DeepSeek Harness by DeepSeek
Overview
An agent harness from DeepSeek in which every capability is a plugin. Its agent reads and edits workspace files, runs commands, delegates work and keeps a plan, and it runs as a desktop app, a browser UI or the dsh command-line tool.
Status: Public preview; the project warns of breaking changes.
DeepSeek Harness was downloaded 452K times from npm in the week ending Oct 4, 2026, down 7.9% on the week before. Its download count moved to a different level overnight on Aug 15, 2026. A jump like that comes from automated installs switching on or off or from a change in how the registry counts, so growth rates across that date are not shown. The GitHub repository has 244K stars, 32,073 of them added in the last 30 days. It was mentioned in 51 Hacker News posts and comments over the last 30 days.
DeepSeek Harness usage and attention over time
Download the raw daily series: deepseek-harness.csv
Install DeepSeek Harness
| npm | npm install -g @deepseek-ai/dsh |
|---|
These commands use the packages tracked on this page. The vendor may recommend a different installer; see the official documentation.
Key facts
| Maker | DeepSeek |
|---|---|
| Type | Open-source plugin-based agent harness (desktop, web and CLI) |
| First released | August 2026 |
| License | MIT |
| Main language | TypeScript |
Pricing
Free and open source (MIT); users enter their own DeepSeek API key or another OpenAI-compatible provider.
Source: official pricing page, checked Oct 6, 2026. Prices change often; confirm before you buy.
Pulse Score breakdown
Each component is scored 0 to 100 from public signals; a dash means no data for it. Methodology.
DeepSeek Harness alternatives
| # | Agent | Pulse | Downloads 7d | 7d | 30d | VS Code installs | Stars | Latest release | Price | Last 90 days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |
OpenClawOpenClaw Foundation (nonprofit); created by Peter Steinberger |
80 | 4.5M | up 34.8% | up 28.5% | — | 391K+162/day | 2026.9.83d ago | Free (OSS) | ||
| 29 |
Hermes AgentNous Research |
54 | 50.2K | up 37.3% | down 39.8% | — | 251K+259/day | 2026.9.2412d ago | Free (OSS) | ||
| 39 |
ManusButterfly Effect Pte. Ltd. (Manus AI), Singapore |
51 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Free + $20/mo | ||
| 77 |
GensparkGenspark Inc. (MainFunc) |
42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Free + $24.99/mo | ||
| 85 |
nanobotHKUDS |
40 | 14.1K | up 19.2% | up 27.5% | — | 48.8K+29/day | 0.3.521d ago | Free (OSS) | ||
| 87 |
AgenticSeekFosowl |
40 | — | — | — | — | 27.4K+12/day | — | Free (OSS) | — | |
| No agents match that filter. | |||||||||||
Head to head: DeepSeek Harness vs OpenClaw · DeepSeek Harness vs Hermes Agent · DeepSeek Harness vs Manus · DeepSeek Harness vs Genspark
DeepSeek Harness FAQ
How much does DeepSeek Harness cost?
Free and open source (MIT); users enter their own DeepSeek API key or another OpenAI-compatible provider.
Is DeepSeek Harness open source?
Yes. DeepSeek Harness is open source, released under the MIT license.
How popular is DeepSeek Harness?
DeepSeek Harness was downloaded 452K times from npm in the week ending Oct 4, 2026, down 7.9% on the week before. Its download count moved to a different level overnight on Aug 15, 2026. A jump like that comes from automated installs switching on or off or from a change in how the registry counts, so growth rates across that date are not shown. The GitHub repository has 244K stars, 32,073 of them added in the last 30 days.
What are the alternatives to DeepSeek Harness?
The closest alternatives in the same category by Pulse Score are OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, Manus, Genspark.
Where these numbers come from
npm: @deepseek-ai/dsh. GitHub: deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness. See data sources for how each one is collected.
Product facts and pricing were checked against: github.com, deepseek.com, registry.npmjs.org.