Best DSH plugins to install: top DeepSeek Harness picks

DSH plugins fall into UI, sessions, memory, models, tools and agents — with popular picks like sidebar workspaces, terminal interfaces, context visualization, persistent memory, vision add-ons and multi-agent teams. This guide reviews the picks by category, gives a four-step selection method, and ends with one-click installation through DSH Plugin Hub.

Overview: a four-step method for picking a DSH plugin

Pick a DSH plugin in four steps — category, verification status, activity, then install — rather than judging by the name alone. DeepSeek Harness ships only base capabilities; models, tools, interfaces and skills all come in as DSH plugins (source). dsh-plugin.org and DSH Plugin Hub list 4,805 community plugins, 4,401 of them human-curated and verified, so browsing by category gets you to the right plugin fast (source). The method:

1. Pick a category first: want a better UI, look at the UI category; want more models, the model category; want vision for the model, the tooling category — know your need before you browse.
2. Check verification status: verified means compatibility was manually confirmed — prefer these; treat unconfirmed plugins with more caution.
3. Check activity: stars and the last-update time show whether a plugin is maintained; plugins untouched for a long time deserve extra care.
4. Install last: one click in DSH Plugin Hub, or copy the install command from dsh-plugin.org.

Below are representative, popular picks per category.

UI & experience DSH plugins: sidebar and terminal

UI plugins are the most direct way to make DeepSeek Harness easier to use: sidebar workspaces, TUI terminals and balance widgets each have their role. Representative picks:

• dsh-better-sidebar: a sidebar workspace with file, terminal, Git and side-chat pages, extensible through services — around 2,679 stars. Best for users who want the Web UI to feel like an all-in-one workbench.
• deepseek-balance-whale-widget: a corner whale widget showing live DeepSeek balance and today's usage — around 599 stars. Best for heavy users who need to watch their quota.

Sessions, memory & context DSH plugins: smarter conversations

Session and memory plugins make context visible and information persistent — the key to better dialogue quality. Representative picks:

• dsh-context: context visualization and management with a Context panel, browser and /context command — around 917 stars. Best for users who want to know exactly what the model sees.
• mnemon: LLM-supervised persistent cross-session memory with intent-aware recall and dedup on a knowledge graph — around 507 stars. Best for users who want DSH to remember project context across sessions.
• engramory: a portable memory protocol using Markdown files as long-term memory, zero infrastructure — around 169 stars. Best for users who want memory-as-files and full control over the data.

Model & cost DSH plugins: more providers, controlled spend

Model plugins let you use subscription accounts or track token costs — everyday gear for heavy users. Representative picks:

• dsh-plugin-subscriptions: use ChatGPT, Claude and Grok subscriptions as LLM providers without API keys, with OAuth login — around 245 stars. Best for users with existing subscriptions who want to cut API costs.
• dsh-cost-meter: session cost tracking with live cost, budget, balance, peak/off-peak pricing and usage heatmaps — around 162 stars. Best for cost-sensitive teams that need budget control.
• tokenledger: token usage attribution to relay endpoints, zero-config and credential-free — around 135 stars. Best for users on relay channels who need usage accounting.

Tooling DSH plugins: eyes for text-only models

DeepSeek Harness is text-first by default, so vision plugins are one of the hottest community directions. Representative picks:

• modlens: paste an image and get structured JSON evidence (OCR, layout, semantics) — around 3,534 stars, one of the most popular DSH plugins. Best for users who regularly read screenshots and image documents.
• dsh-vision-router: free built-in vision chains and pixel-level tools, one-command install with no Python — around 935 stars. Best for users who want vision fast without a Python setup.
• dsh-vision-toolkit: a vision toolbox for image Q&A, long-screenshot OCR and UI reconstruction — around 810 stars. Best for UI testing and long-screenshot OCR workflows.

Agents & automation DSH plugins: teams and safe auto-approval

Agent plugins turn a single session into a multi-agent team for complex task orchestration. Representative picks:

• dsh-agent-teams: turns sessions into multi-agent teams with sub-agent orchestration and task coordination — around 853 stars. Best for complex projects with parallel subtasks.
• dsh-auto-mode: a safe automatic approval mode balancing development speed and risk — around 121 stars. Best for trusted, repetitive tasks that should not need manual approval each time.
• sandbase-harness: a local-first sandbox for sessions, MCP tools, memory, credentials and audit replay — around 629 stars. Best for security- and audit-conscious workflows.

How to install DSH plugins: one click via DSH Plugin Hub (recommended)

The easiest route is to install DSH Plugin Hub first: it embeds Settings → Plugin Center so browsing by category, searching and one-click install all happen in-app. The full steps:

1. Install the Hub itself (after running npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web once):

dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-plugin

2. Restart dsh web and open Settings → Plugin Center — the Hub's marketplace home, where you browse 4,805 community plugins by category, with name, description, stars and last-update time on each card:

dsh-plugin-hub · Plugin Center

3. Search the plugin name and click "Install" to finish in one click:

dsh-plugin-hub · one-click install

4. Without the Hub, you can also copy the install command dsh plugin --profile web add <package-or-github-ref> from a plugin detail page and run it in the terminal (source).

Notes on picking and installing

Pick plugins by verification status, stars and update time, and by whether the capability matches — and mind the source when installing. A few reminders:

1. Check verification status: prefer verified plugins (compatibility manually confirmed); double-check unconfirmed ones before installing.
2. GitHub sources can lack build output: if a git-distributed plugin does not load after install, it is usually an incomplete package — switch to its npm version or report it to the author.
3. Plugins hold local runtime permissions: confirm the source is trustworthy and avoid unknown plugins.
4. Remove what you no longer need: uninstall from the Hub's plugin center to keep the environment clean.

See How to use DSH Plugin Hub for the full browsing, install, uninstall and update workflow.

Sources: dsh-plugin.org, dshplugin/dsh-plugin-hub, DeepSeek Harness Quickstart