dsh-custom-mode

dsh-custom-mode

English | [中文](README.zh.md)

Edit your DeepSeek Harness (dsh) assistants' system prompts, base modes and plugin switches. Keep separate assistants for different tasks.

[Install](#install-and-make-the-first-request) · [First use](#verify-the-whole-path) · [Updates](#plugin-updates) · [Screenshots](#screenshots) · [Compatibility](#compatibility-and-versioning) · [Help](#help-and-docs)

Editing and draft safety

This section describes editing and draft protection in 2.3.1. Confirm that exact version is available in [Releases](https://github.com/BOWLUNA/dsh-custom-mode/releases) before installing.

Select New assistant… in the page header to move to the existing creation form and focus its name input. Creating the assistant still requires choosing its starting settings, naming it and submitting the form. The currently selected assistant remains the editing target until creation succeeds. Enter is ignored while text is being composed; ordinary Enter submits the completed name.

Drafts remain in memory for the current browser document, including when you leave and return to the settings page. They are not a disk backup: reloading the document, closing the tab or restarting/unloading the plugin can lose unsaved edits. A leave-page warning cannot restore text after you confirm leaving. Copy or export important draft text first. When duplicating with pending edits, confirm that the copy uses the saved configuration; the original draft is retained.

Restoring the starting prompt, importing a file or loading saved history replaces only the prompt draft. If that would overwrite unsaved prompt text, confirm the replacement first; canceling keeps the text. Saving is still required to write the files.

If a save reports a conflict, copy the complete draft before selecting Discard edits and reload. A routine refresh keeps the dirty draft and its original baseline; it does not resolve the conflict. Compare the newly loaded files with your copied text before applying the intended edits again.

Install and make the first request

These instructions describe version 2.3.1. Confirm that the exact version is available in [Releases](https://github.com/BOWLUNA/dsh-custom-mode/releases), and check the [exact-host results and acceptance limits](docs/CURRENT_COMPATIBILITY.md) before installing or updating.

Start with an installed [DeepSeek Harness](https://github.com/deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness) and a model configured through its own interface. Check dsh --version against the exact hosts in the compatibility record. This package does not install the host or configure model credentials.

Web / CLI

Pin the plugin version; a bare name can resolve an older build during pnpm's release cooldown:

dsh --version
dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-custom-mode@2.3.1

Restart the process that serves this Web profile using its usual launcher. For a local CLI instance, the existing launch form is dsh web --port 3081 --no-open; use a free port and open the URL printed by that process. Restart only that instance. Installing a bundle does not refresh an already running host.

Desktop and Windows

In the desktop app, use its Plugins page to install dsh-custom-mode@2.3.1, then restart the app. This project's scripts deliberately refuse --profile desktop; do not modify its profile files by hand. Windows/Electron acceptance remains separate from Web acceptance; see the compatibility record.

On Windows, the npm installation above can use the host's dsh command from PowerShell. Only the optional clone installer requires Git Bash (plus Node.js and npm). If dsh is not on PATH, use the host's supplied launcher, or replace dsh with node "/node_modules/@deepseek-ai/dsh/lib/bin.js". Do not point that path at this plugin's directory unless the host is actually installed there.

Verify the whole path

1. Open Settings → Custom mode and check the displayed version. A page that opens is only the first check.

2. Select New assistant… in the page header to focus the creation form. Choose a starting setting such as Writing, enter a recognizable name and select New assistant. The created assistant becomes the editing target.

3. Set a temporary prompt such as For the next readiness check, reply with exactly CUSTOM_MODE_READY. Save and wait for the page to confirm that it was applied. If it says the file was saved but application failed, select Retry activation before continuing.

4. Start a new session, open its mode/assistant selector, and explicitly choose that named assistant. Send Readiness check. through a model already configured in DSH.

5. Success means the assistant is selectable without a broken-preset warning and returns the expected readiness reply without a prompt-assembly error. Restore your intended prompt after the check. If it fails, use the [current recovery steps](docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md#current-recovery-steps).

Screenshots

Captured from plugin 2.2.6 in an isolated DSH Web instance with synthetic assistants. These images show the editor, not the new update controls. [Capture sources and limits](docs/images/README.md).

Create an assistant

Edit its system prompt

Choose a base mode

Adjust plugin switches

[View the new-session assistant selector](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BOWLUNA/dsh-custom-mode/main/docs/images/04-preset-picker.png).

What each choice means

The assistant selected on the settings page is the one being edited. Selecting or creating it does not change the assistant used by a new session. On first activation, the plugin may fill a missing default with the built-in custom assistant; an existing default is preserved. A newly created Writing assistant still needs to be chosen in the session selector.

Choose the creation starting settings first; a new assistant starts from Standard. After creation, its base mode and individual plugin switches can be adjusted in its editor.

| Starting settings | Init