove only.
2. Wanting a fresh start, they uninstall a plugin only: remove takes out just that one package, while settings.yaml, session logs and other plugins all remain — it never "cleans up", and it leaves override lines in cordis.patch.yml.

This is why "uninstall ≠ delete sessions ≠ wipe data" are three independent things. The only decision that matters is one sentence: are you deleting "one plugin's registration" or "the contents of the whole data directory"? The former goes through remove; only the latter is a file-layer delete. What residue exists and how to clear it layer by layer is in uninstall leftovers — out of scope here.

When to wipe, how to do it, and what an accidental wipe costs

Only wipe the data directory when you are certain you want a factory-fresh state; to drop one plugin day to day, always use remove. There is no official command for wiping, so every step is a file-layer action — think each one through. In order:

1. Decide the scope first: do you want "drop one plugin", "clear chat history only", or "reset the whole install"? Expected result: three answers map to three operations, so settle it before you touch anything and avoid deleting something you wanted to keep.
2. Back up everything first (the only safety net before deleting):

cp -r "$DSH_HOME" "$DSH_HOME.bak"

Expected result: a full copy containing config, keys, sessions and plugins, ready to restore at any time. 3. Reset just one profile: delete its directory and it rebuilds on next launch.

rm -rf "$DSH_HOME/profiles/web"

Expected result: dsh web recreates a brand-new web profile on next launch, and third-party plugins you installed must be reinstalled — this is a controlled partial wipe. 4. Reset the whole install: delete the entire data directory.

rm -rf "$DSH_HOME"

Expected result: the directory is gone; after reinstall you are factory-fresh and must re-enter model keys. 5. Clear chat history only, keeping config and plugins: stop dsh first, then delete just the sessions directory.

cp -r "$DSH_HOME/sessions" "$DSH_HOME/sessions.bak" && rm -rf "$DSH_HOME/sessions"

Expected result: sessions are emptied; config, keys and installed plugins are untouched. 6. Verify: run echo $DSH_HOME to confirm the path and ls "$DSH_HOME" to check whether the directory is still there. Expected result: the state matches the scope you chose in step 1.

Remember an accidental wipe as "delete the wrong layer, lose that layer": delete sessions and you lose chat history; delete profiles/<name> and you lose every third-party plugin and local config for that profile; delete the whole $DSH_HOME and keys, sessions and plugins go together — and there is no recycle bin. The only thing that saves you is the backup in step 2 — so "back up before you delete" is not a courtesy, it is a hard precondition for this kind of operation.

When you cannot tell which layer to clear, do not rush to delete — open the "Installed" list in DSH Plugin Hub, see exactly which plugins you have and each one's source and version, then decide whether to drop a single plugin or wipe the whole data directory.

Sources: dsh CLI README, deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness, Community plugin repo - dsh-purge, dsh-purge plugin entry.