OpenHarness

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OpenHarness is a native desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux that packages an open-source AI agent harness into a dedicated Tauri window. It bundles the published @deepseek-ai/dsh runtime and Web UI, so normal use does not require a separate Node.js or command-line installation.

OpenHarness is independently developed by MicroSpotlight. To avoid confusion with the DeepSeek brand, prevent the app from being mistaken for an official DeepSeek product, and reduce trademark and copyright infringement risk, this project defines its own product name, application icon, Bundle ID, desktop host identity, and visual theme. It does not adopt the upstream project's brand assets or imply endorsement by or affiliation with DeepSeek.

Features

• Native desktop window for the agent Web UI on macOS, Windows, and Linux
• Self-contained Node.js and locked agent runtime
• Native installers for macOS, Windows, and Linux on arm64 and x64
• Automatic loopback port selection to avoid conflicts
• Shared configuration, credentials, sessions, and plugins in ~/.dsh
• Built-in plugin discovery under Settings → Plugins, with catalog search, category filters, installed-state detection, and upgrade availability
• In-app plugin installation and upgrades pinned to an exact package version or Git commit, with cancellation, rollback, post-install verification, and managed restart when activation requires it
• Bundled pnpm execution environment; plugin management does not depend on a system Node.js or pnpm installation
• Runtime telemetry disabled by the desktop launcher
• Live system-tray session menu: five prioritized tasks, 20 more recent sessions, and a link to the complete list in Harness
• Single-instance lock: a second launch focuses the running instance
• Automatic backend restart with exponential backoff and a native error dialog after repeated failures
• One business window; selecting or creating a session reuses and focuses it
• The window and native menus follow the configured dark/light appearance and locale
• On macOS and Linux, loads PATH and DEEPSEEK_* variables from the login shell with a bounded timeout so desktop launches can find user tools and configured credentials; inherited DeepSeek variables take precedence

Requirements

• macOS 15.0 or later (Apple Silicon or Intel)
• Windows 10 1709 or later on x64 or arm64 with the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime; Windows 11 is recommended
• Linux x64 or arm64 with kernel 4.18+, glibc 2.35+, and WebKitGTK 4.1; Ubuntu 22.04+ and Debian 12+ are the supported baselines
• Credentials for at least one model provider supported by the bundled runtime

Install

Homebrew (macOS)

Install from the MicroSpotlight Homebrew tap:

brew install --cask microspotlight/tap/openharness

The cask automatically selects the Apple Silicon or Intel build for the current Mac.

Direct downloads

Download the package for your platform from GitHub Releases:

• macOS Apple Silicon: OpenHarness_<version>_arm64.dmg
• macOS Intel: OpenHarness_<version>_x64.dmg
• Windows x64: OpenHarness_<version>_x64-setup.exe
• Windows arm64: OpenHarness_<version>_arm64-setup.exe
• Linux x64: OpenHarness_<version>_amd64.AppImage or OpenHarness_<version>_amd64.deb or OpenHarness_<version>_amd64.rpm
• Linux arm64: OpenHarness_<version>_arm64.AppImage or OpenHarness_<version>_arm64.deb or OpenHarness_<version>_arm64.rpm

On macOS, open the DMG and drag OpenHarness into Applications. On Windows, run the NSIS installer. On Linux, install the Debian or RPM package, or mark the AppImage executable and launch it.

macOS releases are Developer ID signed and notarized. The Windows installer is currently not Authenticode-signed, so Windows may show a publisher warning.

Usage

OpenHarness starts the bundled agent server on an available loopback port and opens its Web UI in a native window. Configure a model provider in the app, then use the interface as you would use the upstream dsh web command.

The app uses the same ~/.dsh directory as the upstream command-line tool. Existing credentials, configuration, sessions, and plugins are therefore available to both interfaces. Harness-specific usage is documented in the upstream user guide.

Plugins

Open Settings → Plugins → Discover to search the OpenHarness plugin catalog, filter by category or capability, inspect publisher and compatibility details, and install or upgrade a plugin without leaving the app. OpenHarness reports installed, upgrade-available, newer-installed, conflict, and restart-required states instead of guessing from a display name.

Plugin changes are performed against the web profile under ~/.dsh. The browser submits only a plugin name, action, catalog version, and catalog revision. The bundled Find Plugin Host reloads and validates the catalog, derives an exact npm version or Git commit, snapshots the profile, runs the operation, verifies the installed package, and rolls metadata back if the operation fails. Operations can be cancelled and are restored in the UI after a page refresh.

OpenHarness does not implement catalog or installation policy in Rust. The desktop app exposes a Cordis managed-runtime service backed by its bundled Node.js, DSH, and pnpm environment. That service provides bounded output, timeouts, one active package operation, full process-tree cancellation, and a supervisor-managed backend restart. The Find Plugin owns catalog trust, installation intent, installed-state matching, rollback, and activation.

Browse the read-only OpenHarness Plugin Marketplace to search the public catalog. Installation and upgrades remain in the app. The catalog and discovery components are maintained in the openharness-plugins and openharness-find-plugin repositories.

How It Works

1. Tauri launches the bundled Node.js executable and the published @deepseek-ai/dsh package with the OpenHarness Native Bridge, Find Plugin, and an automatically selected port.
2. The runtime selects an available local port and reports its loopback URL.
3. OpenHarness validates that URL and opens it in a native webview.
4. The Native Bridge registers the managed plugin runtime for the current web profile and gives package operations the bundled pnpm environment.
5. A plugin-requested restart exits the DSH child with the managed restart code; the OpenHarness supervisor immediately starts a fresh backend generation.
6. Closing the window hides it to the system tray. Quitting from the app menu or tray terminates the bundled runtime process.

The desktop host does not fork or reimplement the upstream Web UI. The runtime is assembled from the locked npm package by scripts/setup-runtime.mjs, then receives the independent OpenHarness name, icon, and theme through scripts/brand-runtime.mjs.

Build From Source

Install Rust, Bun, and the native toolchain for your platform:

• macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools
• Windows: Visual Studio Build Tools with the C++ workload and WebView2
• Linux: WebKitGTK 4.1 and the other Tauri Linux prerequisites

Then build the app:

git clone https://github.com/MicroSpotlight/OpenHarness.git
cd OpenHarness
bun install --frozen-lockfile
bun run build

bun install assembles the bundled runtime through postinstall. Run bun run setup:runtime to validate or rebuild it manually.

Build artifacts are written under src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

For local development:

bun run dev

Repository Layout

.
|-- .github/workflows/     Cross-platform release and Pages automation
|-- assets/                OpenHarness icon source
|-- frontend/dist/         Tauri bootstrap page
|-- runtime/               Locked runtime, Native Bridge, Find Plugin, and pnpm launcher
|-- scripts/               Runtime assembly, branding, release, and signing helpers
`-- src-tauri/             Rust host and Tauri configuration

src-tauri/runtime/ is generated locally and excluded from Git.

Privacy

The OpenHarness desktop host does not add telemetry and explicitly disables telemetry in the bundled runtime. Prompts, attachments, and model requests are still sent to model providers configured by the user. Local harness data remains in ~/.dsh.

Upstream Relationship

DeepSeek Harness is the upstream runtime component bundled by OpenHarness. That upstream component is distributed separately under the MIT License; OpenHarness's original code remains licensed under Apache License 2.0. References to DeepSeek Harness in this repository are limited to describing and attributing that dependency. OpenHarness uses its own product identity to avoid confusion with the upstream project and its brand.

Contributing

Changes to the upstream runtime or its Web UI should be contributed upstream. Catalog entries belong in openharness-plugins, discovery and installation orchestration belong in openharness-find-plugin, and desktop managed-runtime or supervisor changes belong in this repository.

Copyright and Licenses

Copyright 2026 MicroSpotlight.

• Original OpenHarness desktop host code: Apache License 2.0
• Bundled upstream @deepseek-ai/dsh component: MIT License

The following copyright notice applies to the bundled upstream component:

Copyright (c) 2026 DeepSeek

The upstream MIT license text is retained in the npm package and final app bundle. Other bundled dependencies remain subject to their respective licenses. See NOTICE for attribution details.