dsh-quickstart

Launch DeepSeek Harness from a desktop icon — dsh web starts without a console window, then the browser opens automatically once the web UI is ready.

Status: implemented and tested on Windows. macOS and Linux are in the codebase but not yet tested — see Roadmap.

No more typing npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web and waiting for the page by hand — this double-click-and-go wrapper handles startup, readiness polling, and browser opening.

Preview

The desktop shortcut you get — double-click the icon to launch:

Why

• dsh web blocks a terminal window and gives no feedback on when it is ready.
• Starting it from a desktop shortcut shows an ugly console box.
• Users who double-click and see nothing think the tool is broken.

dsh-quickstart starts dsh web detached and hidden, polls http://127.0.0.1:<port> until it answers, then opens your default browser. A desktop shortcut created with dsh-quickstart shortcut shows no console window at all.

Install

# the launcher
npm i -g dsh-quickstart

# the harness itself (required)
npm i -g @deepseek-ai/dsh

Usage

# start dsh web, wait for readiness, open the browser
dsh-quickstart

# custom port / timeout
dsh-quickstart --port 3000 --timeout 120000

# wait but do not open the browser
dsh-quickstart --no-open

# spawn and exit immediately (no polling)
dsh-quickstart --no-wait

# pass extra args to dsh
dsh-quickstart -- web --port 3000

Install a desktop shortcut — the primary way to use it on Windows. Double-click to launch, no console window, and it uses the bundled DSH icon by default:

# Windows (.lnk)
dsh-quickstart shortcut --name "DeepSeek" --working-dir "D:\your\workdir"

macOS (.command) and Linux (.desktop) shortcuts are implemented but untested (TODO) — Windows is currently the only fully verified platform.

Options

Option	Default	Description
--port <n>	3080	Port to poll
--timeout <ms>	90000	How long to wait for readiness
--command <cmd>	dsh	Command used to start dsh (e.g. npx @deepseek-ai/dsh)
--no-open	—	Do not open the browser
--no-wait	—	Exit immediately after spawning

Shortcut-only: --name, --icon, --working-dir, --output.

How it works

1. startDsh spawns dsh web so it inherits the launcher's (hidden) console.
2. waitForServer polls the port every second until the server answers (or times out).
3. openBrowser opens the URL with the platform default (start / open / xdg-open).
4. On Windows, shortcut writes a tiny .vbs that runs the launcher inside a hidden console, plus a .lnk pointing at it — so double-clicking shows nothing but the browser.

Icons / assets

The project ships its icon assets in assets/:

File	Description
assets/dsh.png	Source icon — transparent background, 1254×1254
assets/dsh.ico	Multi-size Windows icon (256/128/64/48/32/16) generated from dsh.png
assets/desktop-icon.png	Real screenshot of the desktop shortcut (shown in the Preview above)

dsh-quickstart shortcut uses the bundled icon by default, so a shortcut created on Windows already carries the DSH look. Override it with --icon <path> if you want your own. More icon assets (alternate sizes, variants) can be dropped into assets/ following the same dsh.png / dsh.ico convention.

Roadmap

• Windows — hidden-console launch, readiness polling, auto-open browser, desktop shortcut
• macOS — verify and polish the .command shortcut flow
• Linux — verify and polish the .desktop shortcut flow

License

MIT