Windows One-Click Launcher: Open DeepSeek Harness in a Standalone Window (not a Browser Tab)

[habushe]

🚀 Windows One-Click Launcher: Open DeepSeek Harness in a Standalone Window (not a Browser Tab)

⚠️ Unofficial community project — independently maintained, not reviewed or endorsed by DeepSeek. / 非官方社区项目，未经 DeepSeek 官方审核或推荐。

Suggested category: Show Your Plugins! or Ideas

中文版在下面 / Chinese version below

The Problem

On Windows, starting DeepSeek Harness is a two-step dance:

1. Open PowerShell and run dsh web (the server keeps the terminal busy)
2. Click a desktop shortcut to open the GUI in a standalone app window

If you just run dsh web, the GUI opens in a browser tab — not the nice standalone window you get from the Chrome PWA. And keeping a terminal open just to run the server is clunky.

The Solution

A zero-dependency VBScript launcher + desktop shortcut that does everything with one double-click:

1. Checks if port 3080 already has a server listening
2. If not, starts dsh web hidden in the background (correct working directory, logged output)
3. Polls the port until ready (up to 90s)
4. Opens the PWA standalone window (Chrome app mode) — not a browser tab

If the server is already running, it skips straight to opening the window. Idempotent and safe.

Why VBScript?

• Ships with Windows — zero dependencies, no Node/Python runtime needed
• wscript.exe runs it on double-click with no console window flash
• Can start the server hidden in the background and keep it running

Key Snippet

' Start dsh web hidden with correct working directory
shell.CurrentDirectory = DSH_DIR
shell.Run """" & NODE & """ """ & BIN & """ --profile web", 0, False

' ... poll port 3080 until LISTENING ...

' Open the PWA standalone window (Chrome app mode)
shell.Run """" & CHROME & """ --profile-directory=Default --app-id=" & APP_ID, 1, False

The PWA app-id comes from installing DeepSeek Harness as a Chrome app (stored under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web Applications\_crx_<id>\).

Pitfalls I Hit (hoping this saves you time)

1. VBScript is case-insensitive — a variable isListening and a function IsListening() collide → compile error. Rename one.
2. LOG is a built-in VBScript function (natural log) — can't be used as a constant name.
3. shell.Exec pipe reads can deadlock — netstat | findstr via AtEndOfStream hung. Redirect to a temp file and read that instead.
4. cmd /c with nested quotes + spaces in path (e.g. deepseeek harnees) breaks parsing — use shell.CurrentDirectory instead of cmd /c.
5. dsh web needs the right working directory — running node bin.js --profile web from the wrong cwd fails; cd <npm-dir> && dsh web works.

Files & Install

Full repo with install.ps1 (auto-detects node/dsh/Chrome/PWA paths and creates the desktop shortcut):

👉 https://github.com/habushe/dsh-oneclick-launcher

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1

Then double-click the DeepSeek Harness desktop shortcut. Done. 🎉

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中文版

问题

Windows 上启动 DeepSeek Harness 要两步：先开 PowerShell 跑 dsh web，再点桌面快捷方式打开独立窗口。直接跑 dsh web 会在浏览器标签页里打开 GUI，而不是 Chrome PWA 那种独立应用窗口。

方案

一个零依赖的 VBScript 启动器 + 桌面快捷方式，双击一次搞定：

1. 检查 3080 端口是否已有服务
2. 没有则后台隐藏启动 dsh web（正确工作目录 + 日志）
3. 轮询端口直到就绪（最长 90 秒）
4. 打开 PWA 独立窗口（Chrome app 模式），不是浏览器标签页

服务已在运行时会直接跳过启动，幂等安全。

踩坑记录

1. VBScript 不区分大小写：变量 isListening 与函数 IsListening() 同名会编译报错
2. LOG 是 VBScript 内置函数名（自然对数），不能当常量
3. shell.Exec 管道读取会死锁：netstat | findstr 用 AtEndOfStream 判断会卡住 → 改用临时文件
4. cmd /c 嵌套引号 + 路径含空格会解析失败 → 用 shell.CurrentDirectory
5. dsh web 需要正确的工作目录：cwd 不对会启动失败

完整仓库

包含 install.ps1（自动探测 node/dsh/Chrome/PWA 路径并创建桌面快捷方式）：

👉 https://github.com/habushe/dsh-oneclick-launcher

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1

然后双击桌面 DeepSeek Harness 快捷方式即可 🎉