Restricted repository Plugin format for DeepSeek Harness. A repository author declares static skill roots and an optional common `.mcp.json` in `.dsh-plugin/package.json`; the prepare helper copies those assets and emits a fixed import-free Cordis wrapper. The runtime wrapper can only delegate to this DSH-owned package, which composes [`dsh-skill-local`](../../skill/skill-local/README.md) and [`dsh-mcp-client`](../../mcp/mcp-client/README.md). Design rationale: [static repository Plugin format Agent Note](../../../.agents/notes/implemented/architecture/2026-07-30-static-repository-plugin-format.md).
## Authoring format
Place an ordinary package in the repository's `.dsh-plugin` directory:
`scripts.prepack` must be exactly `dsh-plugin-prepare`. DSH supplies that command from its own installed runtime while preparing Git source, so the repository package needs no DSH or npm dependency. `dsh.skills` is an optional array of local skill roots. `dsh.mcpServers` is an optional path to one `.mcp.json`; at least one field is required. Paths are relative to `.dsh-plugin`, must stay under its parent source directory, and may therefore refer to existing repository assets such as `../skills`. A repository containing several Plugins gives each one its own `.dsh-plugin` package under a different selectable subdirectory.
The shipped `dsh-base` bundle every profile starts from contains an empty `repository-plugins` row. A user enables exact GitHub generations by replacing that row's config in a user patch layer — `$DSH_HOME/profiles/<name>/cordis.patch.yml`, or the home-level `$DSH_HOME/cordis.patch.yml` shared by every profile; a `--patch` overlay patches the same row for one run:
Each source must use `github:owner/repository#<ref>`. Omitting `&path:` selects `/.dsh-plugin`; an explicit path is absolute within the repository and must end in `.dsh-plugin`. A commit ref gives the clearest immutable identity, while tags and branches remain accepted exact config values. `cacheDir` may override the default `$DSH_HOME/cache/repository-plugins` cache root.
Git transport uses the host's ordinary Git authentication. Public repositories need no credentials; private sources require a read-only credential or SSH agent that can read the selected repository. DSH removes credential-shaped environment variables before package lifecycles, so configure Git itself, such as through a credential helper or job-scoped Git config, instead of expecting an exported token variable to cross that boundary. Repository lifecycle code is trusted and can invoke Git, so use the narrowest repository-scoped credential available.
Long-lived surfaces watch both `cordis.patch.yml` layers through Cordis HMR. A valid source-list change installs and swaps the complete repository Plugin generation; a failed fetch, prepare, import, or Plugin application keeps the last good tree and broadcasts `hmr/config-update-failed(filename, error)`. One-shot runs read the layers only at startup, and a `--patch` overlay is never watched. An identical source string permanently reuses its prepared cache entry, so selecting changed code requires a ref, path, or other source-config change. App integration rationale: [config-only repository Plugins Agent Note](../../../.agents/notes/implemented/feature/2026-07-30-config-only-repository-plugins.md).
During exact Git installation, DSH places a temporary host-owned `dsh-plugin-prepare` command on the isolated package lifecycle `PATH`; the command is not fetched from npm. The required `prepack` lifecycle runs after the Git package's dependency installation and before its selected subdirectory is packed, including when `.dsh-plugin` sits inside another package-manager workspace. The command validates `package.json#dsh`, verifies skill-root types, parses the MCP file, copies assets under `dsh-plugin-assets`, and writes `dsh-plugin.mjs`. Before importing that wrapper, DSH revalidates that the installed package retained the exact `prepack` declaration. The wrapper contains only the normalized static manifest and fixed code that looks up the `dsh-repository-plugin` Loader builtin. It neither discovers nor compiles repository JavaScript, and the runtime never imports another repository entry point. Failure to run or complete preparation fails installation before a cache generation is published. Rationale: [host-owned Git source preparation Agent Note](../../../.agents/notes/implemented/bug-fix/2026-08-08-host-owned-git-repository-plugin-preparation.md).
The containing package manager still runs the configured repository package's lifecycle scripts. This restriction defines the supported DSH contribution surface; it is not a security boundary for a repository that the user chose to install as executable package-manager source.
Loading this package registers one effect-scoped Loader builtin. Each generated wrapper delegates to that builtin with its own module URL and prepared manifest. The runtime validates every declared skill root as an existing in-package directory before mounting — a package whose generated outputs were dropped (a `files`/`.npmignore` mistake, a damaged cache entry) fails the plugin load instead of silently mounting a skill-less plugin. Repository skill roots mount as a uniquely named `dsh-skill-local` provider with default project/user roots excluded and watching disabled; cached package generations are immutable. Wrapper disposal removes the provider and all composed MCP clients through normal Cordis child-fiber teardown.
The `.mcp.json` root is `{ "mcpServers": { ... } }`. A stdio entry accepts only `type: "stdio"` (optional), `command`, `args`, and `env`; an HTTP entry accepts only `type: "http"`, `url`, and `headers`. String values support exact `${NAME}` process-environment expansion at Plugin load, and a missing name fails that load. HTTP URLs become the existing MCP client's `streamable-http` transport; stdio entries use the prepared package directory as `cwd`.
Unknown fields reject, including OAuth and `auth` objects. There is no `CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT` expansion or compatibility layer. After translation, the existing `dsh-mcp-client` exclusively owns transport creation, connection diagnostics, tool synchronization, calls, and disconnect lifecycle; a network or child-process connection failure retains that client's established log-and-no-tools behavior.
## Export shape
Namespace Plugin: named exports `name` / `inject` / `apply`, preparation constants, and `prepareDshPlugin`; no default export. The package also exposes the `dsh-plugin-prepare` executable and an invariant companion.
## Model Experience
### Repository skills
#### What the model sees
Indirectly through `dsh-tool-skill`: prepared, model-invocable skills join its logged catalog and selected instruction-body surface under their declared names and descriptions. The exact consumer schema is in the generated [`skill` tool catalog](../../../docs/tool-catalog.md#deepseek-aidsh-tool-skill).
#### Token effect
Conditional and data-dependent: each visible repository skill adds one capped catalog row; loading one adds its full current instruction body and resource-base guidance to retained tool history.
#### KV Cache effect
A stable prepared Plugin set is prefix-stable. Adding, removing, or replacing a repository Plugin can append the consumer's replacement catalog and affect later request prefixes.
### Repository MCP tools
#### What the model sees
Indirectly through `dsh-mcp-client`: every connected server contributes its server-qualified tool schemas, and calls retain that client's canonical MCP results and rendering.
#### Token effect
Conditional on successful connection and the remote tool list; schemas recur on requests in the active tool view, while calls and results remain in history until compaction.
#### KV Cache effect
Stable connected tool lists are prefix-stable. Plugin lifecycle or MCP tool-list changes can change later tool-schema prefixes from the first affected definition.
## Known Limitations and Deferred Work
- **Skills and MCP only** — commands, hooks, agents, apps, arbitrary Cordis code, marketplaces, and compatibility shims are intentionally outside this format.
- **No MCP authentication protocol** — static headers may use environment expansion, but OAuth-bearing definitions reject and private-server login flows are not implemented here.
- **Generated assets are immutable runtime input** — repository cache generations are not watched; source, ref, path, or configuration must select another prepared generation.
