dsh-agent-processes

Host-owned process & port lifecycle for local coding agents in the DeepSeek Harness web UI.

Long-lived local processes started through raw bash become zombies: the agent forgets the PID, the port stays held, the next start hits EADDRINUSE, and the agent rewrites code around a bug that was really a port. This plugin gives the agent first-class hands — start / stop / list / logs / wait-ready with a persistent vault — plus a Processes rightbar and composer dock chip for the human.

Related plugins (same dual-face dsh.bundle shape for the web rightbar / dock):

| Plugin | Repo | | --- | --- | | Long-horizon task status | dsh-local-long-horizon | | NVIDIA GPU util / VRAM / power | dsh-gpu-monitor-nvml | | Local LLM endpoint / slot health | dsh-slot-health |

This package: dsh-agent-processes.

Verified against DeepSeek Harness 0.1.7-rc.2 (dsh web).

Requirements

• DeepSeek Harness web profile (dsh web).
• Node.js ≥ 20 to build.

Screenshots

Light theme, matching the DSH default.

| Pane + chat (mid-run) | Processes pane (fullscreen) | | --- | --- | | | |

| Dock chip (rightbar closed, chat metrics active) | | --- | | |

What you see

• Processes rightbar — follows the open chat workspace. Per-record card: status dot (green running / amber starting / red crashed / grey stopped), id + port, pid + age, command, cwd basename, log preview, and Kill / Restart / Clear.
• Dock chip — on the chat metrics strip when the rightbar is closed and something is running for the followed workspace (Processes · :3000, Processes · 3 running, …). Click opens the pane.
• Tracked reclaim — starting with a port stops any tracked holder of that port first; foreign (untracked) holders are refused, never killed.

Install

From npm (recommended)

dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-agent-processes
# restart dsh web (or rely on live patch reload), then hard-refresh the browser

From GitHub

dsh plugin --profile web add github:janpauldahlke/dsh-agent-processes

From a git checkout (developers)

git clone https://github.com/janpauldahlke/dsh-agent-processes.git
cd dsh-agent-processes
npm install && npm run build
dsh plugin --profile web add "$(pwd)"

Restart (or boot) dsh web so the host + client faces load:

env -u DSH_WEB_URL -u DSH_SHELL -u DSH_SESSION_ID dsh web --no-open

Uninstall:

dsh plugin --profile web remove dsh-agent-processes
# restart the web instance that had the plugin

No harness file: dependencies — the host registers tools on the live ctx.tools service provided by dsh. Rebuild lib/ after edits; client changes hot-load, host changes need a web-shell restart.

Agent tools

| Tool | Purpose | | --- | --- | | process_start | Spawn + track; optional port wait / reclaim | | process_stop | SIGTERM → 3s grace → SIGKILL (process group) | | process_list | All tracked records (liveness re-checked) | | process_logs | Tail a record's captured log | | process_wait_ready | Poll until 127.0.0.1:port accepts (or timeout) | | process_ping | Plugin liveness probe |

process_start with port:

1. Reclaim — stop every tracked, live holder of that port; report ids in reclaimed[].
2. Foreign check — if the port still accepts connections, refuse with a typed error (no kill).
3. Readiness — TCP connect to 127.0.0.1:P (default timeout 15s). Timeout is a success-shaped result with error: 'port-timeout'; the process is left running.

Records store lossless argv so UI / route restart re-runs the same command under the same id.

Surfaces

| Surface | Path / name | | --- | --- | | Vault | ~/.dsh/storages/dsh-agent-processes/processes.json | | Logs | ~/.dsh/storages/dsh-agent-processes/logs/<id>.log | | HTTP | GET / POST /api/dsh-agent-processes | | UI | Rightbar Processes + composer dock chip |

GET  /api/dsh-agent-processes
→ { ok, package, version, storageRoot, count, processes: […] }

POST /api/dsh-agent-processes  { "action": "stop" | "restart" | "remove", "id": "…" }

The pane polls every 2s (refcounted — stops when the last viewer unmounts).

Recommended AGENTS.md snippet

## Long-lived processes — use dsh-agent-processes

For anything that stays up (dev servers, watchers, long `node` servers):

- Start with `process_start` (include `port` if it listens). It reclaims tracked
  holders of that port, refuses foreign ones, and waits for TCP readiness —
  do **not** start long-lived processes with raw `bash` or backgrounded `&`.
- Before assuming a port is free, check `process_list`; after starting, use
  `process_wait_ready` instead of `sleep`.
- Stop with `process_stop`. Read `process_logs` when something looks wrong.
- On crash or port failure: read `process_logs`, fix, `process_start` again,
  verify with `process_wait_ready`.
- Never kill untracked PIDs; if a foreign process holds the port, free it
  manually or start on another port.

Architecture

Dual-face package (same bar as the other web rightbar / dock plugins):

• Host (lib/index.js, ESM) — vault, tools, HTTP route.
• Client (lib/client.js, CJS ModuleLoader factory) — rightbar + dock chip.
• Glue — cordis.patch.yml + dsh.bundle / dsh.client in package.json.

dsh-agent-processes/
├── package.json
├── build.mjs
├── cordis.patch.yml
├── media/                 # README screenshots
├── scripts/               # shippable lifecycle smoke
├── test/                  # node --test (vault + service)
├── src/host/              # vault, service, tools, route
├── src/client/            # pane + dock chip
├── src/shared/            # shared types
└── lib/                   # built artifacts (required at runtime)

Develop / test

npm test          # node --test (vault + service; real child processes)
npm run smoke     # shippable lifecycle smoke (start → ready → reclaim → foreign refuse)

Limitations

• Tracked-only kill scope — never signals a PID it does not track; foreign port holders are refused, not killed.
• Crash detection is by liveness probe (sampler + on-request recheck), not by signal watching.
• No log rotation — logs are append-only.
• No per-session isolation — vault is per web profile; UI scoping is by cwd.
• Stretch (not in v0): read-only top-N system process card.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, layout, and PR expectations.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.