This reference defines the raw-config, Web, and headless command modes. Argv is parsed once through [`src/args.ts`](../src/args.ts), and [`src/bin.ts`](../src/bin.ts) dynamically imports only the selected runner.
The named file is applied directly over [`config/base.cordis.yml`](../config/base.cordis.yml) through the Include plugin's patch algorithm. It is not a complete replacement tree, and neither the personal `$DSH_HOME/config.yaml` nor another surface overlay is added. The base deliberately contains no startup agent or interaction front door; the required overlay selects those deployment details. Relative config paths resolve from the invoking directory. A parse, schema, resolution, or plugin boot failure is reported and exits nonzero. SIGINT and SIGTERM dispose the mounted root before exit.
A patch targets a base row by `id` and replaces that row's complete `config` value rather than deep-merging keys. Patch lists may also insert new rows whose plugin modules the shipped Loader can resolve:
`--dump-default-config` prints only the shipped base. `--dump-config` requires `--config` and prints base plus overlay with provenance comments. Composition uses `applyEntryPatches` and `entryListSchema` from `@cordisjs/plugin-include`; `!!js` expressions remain unevaluated, and unmatched patch targets are reported on stderr.
`dsh web` boots `base.cordis.yml` plus [`config/web.cordis.yml`](../config/web.cordis.yml), followed by `$DSH_HOME/config.yaml` when present. `dsh web --config <path>` replaces that personal layer with the explicit patch list. `--host`, `--port`, `--workspace-root`, and repeatable `--trusted-host` values become Web host patches; their owning plugin schemas validate them at boot. `--dev` mounts the client-plugin HMR receiver and expects a separate `pnpm run dev:web` watcher for no-refresh client bundle updates.
The production Web runner needs built package and frontend artifacts (`pnpm run build`). It serves `http://127.0.0.1:3080` by default. Binding all interfaces also trusts the machine's discovered LAN IP literals; `--trusted-host` adds named authorities accepted by the `/api` browser-trust fence.
`dsh -p "task"` uses the same base and Web composition with the startup personal config, starts its Web host on an OS-assigned port, runs one fresh persisted session, prints the final answer, and exits. It accepts neither `--config` nor raw config-dump flags.
Web and headless process shutdown gives the plugin tree up to five seconds to dispose. The first `SIGINT`/`SIGTERM` starts that graceful drain; a second signal forces immediate exit. If headless normal completion is already stuck in disposal, the first `Ctrl+C` is the escalation and exits immediately instead of being swallowed.
Both modes treat the invoking directory as the default workspace root, load applicable `AGENTS.md` or `CLAUDE.md` instructions with a 65,536-byte render budget, and use an in-memory SQLite session content index. Web watches valid personal config edits; headless reads the file once at startup. The [app-boot personal-config contract](../../../packages/ui/app-boot/README.md#personal-config) owns layer precedence, credential storage, live-update failure behavior, and `$DSH_HOME` resolution.
New sessions default to the `workspace-write` permission preset. Bash and filesystem mutations are restricted to the session workspace and platform temporary roots; reads, network access, and process visibility are not confined. `DSH_PERMISSION_MODE` changes the process fallback. Stored General-settings permissions affect later Web sessions, not an already-open one.
`DSH_TOOLS_MODE` selects `native`, `code`, or `both` for the Web/headless process; another value fails at boot. [`config/core-web.cordis.yml`](../config/core-web.cordis.yml) is an optional Web overlay that reduces the native model surface to persistent `bash` and `str_replace_editor` while retaining the shipped host, browser, workspace, persistence, and permission composition.
The base mounts the native DeepSeek adapter, settings and credential providers, stable `web_search`, repository Plugin support, and session telemetry. Provider credentials live in `$DSH_HOME/.env` or the ambient environment and remain rotatable because the launcher never hoists the credential file into `process.env`. Search uses `DEEPSEEK_API_KEY` and accepts `DEEPSEEK_SEARCH_BASE_URL`; `web_fetch` is disabled unless an overlay inserts a provider and enables it.
Session events stream as OTLP/HTTP logs by default. `DSH_TELEMETRY_OTLP_URL` selects another collector. Any non-empty `DSH_TELEMETRY_DISABLED` disables the telemetry row before boot. The shipped base has no telemetry redaction rule, so exported records can contain message text, tool arguments and results, and workspace paths; the [telemetry Agent Note](../../../.agents/notes/implemented/feature/2026-07-31-web-telemetry-default-mount.md) owns that deployment decision.
The empty `repository-plugins` row lets Web/headless personal config and raw overlays mount prepared immutable repository Plugin generations. See the [repository Plugin contract](../../../packages/cordis/repository-plugin/README.md#standalone-app-configuration). The CLI also ships `@deepseek-ai/dsh-mcp-client` as a dependency for overlays, but no MCP server is enabled by default because each server command is trusted executable code outside the agent sandbox.
It resolves the checkout through its real path and launches `apps/cli/src/bin.ts` with `node --import tsx/esm`. `TSX_TSCONFIG_PATH` is pinned to the checkout root, so workspace package resolution is independent of the invoking directory. `pnpm run dsh` uses the same entry and forwards arguments. The built form is `apps/cli/lib/bin.js` after `pnpm run build`.
