Runtime and data

Learn how the desktop app selects runtimes, starts Harness, and separates release and debug data.

The desktop shell separates managed application dependencies from Harness user data. This allows core updates and development builds without mixing profile state.

Runtime selection

The release currently manages Node.js v22.22.0 and pnpm 11.7.0. For CLI startup, the shim prefers a compatible user runtime and command before falling back to the managed copies. The app-managed Harness core is downloaded from deepseek-harness-pkg; official GitHub assets are preferred and a supported mirror can be used as fallback.

Directory model

<app-data>/
├── runtime/
├── dependencies/
│   ├── dsh/
│   ├── pnpm/
│   └── git/          # Windows when managed Git is needed
├── logs/
│   └── dsh-web.log
└── .store.dat

~/.dsh/
└── profiles/
    └── <id>/

DSH_HOME overrides the default Harness data root when it is non-empty. Release builds default to ~/.dsh; debug builds default to ~/.dsh.dev.

Release and debug isolation

Concern	Release	Debug
Default port	3080	3081
Harness home	~/.dsh	~/.dsh.dev
Settings store	.store.dat	.store.dev.dat
Service log	logs/dsh-web.log	logs/dsh-web.dev.log
Managed dependencies	Shared	Shared
CLI PATH changes	Enabled by user setting	Intentionally disabled

Port behavior

The service binds to 127.0.0.1. If the preferred port is already occupied, startup can select a higher free port and pass the resolved URL back to the desktop client. A future launch can return to the preferred port after it becomes available.

Shared managed dependencies reduce duplicate downloads, but profiles and debug data do not provide operating-system isolation. Do not treat directory separation as a sandbox.