deepseek-harness/AGENTS.md

AGENTS.md

DeepSeek Harness SDK is a plugin-based agent harness on vendored Cordis: everything is a plugin. Read docs/architecture.md before changing packages/; follow docs/AGENTS.md for documentation.

Pre-release stance: foundation over blast radius

Remove this section at the first tagged release. With no external consumers, prefer the correct foundation over compatibility shims: rename or repackage freely and update every reference together. Backends reject old on-disk formats. SQLite uses monotonic SCHEMA_VERSION; dsh-session keeps SESSION_FORMAT_VERSION at 0 with no compatibility promise.

Repository layout

vendor/      Vendored Cordis source — manifest + sync procedure in vendor/README.md
packages/    @deepseek-ai/dsh-<pkg> workspaces at packages/<group>/<pkg>/
  core/        product API spine: session, system-prompt, tools, agent, agent-loop
  llm/         LLM seam + DeepSeek adapters (direct-fetch + pi-ai design twin)
  bash/        bash executor seam + local impl + model-facing bash tools
  subprocess/  subprocess seam + local process-tree impl
  pty/         persistent PTY seam/backend/tools
  fs/          filesystem seam + local impl + policy gate + read/write/edit tools
  lsp/         language-server seam + local stdio provider + model-facing lsp tool
  skill/       skill provider registry + local impl + catalog/loader tool
  web/         web seam + search/fetch providers + model-facing web tools
  compact/     compaction seam + basic backend
  context/     request-context plugins
  subagent/    subagent seam + spawn/fork/ACP backends + delegation tool
  workflow/    workflow seam + worker-thread engine + workflow tool
  todo/        todo_write tool
  plan/        plan mode as logged per-agent collaboration state
  guard/       loop-hygiene plugins
  cordis/      self-referential toolset: the agent inspects/mounts plugins in its own runtime
  hooks/       Claude Code/Codex hook bridges + shared wire-protocol library
  session-persistence/  persistence seam + JSONL/SQLite backends
  acp/         automation-only Agent Client Protocol server
  ui/          TUI/JSON-RPC bridges; boot, approval, interaction plugins
  examples/    demo bundles (agent-spine + TUI/CLI/ACP/JSON-RPC bins) leaves load
  support/     dev/test infrastructure
  util/        zero-dependency utilities
python/      Python SDK and bundled runtime (see python/README.md)
native/      node-addon-landlock-run source of record (see native/README.md)
examples/    Runnable cordis.yml leaves over packages/examples bundles (see examples/AGENTS.md)
.agents/     Agent workflows and Agent Notes (`notes/`)
docs/        architecture, generated catalogs, postmortems, cookbook (see docs/AGENTS.md)
scripts/     repo gates and generators
website/     VitePress projection of selected bilingual docs/ sources

Package groups: packages/README.md.

Commands

pnpm install            # pnpm workspaces, node ^22.19 || >=24
pnpm run clean           # remove build outputs and safe residue from deleted packages
pnpm run test           # vitest unit tests
pnpm run test:coverage  # CI coverage gate: per-file 100% on packages/*/*/src
pnpm run test:e2e       # real-API tests; self-skip without DEEPSEEK_API_KEY
pnpm run test:snapshot  # keyless ACP/headless/TUI replay vs expected outputs; filter: -t <name>
pnpm run test:snapshot:record  # re-record expected outputs (needs key)
pnpm run typecheck
pnpm run lint
pnpm run duplication    # cross-file TypeScript clone detection
pnpm run build          # tsc emits lib/types, tsdown bundles runtime
pnpm run check:windows-wine  # ONLY when diagnosing a known Windows failure (needs wine); CI owns this signal
pnpm run hygiene        # knip + publint + workspace constraints + NodeNext consumer check
pnpm run doc-sync       # all documentation gates; leaf list in scripts/run-gates.ts
pnpm run website:build  # VitePress build (doubles as dead-link check)
pnpm run demo:headless "task" # one-shot agent (needs DEEPSEEK_API_KEY)
pnpm run demo:tui       # full-screen TUI coding agent (needs DEEPSEEK_API_KEY)
pnpm run demo:cordis    # the agent modifies its own runtime (needs key)
pnpm run demo:acp       # ACP automation server (needs DEEPSEEK_API_KEY)

Host sandbox failures

When required gh, pnpm, build, test, or generator commands fail because the agent sandbox blocks credentials, network, IPC, file watching, or nested sandbox-exec, retry unchanged with the narrowest host escalation before diagnosing authentication or project failure. Require sandbox evidence; never bypass genuine test failures or the product sandbox under test.

Run relevant checks locally

Agents MUST run relevant tests and checks before pushing; select them with dsh-pre-push-checks and report only commands run.

• Match evidence to the surface: focused tests for behavior, snapshots for model or user output, doc-sync for docs, build/hygiene and built smokes for published paths, and real-API e2e for provider behavior.
• Never default to the full suite or repeat a passing check for commit or push. CI owns exhaustive coverage and the platform matrix; rehearse all locally only by explicit request, for CI diagnosis, or for an irreducibly repository-wide change.
• test:coverage, not test, is the CI coverage gate (why).

Secrets / .env

Real-API tests and demos read DEEPSEEK_API_KEY, optional DEEPSEEK_BASE_URL, and root .env. cordis.yml allows !!js (never !js) only under plugin config; Loader metadata is static, so conditional composition uses overlays (primer). Never commit credentials. CI e2e skips without a key; testing.md owns key policy.

Conventions

• Every npm package is @deepseek-ai/dsh-<name>; vendored packages keep upstream names and are private: true. cordis is a peerDependency (+ dev) of every harness package.
• ESM everywhere ("type": "module"). Cross-package imports use package names; in-package relative imports include .ts. Config subprocesses run built lib/ under plain Node; source regressions use their declared launcher (testing policy). CLI source-launch code and every module it reaches must support Node --experimental-transform-types: use import type for erased bindings and native ESM exports, with no TSX/JSX or tsx/esbuild-only transforms. TUI/Web cordis.yml bare plugins must appear in their resolver manifest's dependencies; verify-cordis-config enforces the source-launch contract.
• Registrations are effects: every contribution goes through ctx.effect() / ctx.on(); a registry's register() returns the disposer.
• Runtime invariants assert owned relationships. Check authoritative event streams or mutable data, not service or method presence, plugin metadata or effects, or fixed pure examples. If a package has no plausible relationship, an explained empty companion is correct (package contract).
• Typed events use declaration merging and merge-extensible maps. Event JSDoc needs @mode and payload @param; scoped keys absent from payloads need @dshScopeScan unsupported. Public service methods document parameters and non-void returns.
• Switch on discriminant tags. Closed unions end in assertNever; merge-extensible unions fall through a documented default.
• Waterfall listeners MUST call next() to delegate; returning without it is the veto (semantics).
• Model-visible ⟺ logged: anything that reaches a model request must be reconstructable from the session log; a new model-visible input requires a session event.
• Plugins, not loop changes: new behavior goes on the documented extension seams; changing agent-loop requires updating docs/architecture.md.
• Capability seams are three packages — interface / implementation / consumer; don't split preemptively.
• Prefer maintained dependencies over hand-rolling when they genuinely delete owned code and tests (policy).
• Explicit > implicit at package seams: defaulting is an explicit resolve(request): Spec step in the owning implementation, never a hidden ?? default inside run() (the dsh-bash request/spec split is the template).
• No hardcoded tunables in plugins: deployment-varying choices are validated Config fields changeable from cordis.yml; a DEFAULT_* constant or test seam is not configurability. Protocol constants, external specs, and security invariants stay fixed.
• Misconfiguration fails loud at load when self-contained, otherwise at the earliest resolvable point; never silently skip a missing referent.
• Opaque cross-boundary ids are branded (Branded<B> from dsh-brand), never bare string.
• Trust TypeScript at typed same-process seams. Do not add runtime validation, fallback behavior, or hostile-input tests solely for values the static interface requires; validate at parser/config, queued, model/tool JSON, durable/file, worker, process, and wire boundaries.
• Source plane vs artifact plane, never mixed. Static gates and tests resolve workspace imports through tsconfig paths to src and pass on a clean tree; gates consuming built lib/ declare that dependency (layout).
• ts.Program consumers seed tsconfig.host.json or tsconfig.client.json, never the root solution — one program holding both sides collides the cordis Context merges (layout).
• An empty catch names what it swallows and why nothing else can reach it; keep the try to one statement.
• Prefer symmetry for parallel values; unexplained asymmetry usually signals a missed extraction.
• Tests describe behavior, not correctness. Change obsolete behavior with its tests; explain why in the PR.
• Non-trivial changes MUST include an Agent Note in the same PR; only mechanical/local edits are exempt (scope). Archived notes are frozen: never edit or treat them as current authority (archive policy).
• Testing policy — docs/testing.md. Every non-trivial model- or product-user-visible behavior change adds or updates a keyless snapshot through a real runnable example in the same PR; package tests, e2e-only assertions, and mock-only fixtures do not substitute for the assembled application transcript. Fixtures must replay on macOS/Linux; fix fixtures, not normalizers.
• A tool's UI render intent is part of its design, decided up front (generic/terminal/diff, locations); presentation methods are pure functions of args (cookbook).
• Plan unit, e2e, and snapshot coverage for new seams, lifecycle shapes, and transcript surfaces; missing snapshot-harness support is part of the implementation, not deferred follow-up.
• Use incremental merge commits. Split independent changes; never squash, rebase, or rewrite pushed history. Fix the introducing PR before merging down-stack. If the base advances mid-merge, never restart: finish the checkpoint, push when authorized, then merge the newer tip separately (rationale).
• Label PRs: one kind (feature/bug-fix/doc/testing/cleanup), each matching area; the taxonomy is extensible.
• TODO markers: FIXME/TODO/XXX by urgency (semantics).
• Files end with exactly one trailing newline; git diff --cached --check (pre-commit) gates it.

Defensive patterns

Read docs/defensive-patterns.md before lifecycle, concurrency, subprocess, or teardown work.

Type safety and documentation

Everything compiles under strict: true with noImplicitAny; every remaining any explains why a narrower type is infeasible. Every module and export has concise JSDoc for its non-obvious contract; function-like exports include @param/@returns, as enforced by verify-export-jsdoc. Heritage-declared members, plugin-protocol slots, and constructors keep their docs at the declaring seam, protocol, or class.

Comments and docs preserve complete contracts and non-obvious orientation, not reasoning transcripts. Do not narrate control flow or tests, preserve review history, or restate code. Keep factual clauses affecting behavior, failure, timing, ownership, or safe use; link aggressively to owning rationale. Use dsh-prose-standard for prose decisions. Wire mechanically checkable invariants into an executed top-level gate and prove each new or changed acceptance path rejects an invalid case. Use narrow justified exceptions instead of disabling a rule globally.

Docs accompany every code change: update affected README/JSDoc contracts together; update both sides of a bilingual pair and re-record it (i18n contract). Current-state prose, one physical line per paragraph, one home per fact, and word budgets live in docs/AGENTS.md.

Editing these instructions

CLAUDE.md symlinks AGENTS.md at root, packages/, and examples/; edit the real file. Keep each rule self-contained while linking high-level docs. Condense when clarity survives; raise a verify-doc-budgets ceiling when the contract genuinely needs more space.

Vendoring policy

vendor/ packages are pinned source copies (manifest with upstream SHAs in vendor/README.md). Update via the sync procedure there; re-apply or retire the logged local modifications; rerun pnpm run test && pnpm run build.