DeepSeek Harness Desktop (Windows Native)

A browser-independent Windows desktop app for the official DeepSeek Harness by DeepSeek. Instead of opening dsh web in a browser tab, double-click one portable executable and your harness opens in its own native window - sessions, settings, and all. No terminal, no browser tab, no browser profiles, no accounts, no sync.

The window is rendered by the WebView2 Runtime - Microsoft's embeddable engine that ships with Windows 11 (and most Windows 10 installs) and is completely separate from the Edge browser, Firefox, Chrome, and any user accounts.

Screenshots

The DeepSeek Harness UI inside the native window, with the window icon and title bar themed to match the app.

Window chrome follows the rendered page - dark page, dark title bar.

✨ Features

• Native window, no browser involved: The UI runs in an embedded WebView2 window - no Edge/Chrome/Firefox, no browser profiles, no sign-in or sync prompts, nothing shared with your browsing.
• Portable single-file executable: One .exe, no DLLs next to it, no Python/.NET/Node installation needed on the target machine (runtime is bundled). Download, double-click, done.
• Always the latest harness: On launch the app runs npm install -g @deepseek-ai/dsh@latest (non-fatal, skippable with --no-update) and boots whatever npm delivers.
• Managed server lifecycle: It starts dsh web --no-open on 127.0.0.1:3080 as a hidden child and closing the window stops the server. If a server is already running (e.g. one you started by hand), it attaches instead: opens the window, never touches that server, and leaves it running when the window closes.
• Your data stays local files: Sessions, settings and storages live under DSH_HOME (default C:\Users\<you>\.dsh) - nothing is uploaded or synced; the wrapper only reads/writes what dsh itself uses.
• Official DeepSeek artwork: Window/exe icons are fetched from the real websites - the blue whale from deepseek.com in light mode, the white whale from platform.deepseek.com in dark mode - and the window swaps them with the Windows theme.
• Theme-aware window chrome: The title bar follows the rendered page: after the UI loads, its background color is measured and applied to the caption/border (Windows 11 22H2+), with a dark immersive caption for dark pages - no hard-coded white bar, no white startup flash.
• Visual Studio friendly: .sln, one modern .csproj, and ready-made Publish profiles (PortableFolder / PortableSingleFile) for one-click publishing from the VS Publish dialog.

💻 How to Use (Easy Way)

1. Go to the Releases page.
2. Download the latest DeepSeekHarness-portable-win-x64-<version>.zip (or the .exe directly).
3. Unzip anywhere (or just run the exe) and double-click DeepSeekHarness.exe.
4. First launch may take a minute: it checks npm for the latest @deepseek-ai/dsh, boots the server, and opens the window.
5. That's it - your sessions appear. Close the window to stop the server (unless you attached to an already-running one).

Only requirement on the target PC: the WebView2 Runtime (preinstalled on Windows 11 and most Windows 10 machines - the app shows an install link if it's missing) and Node.js with npm install -g @deepseek-ai/dsh for the harness itself.

🛠️ For Developers (Building from Source)

Prerequisites: Windows 10/11 x64, PowerShell 7+, and the .NET 8 SDK.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ZeroHackz/deepseek-harness-windows-native.git
   cd deepseek-harness-windows-native

2. Build the portable single-file executable (no DLLs, runtime bundled):

   pwsh -File .\build_portable.ps1

   The .exe and a .zip land in release\ (git-ignored - publish them via GitHub Releases).
3. Alternative builds:

   .\build.ps1                   # dev exe -> dist\ (framework-dependent, needs .NET 8 runtime)
   .\build.ps1 -Portable         # self-contained folder + zip (CyberleekViewer-style layout)
   .\build.ps1 -SingleFile       # lone self-contained exe + zip
   .\build_portable.ps1 -RefreshIcons   # re-fetch official DeepSeek icons first

4. Visual Studio: open DeepSeekHarness.sln, right-click the project → Publish… → pick the PortableFolder or PortableSingleFile profile.

GitHub Actions: every push to main (and every v* tag) publishes the portable build and uploads it as a build artifact.

🚀 Usage

DeepSeekHarness.exe                    normal launch (auto-update, own server)
DeepSeekHarness.exe --no-update        launch with the currently installed dsh
DeepSeekHarness.exe --port 8080        serve on another port
DeepSeekHarness.exe --self-test        environment report and exit
DeepSeekHarness.exe --stop             stop the server this app started
DeepSeekHarness.exe --no-window        headless boot test: start, verify, stop

Flag	Default	Meaning
--port <n>	3080	Port of the web UI
--address <host>	127.0.0.1	Bind address for the managed server
--ready-timeout <sec>	120	How long to wait for the server to come up
--no-update	off	Skip npm install -g @deepseek-ai/dsh@latest
--no-window	off	Owned-mode boot test (used by CI/verification)
--self-test	off	Print an environment report and exit
--stop	off	Stop the managed server and exit

📂 Where Things Live

What	Where
Sessions, settings, storages	DSH_HOME - default C:\Users\<you>\.dsh (shared with every dsh web)
App logs	%LOCALAPPDATA%\DeepSeekHarness\logs\ (desktop.log, server-*.log, npm-update.*.log)
WebView2 local web state (trust cookie)	%LOCALAPPDATA%\DeepSeekHarness\webview2\ - safe to delete, nothing valuable
Portable artifacts	release\ (git-ignored)

🖼️ Icons & Theming

tools\update-icons.ps1 fetches the official DeepSeek artwork from the websites (deepseek.com/favicon.ico - blue whale for light mode; platform.deepseek.com/favicon.svg - re-tinted white for dark-mode legibility; the untouched black original is kept in assets\source) and regenerates the multi-size .ico files. The window icon follows the Windows theme, and the title-bar colors follow the measured page background via DWM (Windows 11 22H2+). Attribution: DeepSeek logos are trademarks of DeepSeek, used here only to identify the wrapped application.

🛡️ Troubleshooting

• Window shows "Starting …" forever / connection error - the server didn't come up in time; run DeepSeekHarness.exe --self-test, retry with --ready-timeout 240, and check the server logs.
• WebView2 failed to initialize - WebView2 Runtime missing; the window shows the official install link.
• Port already in use - the app attaches to whatever answers (it's a dsh web you started? attach is fine). --stop only stops servers this app started.
• Server left running (crash etc.) - DeepSeekHarness.exe --stop.

Notes

• No accounts, no sync: the app talks only to your local dsh web on the loopback address; harness data never leaves the machine.
• Versioning: <Version> in the csproj is the intended release date (yyyy.MM.dd, e.g. 2026.09.03). At most one release per day: builds within a day keep that day's version, and anything not tested in time waits for the next day.
• This project is an independent wrapper: not affiliated with or endorsed by DeepSeek beyond invoking the official dsh CLI and using its public artwork.

License

MIT - see LICENSE.