dsh-composer-history

⌨️ dsh-composer-history

Terminal-style input history for the DeepSeek Harness Web GUI composer.

Press ↑ like it's in a terminal — and keep your half-typed draft safe.

English · 简体中文 · Español · Português · हिन्दी

Compatibility

Surface	Status
Harness	DeepSeek Harness 0.1.1-rc.2
Node	^22.19.0 || >=24.0.0
Platforms	Web GUI only (client plugin; browser-local storage; no network, no native code)
Model	Any (no model requests — pure UI behavior)

What you get

dsh-composer-history puts a terminal's input history into the DeepSeek Harness Web GUI composer:

• Edge-first arrow recall — bare ↑/↓ move the caret first; history recall triggers only when the caret sits on the first/last line. The first recall stashes {draft, caret}, and reaching the newest entry again (or pressing Esc) restores both exactly — never cleared.
• Persisted history — every sent message is appended to a bounded browser-local store, so recall survives page reloads and reaches across sessions.
• Reverse search — Ctrl+R (configurable) opens a query overlay over merged history, snippets, and templates.
• Smart input layer — /save//load snippets, prompt templates with {{workspace}}/{{session}}/{{draft}} variables, and browser-local reuse insights.
• Sliding-context aware — compaction summaries join recall and search as [compacted] … entries, and a transient notice announces each compaction with a one-click /compact fill.
• Versioned JSON backup — export/import all four libraries (history, snippets, templates, insights) as one schema-versioned document; download or copy on export, file pick or paste on import.

Pure UI behavior: no session events, no agent-loop changes, no model requests. Recalled text only enters the ordinary composer draft; it reaches the model only if you press Enter.

Quick start

# 1. install the bundle into your profile
dsh plugin --profile web add "github:PerryLink/dsh-composer-history#main"

# or from npm (published releases)
dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-composer-history

# 2. restart and verify the row
dsh --profile web --dump-config | grep -A3 'id: composer-history'

Install & uninstall

The npm package ships the built bundles; a source checkout must be built first (pnpm run build) — the client-package check refuses to boot against an unbuilt bundle.

• git channel (latest main): dsh plugin --profile web add "github:PerryLink/dsh-composer-history#main".
• npm channel (published releases): dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-composer-history.
• tarball channel: pnpm pack in this repo, then dsh plugin --profile web add ./dsh-composer-history-<version>.tgz.
• uninstall: dsh plugin --profile web remove dsh-composer-history (or remove the row from the profile patch).

Configuration

All tunables are Schemastery Config fields (changeable from cordis.yml and the settings document). An id-targeted override replaces the whole row — restate every key you need. Invalid enum values fail the whole dsh boot loudly.

Key	Default	Meaning
recallWithDraft	'save'	Recall mode (save / gate): save stashes a non-empty draft before recall; gate recalls only an empty draft (Claude/Codex-style gating)
restoreOnEscape	true	Restore the stashed draft when Esc ends browsing
edgeMode	'logical'	Edge detection mode (logical / visual): by \n lines or by measured wrapped lines
enableCtrlAlias	true	Let Ctrl+↑/↓ behave like the bare arrows
restoreCaret	true	Also restore the stashed caret on bottom-out / Esc
upKey	'ArrowUp'	KeyboardEvent.key that recalls upward; '' disables
downKey	'ArrowDown'	KeyboardEvent.key that walks newer / restores; '' disables
escapeKey	'Escape'	KeyboardEvent.key that escapes browsing; '' disables
maxHistory	500	Maximum recalled entries (newest kept); 0 = unlimited
includeKinds	['user']	Conversation node kinds admitted into the history (add 'steering' to include steer messages)
historyScope	'session'	History scope (session / workspace): workspace prepends other listed sessions' user messages before the current session's
persistHistory	true	Append sent messages to the browser-local store
maxPersisted	200	Maximum persisted entries; 0 = unlimited
enableSearch	true	Enable the Ctrl+R reverse-search overlay
searchKeys	['Ctrl+R']	Chord specs opening the search (modifiers Ctrl/Alt/Meta/Shift + a key name); a malformed spec fails the browser fiber loudly
searchCaseSensitive	false	Whether search matching distinguishes letter case
includeCompactionSummaries	true	Admit [compacted] … checkpoint summaries into recall and search
showCompactionNotice	true	Show a transient notice when a compaction checkpoint lands
compactCommandText	'/compact'	Slash command the notice's "Compact now" action fills into the composer; '' hides the action
enableSnippets	true	Enable the snippet library (/save, /load, search-panel picking)
maxSnippets	200	Maximum stored snippets; 0 = unlimited
enableTemplates	true	Enable the prompt-template library (variables fill at insertion)
enableInsights	true	Enable the reuse-insight hint (local usage statistics)
insightMinUses	2	Minimum uses before the reuse hint shows
enableCompactionHighlight	true	Badge [compacted] … summaries distinctly in the search panel

Tools & surfaces

Surface	Kind	Notes
ArrowUp	keybinding	Edge-first ↑/↓ recall — stashes {draft, caret}, restores both exactly on bottom-out or Esc
Ctrl+R	keybinding	Reverse-search overlay over merged history, snippets, and templates
/save	command	Save the current draft as a named, tagged snippet
/load	command	Insert a saved snippet at the caret
templates	UI	Versioned JSON backup export/import of history, snippets, templates, and insights (explicit click only)
composer-history	settings namespace	Carries the resolved config into the browser half

Keybindings

Key	State	Behavior
↑	IDLE, caret on first line	stash {draft, caret}, fill newest entry, caret to end (no history → pass)
↑	BROWSING, caret on first line	older entry; hold at the oldest (intercept, no mutation)
↑	caret not on first line	fully released (browser moves the caret)
↓	IDLE	always released (plain caret movement)
↓	BROWSING, caret on last line	newer entry; at newest → restore savedDraft + savedCaret → IDLE
↓	caret not on last line	fully released
Esc	BROWSING (restoreOnEscape: true)	restore savedDraft + savedCaret → IDLE, intercepted
Esc	otherwise	released (menu/popup Escape semantics untouched)
Ctrl+↑/↓	enableCtrlAlias: true	same as bare arrows
searchKeys chord	composer focused, plain phase, no menu/selection/IME	open reverse search; browsing ends, the shown text becomes the draft
Shift/Alt/Meta+arrows, IME, selection	any	always released

upKey/downKey/escapeKey/searchKeys rename the keys above; the modifier policy (and the search chord's exact-modifier match) is unchanged. Inside the search overlay: ↑/↓ move the match selection (the selected row scrolls into view), Enter fills, Esc cancels, a click picks, a press outside cancels; matched substrings are highlighted in every row.

Reverse search

• Open: the searchKeys chord while the composer is focused and the input is plain (a Ctrl+R here also stops the browser's page reload — the key is consumed only inside the composer).
• Filter: substring match over the merged history (current session + persisted + workspace entries); case sensitivity per searchCaseSensitive; matched substrings are highlighted in each row.
• Pick: Enter fills the draft and moves the caret to the end — the same single setDraft write path as ordinary recall. Recalled text reaches the model only if you press Enter afterwards.
• Cancel: Esc or a press outside the panel; the draft is untouched.

Smart input layer

On top of the terminal-style history, three browser-local libraries turn the composer into a reusable input surface. Everything below lives in localStorage (keys dsh.composer-history.snippets.v1, .templates.v1, .insights.v1), never touches the network, and every switch is a Config field.

Snippets (cross-session command library)

/save ship-check --tag=release,ops
check the build, run the smoke suite, tag the release        ← the rest of the draft is the snippet
/save ship-check                                             → "snippet saved: ship-check"
/load ship-check                                             → the snippet fills the composer
Ctrl+R → search panel lists snippets (green badge = name) alongside history

• /save <name> consumes the Enter, stores the draft (minus the command line) under a kebab-case name with optional tags, and clears the composer. Nothing to save → an error notice, the command never sends.
• /load <name> inserts the snippet at the caret (whole-draft replace, caret to end) and counts the use.
• Scope: snippets saved with a workspace cwd are workspace-scoped; snippets saved without one are global. maxSnippets bounds the library; same-name saves replace.
• The plugin never sends: every fill lands in the ordinary draft and your Enter stays yours.

Prompt templates with variables

Templates are stored prompt texts with {{variable}} placeholders. The search panel lists them with a purple badge; picking one fills the variables from the live session and inserts the result. Built-in variables: {{workspace}} (the session's cwd), {{session}} (the session id), {{draft}} (the current draft). A template referencing an unknown variable fails loudly with the missing list — a half-filled prompt is worse than an error.

The whole library — history, snippets, templates, and insights — exports to and imports from a single versioned JSON document through the panel's Export JSON / Import file actions; see Backup export & import below. An explicit user action; the plugin never writes files on its own.

Reuse insights

Every newly committed user message (and every snippet load) lands one browser-local usage record keyed by exact text. While you type, a small hint under the composer reports used M× in N sessions · 在 N 个会话里用过 M 次 once the draft matches a prompt used in at least insightMinUses (default 2) sessions. Toggle with enableInsights; the statistics contain only the deduped texts and counters.

Compaction summary highlight

Ctrl+R marks [compacted] … summaries with an amber badge (history stays unbadged), snippets green, templates purple — the panel's provenance is visible at a glance. Toggle with enableCompactionHighlight.

Backup export & import

All four browser-local libraries export to and import from one versioned JSON document. The panel's Export JSON / Copy JSON / Import file / Paste JSON actions run entirely in the browser: download or copy to clipboard on export, file pick or pasted text on import — nothing is uploaded and no host RPC or network call is involved.

Document shape

{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "exportedAt": 1735689600000,
  "data": {
    "history": ["…"],
    "snippets": [{ "name": "…", "text": "…", "tags": [], "scope": "global", "createdAt": 0, "updatedAt": 0, "useCount": 0, "lastUsedAt": 0 }],
    "templates": [{ "name": "…", "text": "…", "description": "", "updatedAt": 0 }],
    "insights": [{ "text": "…", "sessions": [], "uses": 0, "lastUsedAt": 0 }]
  }
}

Merge & conflict strategy

• History entries are plain strings and deduplicate by exact text; a duplicate or blank entry is skipped, never overwritten.
• Snippets and templates key on name; insights key on exact text. On a same-key conflict the newest timestamp wins (updatedAt for snippets/templates, lastUsedAt for insights); an older or equal-timestamp import is skipped, and new keys are appended.
• The import respects maxPersisted and maxSnippets; templates and insights cap at their fixed protocol limits (500 each).
• The result notice reports how many records were written and how many were skipped (older/duplicate).

Schema versioning

schemaVersion starts at 1. Imports run a stepwise migration (one version at a time) so future formats can upgrade old documents in place. A document whose schemaVersion is newer than the one this build understands is rejected with an error — it is never silently dropped or partially merged; a version too old to migrate is rejected the same way.

Sliding context

The harness core gives every dsh session a sliding context window, the same workflow Claude Code and Codex ship: when a conversation approaches the model's context limit (or the provider reports an overflow), the harness auto-compacts — older turns are summarized behind a compaction checkpoint marker that stays visible in the transcript, the model keeps only the summary plus the recent tail, and the session continues. /compact triggers the same compaction on demand, and the marker renders as an expandable "Context compacted" row.

dsh-composer-history plugs the composer into that workflow so the window slide never costs you your typing history:

• Recall survives compaction — shadowed turns stay in the session snapshot, so ↑ still walks every message you sent before and after a checkpoint.
• Summaries join the history — each checkpoint's summary text enters ↑ recall and Ctrl+R search as a [compacted] … entry (toggle: includeCompactionSummaries), so context the model no longer sees verbatim stays one keystroke away.
• Compaction notice — when a checkpoint lands while the page is open, a transient snackbar announces it (the Claude Code "Auto-compacting conversation…" moment) with the summary snippet and a one-click Fill /compact action (showCompactionNotice, compactCommandText); the fill lands in the ordinary draft, and only your Enter sends it.
• Search counts — the Ctrl+R panel now shows a live N entries / N matches status line, and long entries are clamped to two lines.

Compaction itself (thresholds, summary model, /compact) is owned by the harness core's compaction plugins — this plugin only observes the checkpoint markers the client snapshot already exposes, so it works without any agent-loop or model-request changes.

Permissions & data

• Permissions: the plugin declares browser:local-storage in its workshop manifest — nothing else. No network, no subprocesses, no session events.
• Data: four browser-local localStorage keys — dsh.composer-history.v1 (sent-message history), dsh.composer-history.snippets.v1 (snippet texts + tags + use counters), dsh.composer-history.templates.v1 (template texts), and dsh.composer-history.insights.v1 (deduped prompt texts + per-session use counters). All bounded, same-origin only, never uploaded; corrupt payloads reset silently.
• Model-visible ⟺ you press Enter: recalled text, snippet loads, template fills, and the /compact fill all land in the ordinary composer draft. Nothing reaches the model until you press Enter.

Security boundaries

• UI-only, never enforcement. The plugin edits the composer draft only; the sandbox, approval, and session systems remain the enforcement authorities, and no command or tool is ever claimed or bypassed.
• No content leaves the browser except an explicit export. History, snippets, templates, and insights live in localStorage; nothing is uploaded, and no model request or network call is made. The versioned backup export only writes a local download or the clipboard on an explicit click.
• Fail loud. Invalid enum values fail the whole dsh boot; a malformed search chord fails the browser fiber — misconfiguration never silently degrades.
• Bounded everything. maxHistory, maxPersisted, and maxSnippets cap retained entries; corrupt or foreign payloads reset silently.
• Zero side effects on pass-through. The plugin intercepts only in the plain input phase and yields to the slash menu, command popups, IME composition, text selections, and modifier combos.

Known limitations

• Logical vs visual lines. Default logical keys off \n (a long auto-wrapped message counts as one line); visual measures real wraps via a hidden mirror (O(lines·log n) binary search per edge check, memoized per draft/width). Mirror measurement needs a real layout engine — the pure span math is unit-tested instead.
• Persisted history is per-browser. The store lives in one origin's localStorage; it never syncs between browsers or machines. Corrupt payloads reset silently.
• Undo stack includes recall transactions. Every fill/restore is one setDraft transaction in the input machine's undo log; Ctrl+Z steps back through recalls. The precision fix needs the upstream edit-range exposure.
• Recalling a /xxx entry then Enter follows the normal command claim/adjudication path (expected, and Enter is never intercepted).
• Menus/popups and non-plain phases always win; a committed send and session switches both reset to IDLE.
• Reference chips (U+FFFC placeholders) ride along with recalled/restored draft text.
• historyScope: 'workspace' reads the live assemblies of other listed sessions; sessions whose assembly has not materialized contribute nothing yet.
• The search overlay is plain DOM (no React dependency); it renders all matches up to the maxHistory bound.
• Compaction awareness is observational. Checkpoints landed before install (or before a session switch) never trigger a notice; a checkpoint whose summary event fell outside the loaded window contributes no [compacted] … entry (summary: null).
• The notice's "Compact now" action only fills the configured command text into the draft — sending remains the user's Enter.
• Snippets, templates, and insights are browser-local. Names are kebab-case (1..64 chars); tags cap at 8 × 32 chars. Template variables resolve from the live session; {{draft}} is the draft at pick time.

Development

pnpm install           # node ^22.19 || >=24
pnpm run build         # tsc build + tsdown bundle (lib/)
pnpm run typecheck     # tsc --noEmit (src + tests)
pnpm test              # vitest run
pnpm run test:watch    # vitest watch
pnpm run test:coverage # vitest run --coverage
pnpm run check:readmes # README consistency gate
pnpm run verify:pack   # pack-surface check

Topics

deepseek-harness · dsh · dsh-plugin · web-gui · input-history · keyboard-shortcuts · compaction · sliding-context · typescript

Contributors

• @PerryLink — creator and maintainer: edge-first arrow recall, persisted history, reverse search, sliding-context awareness, snippet library, prompt templates, reuse insights, and the dsh.bundle / dshWorkshop manifests.

PerryLink DSH Plugin Family

This project is one of the 15 DeepSeek Harness plugins maintained by PerryLink. If this one helps you, the others likely will too:

Plugin	One-liner
dsh-mcp-panel	Read-only MCP runtime panel: /mcp command + Settings tab with status, tools and errors
dsh-doublecheck	Engineering-discipline guard: requirements grill, test gates, adversary review
dsh-background-agents	Durable background child agents with a Web UI sidebar, messaging and interrupt
dsh-lsp-actions	LSP diagnostics, formatting, completion, code actions and rename over language servers
dsh-output-styles	Claude Code outputStyles-equivalent runtime style switching
dsh-checkpoint-rewind	Claude Code /rewind-equivalent: snapshots, session forks, one-shot restore
dsh-permission-rules	Claude Code-style declarative allow/deny/ask permission rules with audit
dsh-auto-review	Second-model auto-review on the approval chain, fail-closed by default
dsh-memento	Approval-gated cross-session memory: ctx.memory seam + SQLite + memory tool
dsh-skill-pack-security	Security-audit skill pack: secret scan, dependency and supply-chain review
dsh-session-pin	Pin sessions in the Web sidebar with durable ordering
dsh-composer-history	Terminal-style input history for the web composer: arrows, Ctrl+R search
dsh-github	GitHub PR/issues integration for DSH, every write gated by approval
dsh-plugin-guide	Plugin-development knowledge base as an on-demand agent skill
dsh-claude-move	Migrate Claude Code sessions, memory, skills and CLAUDE.md into DSH

License

Apache License 2.0 © 2026 dsh-composer-history contributors