DeepSeek has released an official desktop app：https://x.com/DeepSeekHarness/status/2105330281389662575 for DeepSeek Harness：https://github.com/deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness (dsh), its open-source agent harness. The app ships with the v0.2 preview：https://x.com/DeepSeekHarness/status/2105330281389662575. Installers cover macOS (Apple silicon) and Windows (64-bit).
Is it deployable? Yes, today, as a preview. Download it from deepseek.com/harness：https://www.deepseek.com/en/harness/ or run npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web . DeepSeek warns that compatibility-breaking changes will follow.
A harness is the runtime that turns a model into an agent. It reads files, runs commands and keeps a plan. The v0.2 preview targets everyday work as well as coding.
The desktop build also bundles the dsh command. Users no longer need a separate Node.js or pnpm install：https://github.com/deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness/releases/tag/dsh-v0.2.0-rc.2. Users can sign in with a DeepSeek account or add an API key. Per the rc.1 notes：https://github.com/deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness/releases/tag/dsh-v0.2.0-rc.1, account models get web search without an extra key.
DeepSeek first open-sourced dsh in August 2026, under MIT. It runs on Cordis：https://github.com/cordiverse/cordis as described in the research paper ‘A Programming Paradigm for Spatiotemporal Composability：https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.25512‘. The model adapter, tool registry and agent loop are all plugins. Any layer can be replaced.
The harness is not locked to DeepSeek models. The provider guide：https://deepseek-harness.github.io/deepseek-harness/guide/providers covers third-party providers and custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints. The repository has passed 240,000 GitHub stars and 29,000 forks.
dsh also doubles as DeepSeek’s evaluation rig. The API changelog：https://api-docs.deepseek.com/updates/ says Code Agent benchmarks ran on ‘DeepSeek Harness minimal mode.’ DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 scored 82.7 on Terminal Bench 2.1 in that setup.
Sessions run in 1 of 4 modes, per 36Kr’s hands-on：https://eu.36kr.com/en/p/3998199345500040 and the release notes:
The v0.2.1-alpha.1 build：https://github.com/deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness/releases/tag/dsh-v0.2.1-alpha.1 adds an experimental Claude Code Mods compatibility layer. DeepSeek frames it as a test of whether the Mods API is broadly a subset of dsh plugins. It does not promise full compatibility. The build also adds a ‘Let Agent create a plugin’ entry, an optional Developer Tools bundle and a --public-url flag for reverse proxies. It removes runtime invariant plugins, a breaking change for some extensions.
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Michal Sutter is a data science professional with a Master of Science in Data Science from the University of Padova. With a solid foundation in statistical analysis, machine learning, and data engineering, Michal excels at transforming complex datasets into actionable insights.
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