DeepSeek Harness — Cordis plugins, agent modes & session logs

Explore DeepSeek Harness—open-source agent harness with Cordis plugins, Standard/Code/Minimal modes, and traceable session logs.

  • Agent Harness
  • Open Source
  • Cordis Plugins
  • Developer Preview
Publisher
DeepSeek
Type
Agent Harness
Pricing
Free
Reviewed
20 August 2026
DeepSeek Harness developer preview UI showing plugin-based agent modes and session trajectory controls
Official site preview — DeepSeek Harness. Live UI, pricing, and generation happen on their domain.

Quick verdict

Use when
You need a composable coding-agent runtime you can audit—swap models, tools, sandboxes, and UI as plugins, with append-only session logs.
Skip when
You mainly want a polished daily-driver editor, or you need a production-stable framework with long-term API guarantees and do not want a developer preview.
Try instead

Use an editor-first AI IDE for day-to-day shipping; read the on-site harness guide when you are still choosing between runtime and editor.

DeepSeek Harness vs common alternatives

Stable selection factors only—pricing tiers, learning cost, output limits, and where prompts or code run. Confirm live details on each official site.
  • DeepSeek HarnessThis page

    Pricing
    Harness is free (MIT); you pay model providers and your own infra
    Learning cost
    Cordis plugins + runtime modes; developer-preview docs and CLI/Web UI
    Output limits
    Coding-agent modes, trajectory logs, swappable sandboxes/UI; APIs may change
    Privacy
    Runs locally or on your infra; model calls go to whichever providers you configure
  • LangGraph

    Pricing
    Open-source core; paid LangSmith/cloud options for observability at scale
    Learning cost
    Graph/state mental model; Python/JS ecosystems and LangChain docs
    Output limits
    General agent graphs beyond coding; strong orchestration patterns
    Privacy
    Self-host or cloud; tracing may leave your network if you use hosted observability
  • OpenAI Agents SDK

    Pricing
    SDK free to use; model and tooling billed through OpenAI usage
    Learning cost
    Python/TS agent loops; OpenAI docs and examples
    Output limits
    OpenAI-centric agents and tools; ecosystem tied to that provider surface
    Privacy
    Agent runs and model calls follow OpenAI platform data policies
  1. DeepSeek Harness — official site
  2. deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness on GitHub
  3. LangGraph — official site
  4. OpenAI Agents SDK — docs

Learn more

Details below the decision summary—features, workflow, and scope notes.

What is DeepSeek Harness?

DeepSeek Harness is an open-source agent harness in developer preview that treats every capability as a Cordis plugin—models, tools, skills, sessions, sandboxes, storage, loops, scheduling, and UI. The harness keeps the model grounded with tools, traceable session logs, and swappable runtimes.

What it costs

Tier snapshot before you open the official developer preview site.
Free tier
Yes
Pricing summary
DeepSeek Harness is MIT-licensed open source in developer preview—no subscription for the harness itself. You still pay whichever model providers you wire in, plus any sandbox or storage infrastructure you run.

Reviewed on 20 August 2026 · deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness on GitHub

What DeepSeek Harness offers

Core capabilities highlighted on the official developer preview site.
  • Everything is a plugin

    Cordis mounts and unmounts plugins with dependency awareness, so you can swap models, tools, skills, sandboxes, storage, loops, scheduling, and UI pieces without rewriting the harness core.

  • Traceable session trajectory

    An append-only session log records system prompts, reasoning, tool calls and results, subagent scheduling, and context injections. Resume, fork, search, and replay operate on the same event stream.

  • Standard coding agent mode

    Standard mode ships a full toolset—file editing, shell, file and web search, skills, planning, goals, subagents, and workflows—for day-to-day agent development.

  • Code mode orchestration

    Code mode exposes tools through a Code Mode SDK so the model can combine multi-step operations in one TypeScript program instead of chaining single tool calls by hand.

  • Minimal and Creator modes

    Minimal mode keeps only persistent bash and str_replace_editor for model benchmarking. Creator mode adds runtime inspection and in-memory Cordis plugin experiments for building custom presets.

  • Open source MIT preview

    Source is available on GitHub under MIT. Core plugins and APIs may still change while DeepSeek Harness remains in developer preview.

How developers start with DeepSeek Harness

A practical path from quick start to a custom plugin composition.
  1. Launch the Web UI with npx

    Install Node.js, then run `npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web` to open the DeepSeek Harness Web UI without cloning the repo first.

  2. Clone when you need full source

    For local plugin work, clone https://github.com/deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness and follow the repository setup instructions.

  3. Pick a runtime mode

    Use Standard for full coding-agent workflows, Code mode for TypeScript-orchestrated tool batches, Minimal for two-tool benchmarks, or Creator to inspect and recombine plugins.

  4. Compose capabilities in configuration

    Select, swap, or extend plugins—models, tools, skills, sandboxes, storage, loops, scheduling, UI—through configuration rather than patching harness internals.

  5. Inspect runs in Trajectory view

    Open the session log to audit what the model saw, verify tool results, then resume or fork from the same append-only stream when iterating on agent behavior.

Who DeepSeek Harness is for

Roles and teams that benefit from a plugin-first agent runtime.
  • Agent harness developers

    Build or evaluate coding agents with swappable tools, sandboxes, and loops while keeping a single Cordis-based runtime.

  • Researchers benchmarking models

    Minimal mode isolates shell and file-edit tools so you can compare model behavior in a constrained, reproducible environment.

  • Platform and infra engineers

    Experiment with sandboxes, storage, scheduling, and UI plugins without rewriting the DeepSeek Harness core for each deployment shape.

  • Teams building custom agent presets

    Creator mode supports runtime inspection and in-memory plugin trials before shipping a reusable Standard or Code mode preset.

When DeepSeek Harness is the right pick

Choose DeepSeek Harness when you need a plugin-first coding-agent runtime with trajectory logs. Skip it when you want a polished editor daily driver or a long-stable production framework without preview churn.

Platform and preview notes

Facts to verify on deepseek.com/harness before you depend on a workflow.
Developer preview status
DeepSeek Harness is in developer preview; Cordis plugins and public APIs continue to evolve. Treat breaking changes as expected until a stable release.
License and source
Distributed as open source under MIT from github.com/deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness. Community plugins are listed separately from the core repository.
Quick start package
The Web UI entrypoint is `@deepseek-ai/dsh` via `npx … web`. Node.js is required; confirm current CLI flags in official developer docs.
Cordis kernel
Plugin mount/unmount and dependency wiring run through Cordis services and events so capabilities can interoperate without hard-coded glue.
Page type
This route is a curated listing at /deepseek-harness. Installs, docs, and GitHub issues live on DeepSeek’s official properties.
Affiliation
This page is not affiliated with DeepSeek beyond discovery and documentation. Pricing and eligibility (if any) are determined on deepseek.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers about this tool—open a question to read more.