dsh-web-terminal

dsh-web-terminal

A local terminal plugin for the DeepSeek Harness web GUI. Adds a sidebar Terminal entry with a multi-tab xterm.js panel; every tab runs a real PTY shell on the host process via node-pty, streamed over a WebSocket route.

Features:

• Real pseudo-terminal shells — interactive programs (vim, top, htop), Ctrl-C, resize all work
• Multi-tab terminal panel with new / close / disconnect / reconnect / clear controls
• Auto-fit on panel open, window resize, and container changes
• Shell and working directory configurable (settings panel or patch yaml)
• Loopback-only trust fence on every route
• Hot-pluggable: no dsh source changes, mounts through the web profile bundle list (same dual-face plugin pattern as dsh-ssh)

Architecture

Half	Entry	Responsibility
host (node)	lib/index.js (src/index.ts)	node-pty shell sessions, /api/dsh-terminal/info route, /api/dsh-terminal/terminal WebSocket upgrade, system-prompt announcement, settings namespace (shell/cwd)
client (browser)	lib/client.js (src/client/index.ts)	sidebar Terminal entry (DOM injection, self-healing), multi-tab terminal panel (React + xterm.js)

Wire protocol (src/protocol.ts):

• client → host: {type:"input",data}, {type:"resize",cols,rows}
• host → client: {type:"ready",shell}, {type:"output",data}, {type:"exit",code,error?}

Security: all routes carry a loopback-only trust fence (same-origin + 127.0.0.1/localhost checks). The terminal executes commands with the host user's privileges — equivalent to direct shell access.

Install into the web profile

Option A — bundle list (recommended):

# 1) one-time: allow node-pty build scripts in ~/.dsh/profiles/web/pnpm-workspace.yaml
#    allowBuilds:
#      esbuild: true
#      node-pty: true

# 2) add the dependency (adjust the path to your checkout)
cd ~/.dsh/profiles/web
pnpm add dsh-web-terminal@link:/path/to/dsh-web-terminal

# 3) append "dsh-web-terminal" to dsh.profile.bundles in package.json
#    (the bundle's cordis.patch.yml inserts the id=terminal plugin row)

# 4) restart dsh web

Option B — manual patch row in ~/.dsh/profiles/web/cordis.patch.yml (with the package installed in the profile):

- insert:
    - id: terminal
      name: 'dsh-web-terminal'

Configuration (settings panel / patch yaml)

- id: terminal
  config:
    enabled: true
    announceToAgent: true
    shell: /bin/zsh      # default: $SHELL
    cwd: /path/to/work   # default: host process cwd (workspace root)

Development

pnpm install            # pnpm-workspace.yaml must allow esbuild / node-pty build scripts
pnpm run typecheck      # tsc --noEmit
pnpm run build          # esbuild: lib/index.js (host) + lib/client.js (ModuleLoader wrapper)
pnpm test               # client bundle syntax + jsdom ModuleLoader simulation
node scripts/smoke.mjs  # host WebSocket link smoke test
node scripts/browser-diag.mjs  # Playwright: open the real GUI, click Terminal, type a command

The build script embeds node_modules/@xterm/xterm/css/xterm.css into src/client/xterm-css.ts (generated) because the ModuleLoader environment has no CSS loader.

Known pitfalls

• Client externals: only platform seed words (react family) and shell-own modules (@deepseek-ai/*) may stay external. @xterm/* must be bundled — otherwise the ModuleLoader reports require("@xterm/xterm") missed the module table (dsh-ssh bundles xterm too).
• Panel height chain: [data-dsh-terminal-view] is an absolute container; its direct child .dshTermView needs height: 100% or the inner .dshTermPanel { height: 100% } resolves against an auto-height parent and the whole flex chain collapses (terminal squashed to a 2px strip).
• node-pty spawn-helper permissions: the prebuilt prebuilds/<platform>/spawn-helper may lose its executable bit (posix_spawnp failed); run pnpm run fix:spawn-helper (also runs automatically on pnpm install via postinstall). Note node-pty spawn is blocked inside the dsh file sandbox — run smoke tests against a real dsh process.

Verify

curl http://127.0.0.1:3080/api/dsh-terminal/info
# {"shell":"/bin/zsh","platform":"darwin",...}

# browser: refresh the GUI → sidebar Terminal → new tab → type commands

License

MIT