dsh-default-workspace

A DeepSeek Harness plugin — start a new conversation without selecting a workspace.

Out of the box, DeepSeek Harness will not let a conversation start until a workspace directory has been selected. On a fresh profile the workspace registry is empty, so the web GUI lands on the workspace-picker hero and there is nothing to pick.

This plugin removes that dead-end in two ways, from one package:

1. Node half — at boot it resolves a default workspace directory, creates it if missing, and registers it. The runtime's existing "recent workspace" fallback then connects it, so a brand-new profile opens straight into a conversation.
2. Client half — it adds a "Chat without a workspace" (不在工作区中对话) entry to the new-session workspace picker. Selecting it starts a session with no workspace: its working directory falls back to the host's process.cwd() and the session shows up as Ungrouped in the sidebar.

What it does

Behaviour	Detail
Auto-provision	Creates and registers a default workspace on first boot
No-workspace option	Adds a "Chat without a workspace" row to the workspace picker
Zero footprint	Auto-provision is a no-op when workspaces already exist (unless always: true)
Idempotent	Re-registering the same path reuses the existing record
Non-fatal	A failure is logged as a warning and never fails the boot
Zero dependencies	Imports only Node built-ins / browser APIs; no build step

The default directory is <DSH_HOME>/workspaces/default (or ~/.dsh/workspaces/default when DSH_HOME is unset). It can be overridden per-deployment with a config row, or globally with the DSH_DEFAULT_WORKSPACE environment variable.

Install

Recommended — one line from the git source (no build runs on install, since the source is committed directly):

# HTTPS git source. The `github:` shorthand is rewritten to SSH by pnpm and
# fails on machines without SSH keys — use the explicit git+https form.
dsh plugin --profile web add "git+https://github.com/fenxin-fx/dsh-default-workspace.git#main"

Other options:

• From a local checkout:

  git clone https://github.com/fenxin-fx/dsh-default-workspace.git
  cd dsh-default-workspace
  dsh plugin --profile web add .
  

First install needs a web restart for the node half to take effect; the client half arrives per-request, so later upgrades only need a browser refresh. The plugin can be enabled/disabled under Settings → Plugins (package id @dsh-external/dsh-default-workspace).

Configuration

Overrides live on the plugin's config row in the profile cordis.patch.yml (the cordis.patch.yml shipped by this package shows the full template). Precedence is config.path → DSH_DEFAULT_WORKSPACE → <DSH_HOME>/workspaces/default.

Key	Type	Default	Meaning
path	string	<DSH_HOME>/workspaces/default	Default workspace directory; ~ expands to the OS home, a relative path resolves against the process cwd
title	string	Default	Display title for the workspace
always	boolean	false	true always ensures the workspace, even when others already exist

- insert:
    - id: default-workspace
      name: '@dsh-external/dsh-default-workspace'
      config:
        path: 'C:\my\scratch'
        title: 'Scratch'
        always: false

Or set the environment variable before launching:

DSH_DEFAULT_WORKSPACE="$HOME/projects/scratch" dsh web

Usage

Install, restart the web profile, and go — no commands, no tools. A brand-new profile opens directly into a conversation in the default workspace, and the workspace picker on a new session offers "Chat without a workspace" to start an ungrouped conversation instead.

Development

There is no build step: both halves ship as plain JavaScript.

src/index.mjs        — the node half (ensure + register the default workspace)
src/client/index.js  — the client half (the "Chat without a workspace" picker entry)
cordis.patch.yml     — the bundle patch that mounts the node half

How it works

• The node half calls ctx.workspaceRegistry.create(path, title) after mkdir -p; create is idempotent and prepends only new records.
• The client half injects the extra row into the picker menu at the DOM level (the picker exposes no official slot), cloning the "Add workspace" row for native styling and re-injecting via a MutationObserver on re-render.
• The no-workspace session is created with ctx.sessions.create({}) — no workspaceId, so the host defaults the cwd to process.cwd() and skips workspace attachment.

License

MIT