DeepSeek Harness Plugin Security Checklist

Why a checklist exists

DeepSeek Harness treats capabilities as Cordis plugins. That is the product bet: compose instead of fork. It also means a skin, a “helper,” or a vision pack can expand the tool surface. This article is the permissions mindset companion to the plugin guide and the curated directory. It is not a vulnerability database and not a store rating.

Before you copy dsh plugin add

1. Read the README for the exact install line — github:owner/repo vs npm scope. Typos install strangers.
2. Open the repository — recent commits, license, whether the author documents what tools register.
3. Decide the blast radius — disposable workspace first; never your payroll repo on day one.
4. Note the DSH preview version you are pinning. Plugin SHAs without a DSH pin make incidents unreproducible.

Official materials and the GitHub topic dsh-plugin are discovery surfaces. Curated cards on this site rewrite summaries; they do not certify safety.

Permissions questions that matter

Ask out loud (or write in the PR):

• Can this plugin spawn a shell?
• Can it read or write outside the workspace root you selected?
• Does it request network for “telemetry,” “upload traces,” or auto-update?
• Does a UI skin also register tools, or is it appearance-only? (Skins share the Cordis bus — see UI skins.)

If the README cannot answer those, do not install into a sensitive tree.

After install — prove what changed

1. Reload / restart the profile the plugin patches.
2. Run one low-risk prompt in a throwaway folder.
3. Open Trajectory / session logs (see observability intro). Look for new tool names you did not expect.
4. If the log shows unexplained calls, unload the last plugin before adding another.

Debugging three new packages at once is how “the agent went crazy” stories start.

Curated ≠ approved

| Signal | Means | Does not mean |
|--------|--------|----------------|
| Card on this directory | Someone rewrote a summary + install line | Security audit |
| Stars on GitHub | Popularity | Safe defaults |
| MIT / BSD license | Redistribution terms | Harmless tools |
| Works on your laptop | Compatibility today | Safe next week |

When something fails, prefer upstream GitHub issues over screenshots of this independent portal.

Minimal operator checklist (copy into your runbook)

• [ ] Disposable workspace selected
• [ ] DSH version pinned
• [ ] Plugin SHA or tag recorded
• [ ] README permissions skimmed
• [ ] One Trajectory review after first task
• [ ] Rollback plan (remove plugin / restore profile)

Related reading

• Product control-plane before 0.1.2-alpha.1: DeepSeek Harness CVE-2026-82533
• Operator journey discover → add: Discover and add a DSH plugin
• How to install and author: plugin guide
• Navigator: community plugins
• When the environment is the bug: npx / port 3080
• Contribute discovery fixes upstream: contribute