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In DeepSeek Harness, “everything is a plugin” means the harness’s capabilities—including its model connection, tools, sessions, sandbox, storage, and interface—are provided by components that Cordis can compose. Developers can select, replace, or extend those components through configuration rather than changing the Harness source code. The trade-off is that the capabilities available in a setup depend on its plugins and their compatibility.
What does “everything is a plugin” mean in DeepSeek Harness?
DeepSeek describes the model as the agent’s reasoning engine and the harness as the software that gives it an environment, tools, state, and a way to continue working. The harness is therefore not the model itself: it is the surrounding system that connects a model to capabilities and orchestrates their use.
DeepSeek’s plugin boundary spans models, tools, skills, sessions, sandboxes, storage, loops, scheduling, and user interfaces. Rather than treating these as inseparable parts of one fixed implementation, Harness supplies them through plugins. Developers can choose, swap, or extend capabilities in configuration without changing Harness source code. DeepSeek’s developer-preview page presents this as the design behind its “Everything is a plugin” slogan.
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Why use plugins, and what does Cordis do?
A plugin-based design gives developers room to work at capability boundaries. For example, a developer could focus on a tool, a session system, a sandbox, a model adapter, or an interface, then compose that capability with others. This makes the configuration layer an extension point; it does not, by itself, demonstrate that customization is easier or that one configuration performs better.
Cordis is the kernel that coordinates plugin composition. DeepSeek says it manages plugin mounting and unmounting, handles dependencies, and lets plugins interact through services and events. In practical terms, when evaluating a setup, check which plugin supplies each capability, what other components it depends on, and whether those components work with the current preview.
Can you replace the model or tools?
DeepSeek says developers can select, swap, or extend capabilities through configuration, and its architecture includes both models and tools among the plugin-supplied components. That establishes the intended replacement boundary, but it does not guarantee that every model or tool is compatible with every plugin or preview version. Check the relevant plugin requirements and current repository guidance before changing a working setup.
What are Standard, Code, Minimal, and Creator modes?
These are configurations of the same harness, not separate models. DeepSeek describes the modes as follows:
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute| Mode | Capabilities and intended use |
|---|---|
| Standard | A full toolset for coding-agent work, including editing, shell, file and web search, skills, planning, goals, subagents, and workflows. |
| Code | Standard capabilities exposed through the Code Mode SDK, allowing the model to orchestrate multi-step tool calls in a TypeScript program. |
| Minimal | A shell tool and file editor for a minimal environment and model benchmarking. |
| Creator | Runtime inspection, plugin experiments, and guidance for authoring presets. |
These descriptions identify included features and workflows, not comparative test results. They do not establish that one mode produces better outcomes than another.
What can you inspect in a run?
DeepSeek says Harness records an append-only session log containing system prompts, reasoning, tool calls and results, subagent scheduling, and context injections. Its Trajectory view is described as a way to inspect records by source; resume, fork, search, and replay operate on the event stream. These are vendor descriptions, not an independent audit of log completeness or reliability. The available sources do not establish how long records are retained or whether every run can be fully reconstructed in practice. See DeepSeek’s description of Trajectory and session inspection.
How do you start DeepSeek Harness?
The official repository documents launching the web UI with Node.js and the command npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web. It also documents installing and building from a source checkout. Consult the repository for the current prerequisites and exact source-build steps, since this developer-preview project may change. Open the official DeepSeek Harness repository.
DeepSeek’s product page also describes a desktop app and says Harness is in public preview. Availability and setup instructions may evolve; check the official product page alongside the repository for current options.
Is DeepSeek Harness stable?
It is identified as developer-preview software, and the repository warns that rapid iteration may bring compatibility-breaking changes. Treat plugin compatibility and setup instructions as version-sensitive, and check the official repository before adopting it for a workflow that depends on stable interfaces.
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