When to Use PTC vs Standard in DeepSeek Harness

Different job from the modes encyclopedia

The four modes article explains what Standard, PTC, Minimal, and Creative are. This piece answers a narrower search intent: when to choose PTC versus Standard for a real task, and when the other two doors are the honest answer. Full operator copy remains on the modes page.

Presets load different default plugin sets. They are not four chat personas in one session.

Start with the sentence you would say in stand-up

| Stand-up sentence | Prefer |
|-------------------|--------|
| “Fix the flaky test / patch this file” | Standard |
| “Generate a TypeScript program that runs lint, test, and a focused search in one shot” | PTC |
| “Score two model IDs on the same three files with no web search” | Minimal |
| “See whether a skin registers extra tools” | Creative |

If your stand-up mixes those sentences, split sessions. One haunted Standard profile is more expensive than two boring ones.

PTC vs Standard — decision cues

Choose Standard when:

• The goal is a bounded edit in a known repo.
• You want the default tool surface without experimenting on plugin composition.
• Reviewers expect a conventional coding-agent loop.

Choose PTC when:

• The job is to compose a program of steps (plan → tools → verify) more than to chat about a single patch.
• You explicitly want a preset biased toward program/tool-centric workflows (exact plugin lists follow upstream naming — verify on the modes page / README when flags move).
• You will inspect Trajectory afterward; PTC without observability is just a louder experiment.

Do not pick PTC because the name sounds advanced. Pick it because the task shape matches.

When Minimal or Creative is the real answer

• Minimal: ablations, bake-offs, “no surprise tools.” If you need a quiet control plane to compare models, Standard’s fuller defaults get in the way.
• Creative: lab for UI skins and unusual plugin stacks. Not the profile for payroll code on Friday.

Write the preset name in the pull-request body when an agent touched the diff.

Anti-patterns

• Running all four “personalities” in one session.
• Loading a marketplace of community plugins before the first successful Standard loop — fix npx / 3080 first.
• Treating Creative as production Standard with prettier CSS.

After you pick a door

1. Launch from install.
2. Confirm the preset on modes.
3. Add packages only from software you would run yourself — plugin security checklist.
4. Read session logs before you celebrate — Trajectory intro.