dsh-modes

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A Modes settings page for the DeepSeek Harness (dsh) Web interface. You can switch what each agent mode can do, edit each mode's system prompt, create your own modes from templates, and merge built-in updates in one click after a dsh upgrade.

What it does

• Understand each mode at a glance: every mode gets a card that lists what it can do (run commands, read and write files, browse the web, use subagents, and so on), so you can compare modes without opening them.
• Switch capabilities, not plugins: 15 capabilities, one switch each. For example, turn off "Run commands" or make files read-only, without facing dozens of plugin names.
• Edit the prompt: edit each mode's system prompt with a preview and a version history. You can also let a saved prompt reach sessions that are already running, or let the model change the prompt in chat; every save asks you first.
• Create your own modes: start from four templates (Develop, Write, Chat, Read-only research), or copy any existing mode.
• Keep up with dsh upgrades: when dsh updates its built-in modes, merge the changes in one click and keep yours. When a plugin fails to load, turn off just the failing plugins in one click.

Install

You need the dsh Web interface (dsh web). See Compatibility for supported versions.

dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-modes

If you run dsh from source, run pnpm dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-modes in the source folder instead. After installing, restart dsh web and open Settings → Modes.

Quick start

1. Open Settings → Modes and look at the built-in modes: the small labels on each card are what it can do.
2. Click New mode at the top right, pick Read-only research, and click Create.
3. The new card opens on the Capabilities tab: Run commands is off, and Files is on with Allow file changes off.
4. Click New session with it on the card and ask it to change a file. This mode has no tool to write files, edit files, or run commands, so it can only read and search.
5. Go back to the card's Prompt tab, change a sentence, and save. New sessions use it right away; to apply it to sessions that are already running, turn on Live prompt below.

Features

The mode list

Each mode is one card:

• Header: the name and description, with Default and Custom labels.
• Capability labels: what the mode can do, for example "Commands · Files (read-only) · Web".
• Status line: plugins on, open sessions, changes made, and whether the prompt is live.
• Buttons: New session with it opens a new session in this mode. The ⋯ menu holds the other actions: Make default, Duplicate, View configuration (YAML), Edit details, Restore built-in, and Delete.
• Notices: when something needs your attention, the card shows one notice with a button to fix it, for example "The built-in mode was updated", "plugins cannot load", or "an unsaved prompt draft".

Click a card to open it. It has three tabs: Capabilities, Prompt, and All plugins.

Capabilities

• Turning a capability on restores it as the built-in mode has it. Plugins that switch by environment (such as Bash and PowerShell) go back to Auto, and plugins the built-in mode keeps off (such as the Codex subagent) stay off.
• Turning a capability off switches off every plugin it includes.
• A capability with only some of its plugins on is marked Partly on.
• Capabilities the mode has no plugins for are hidden; for example, dsh before 0.2.1 has no Reminders.

Prompt

• System prompt: edit this mode's system prompt. Insert variables such as {{model}} with a click, and the editor checks them as you type. Preview full system prompt shows everything the model receives.
• Advanced settings: a closing prompt (added after tool guidance and workspace rules), "use only the opening text as the complete prompt", and "include runtime context".
• Save: click Save or press ⌘/Ctrl + Enter. Everything above takes effect only after you save.
• History: every save records a version (up to 30), labeled by where it was made: Settings, in chat, or elsewhere. You can load any version back into the editor.
• Import and export: .md files.
• Restore built-in prompt: asks before it replaces your prompt.
• Nothing gets lost: unsaved edits stay in the browser as a draft, even after a page refresh. If the prompt changes elsewhere while you edit, saving is refused and you choose between loading the latest version and overwriting it with yours.

The In chat section has two switches that save as soon as you click them. They apply to sessions created afterwards:

• Live prompt: after you save the prompt, running sessions use it from their next step.
• Allow prompt changes in chat: you can tell the model "change your prompt to …". The model reads or changes this mode's prompt with the mode_prompt tool, and asks for your approval before every save.

All plugins

Lists every plugin in the mode, for when you need to adjust them one by one:

• Search within the tab, or show only changed plugins.
• Plugins that switch by environment offer Auto / On / Off.
• Each changed plugin can be reset on its own with Restore.
• Details shows the row id, module, and full configuration.

New modes

Each template comes with a starter prompt in Chinese or English, following the interface language. The name and ID are filled in for you, and you can change both.

Keeping up with dsh upgrades

• Sync built-in update: after a dsh upgrade, built-in modes you changed, and custom modes based on a built-in mode, show "The built-in mode was updated". Before you sync, the card lists the plugins that were added, removed, or changed upstream. When you confirm:
  • plugins you never touched follow the built-in version;
  • settings you changed keep your value;
  • plugins added upstream join template-based modes switched off.
• One-click repair: when a plugin in a mode fails to load, the whole mode stops working. The card lists the failing plugins with their reasons; Turn these plugins off switches off only those, and the mode works again.
• Before you delete: deleting a custom mode first tells you how many open and saved sessions use it. Those sessions cannot be opened after the mode is deleted.

When changes take effect

• Every change applies to sessions created afterwards; running sessions keep what they started with. The one exception is a mode with Live prompt on: its saved prompt text reaches running sessions from their next step.
• Changes are written to the current dsh profile's cordis.patch.yml, so other windows using the same profile see them too. The Desktop app uses a different profile and is not affected.
• The result of every action shows in a bar at the bottom of the page. Errors stay until you close them.

Compatibility

Every version above was installed and tested, including checks of the actual requests sent to the model through a local mock model. The dsh APIs this plugin uses are not stable yet, so other versions may need changes.

FAQ

I changed a switch or the prompt, but the chat did not change. Changes apply to sessions created afterwards. Try New session with it. Only a mode with Live prompt on applies its prompt text to running sessions.

A mode stopped working after a dsh upgrade. Open its card. If it reports plugins that cannot load, click Turn these plugins off. If it says the built-in mode was updated, click Sync built-in update.

I made a mess. How do I go back?

• One plugin: click Restore in All plugins.
• The prompt: load any version from History, or click Restore built-in prompt.
• A whole built-in mode: choose Restore built-in in the ⋯ menu.

I asked the model to change its prompt, and nothing happened. Allow prompt changes in chat only applies to sessions created after you turned it on. Also, if dsh's approval policy is "never" (for example in unattended runs), saves are refused.

Where does the plugin keep its data?

• Mode configuration: the profile's cordis.patch.yml.
• Sync baselines and prompt history: the .dsh-modes/ folder in the profile directory.
• Unsaved drafts: only in your current browser.

Uninstall

dsh plugin --profile web remove dsh-modes

Before you uninstall:

1. Turn off two switches first: on each mode's Prompt tab, turn off Live prompt and Allow prompt changes in chat in the In chat section. These switches add this plugin's own modules to the mode. Once the plugin is uninstalled, such a mode cannot find them and stops working.
2. For a full reset: Restore built-in on the built-in modes you changed, and delete the modes you created. Otherwise changed modes keep running with your changes after the uninstall.
3. Clean up: you can also delete the .dsh-modes/ folder in the profile directory.

Known limitations

• Sync needs a baseline: syncing compares against the built-in plugin list recorded at your last save. Modes changed with a version before 0.5.0 have no such record, so the first sync keeps every difference from the built-in version as your change. Every save after that records a baseline.
• Scope of Live prompt: it applies only to the opening and closing prompt text. The "complete prompt" and "runtime context" settings still apply to new sessions only.
• Scope of chat edits: mode_prompt reads and writes only the opening prompt text.
• Session count: counting saved sessions before a delete reads each session's record. With many sessions it stops after 8 seconds and shows "at least N".
• Permissions: write actions rely only on dsh's own sign-in check.

npm test

License

MIT