dsh-vision-provider

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dsh-vision-provider gives DeepSeek Harness selectable vision choices under one DeepSeek + Vision provider:

DeepSeek + Vision
  GLM-4.6V-Flash
  Qwen VL Max
  GPT-4.1 mini (Vision)

Select only one combination in Harness. The vision model named in that selection is used behind DeepSeek:

Text-only message ───────────────────────────────> DeepSeek V4 Flash

Image message ──> private vision sidecar ──> visual description
                                               │
                                               └──> DeepSeek V4 Flash ──> answer

The vision model does not run as the final answer model. Instead, it appears as part of a selectable DeepSeek combination. DeepSeek still performs reasoning, tool use, and final response generation.

This is a community project. It is not an official DeepSeek or OpenAI package.

Why v0.3.0 exists

Version 0.1.0 added a standalone model named vision-openai. DeepSeek Harness can select only one model for a session, so users had to choose either DeepSeek or the vision model. The two models could not cooperate.

Version 0.2.0 introduced a runtime composite adapter, but the vision model remained hidden in environment configuration and Web UI showed only the vague label DeepSeek V4 Flash + Vision.

Version 0.3.0 brings vision selection into Web UI:

• the plugin reads every model in Settings > Models that advertises image input;
• each vision model becomes a separate selectable DeepSeek combination;
• the combination name shows the vision display name, while its description starts with the exact model ID and provider route;
• text-only requests go directly to deepseek-official/deepseek-v4-flash;
• image-bearing messages are analyzed by the vision model selected in Web UI;
• the visual analysis replaces the raw image before the request reaches DeepSeek;
• DeepSeek remains the model that reasons, uses tools, and writes the final answer;
• repeated tool steps reuse cached image analysis in the current process.

This is a two-model bridge, not native pixel input for DeepSeek. The quality of the final answer depends on both the vision sidecar and DeepSeek.

Requirements

• DeepSeek Harness 0.1.0-rc.5 or a compatible build.
• Node.js >=22.19.0.
• A configured DeepSeek API key for the native deepseek-official provider.
• At least one model in Settings > Models that advertises text and image, or a direct OpenAI-compatible vision endpoint.
• pnpm available to dsh plugin.

When upgrading, active routes such as vision-openai are read automatically and their image-capable models become selectable combinations. A fresh install also keeps one direct fallback: gpt-4.1-mini at https://api.openai.com/v1. Any endpoint implementing OpenAI-compatible /chat/completions image input can replace it.

Install

Harness source checkout

From the DeepSeek Harness repository:

Set-Location D:\deepseek-harness
$env:DSH_HOME = "D:\dsh-home"

pnpm dsh plugin --profile web add github:libinyam/dsh-vision-provider
pnpm dsh web

Installed dsh command

$env:DSH_HOME = "D:\dsh-home"

dsh plugin --profile web add github:libinyam/dsh-vision-provider
dsh web

Always use the same DSH_HOME for plugin management and startup.

Configure keys

The composite model ultimately uses two credentials:

1. DeepSeek key: configure the native DeepSeek provider in Settings > Models as usual.
2. Vision key: an existing vision-openai route continues using its own Harness configuration. The direct sidecar fallback uses VISION_OPENAI_API_KEY by default.

For the current PowerShell window:

$env:VISION_OPENAI_API_KEY = "your-vision-api-key"
pnpm dsh web

To persist it for future PowerShell windows:

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
    "VISION_OPENAI_API_KEY",
    "your-vision-api-key",
    "User"
)

Close and reopen PowerShell after setting a persistent user variable.

API keys are never written to this repository or logged by the plugin. The plugin first asks Harness's credential service for the configured reference, then falls back to the launching process environment.

Use

1. Start or restart the Web profile.
2. Create a new session.
3. Select DeepSeek + Vision.
4. Select the vision model you want, for example GLM-4.6V-Flash.
5. Paste or drag an image into the composer.
6. Add a question and send it.

Select only one model. Its title is the vision model display name; the second line starts with the exact API model ID. DeepSeek remains the final-answer model.

Pure text messages skip the vision endpoint entirely.

Upgrade from v0.1.0

Stop Harness, then run:

Set-Location D:\deepseek-harness
$env:DSH_HOME = "D:\dsh-home"

pnpm dsh plugin --profile web update dsh-vision-provider
pnpm dsh web

If the GitHub dependency does not refresh, perform a clean reinstall:

pnpm dsh plugin --profile web remove dsh-vision-provider
pnpm dsh plugin --profile web add github:libinyam/dsh-vision-provider
pnpm dsh web

Existing vision-openai, GLM, Qwen, and other provider entries remain in Settings > Models because they are user-owned configuration. Version 0.3.0 reads every model on those routes that advertises image input and creates the matching combinations.

Do not delete a provider whose vision models you still want to select; those routes are now the source of the Web combination catalog.

Add a vision model in Web UI

1. Open Settings > Models.
2. Add or edit a third-party provider.
3. Enter its provider ID, display name, protocol, endpoint, and credential reference.
4. Add the exact vision model ID and display name.
5. Save, then return to the conversation selector and open DeepSeek + Vision.

Models from Harness's built-in catalog already carry their input capabilities, so known vision models appear automatically. Harness 0.1.0-rc.5 does not expose modality controls for a hand-declared custom model in its Models page. For such a model, add input: [text, image] to its settings.yaml entry, or set the provider's defaultInput to [text, image], then restart Web.

The plugin automatically creates a selectable DeepSeek combination:

Vision Model Display Name
vision-model-id | Provider Display Name (provider-id) | Final answer: DeepSeek-V4-Flash

Declaring image capability is required. A custom model left at Harness's default input: [text] is intentionally excluded from the vision catalog.

Provider details, credentials, model IDs, and display names can stay in Web UI. The two modality lines below are the part a custom model may need in settings.yaml:

llm-pi-ai:
  providers:
    my-vision:
      displayName: My Vision Provider
      apiKeyEnv: MY_VISION_API_KEY
      api: openai-completions
      baseURL: https://gateway.example/v1
      defaultInput: [text, image]
      models:
        - id: vendor-vision-model-id
          name: Vision Model Display Name
          input: [text, image]

Store the API key through the Web credential input. Do not put the secret itself in settings.yaml.

Advanced: direct vision endpoint

To avoid registering a provider in Settings > Models, set a direct endpoint before starting Harness:

$env:DSH_VISION_USE_LEGACY = "0"
$env:DSH_VISION_BASE_URL = "https://gateway.example/v1"
$env:DSH_VISION_MODEL = "vendor-vision-model-id"
$env:DSH_VISION_MODEL_NAME = "Vendor Vision Model"
$env:DSH_VISION_API_KEY_ENV = "MY_VISION_GATEWAY_KEY"
$env:MY_VISION_GATEWAY_KEY = "your-api-key"

pnpm dsh web

The direct model also appears as one combination under DeepSeek + Vision. Because this fallback uses fetch directly, it does not pass through Harness provider retries, llm/stream middleware, or provider token accounting. Configure the vision model under Settings > Models when those integrations are required.

Local endpoint without authentication

Some local OpenAI-compatible servers accept a placeholder Authorization header:

$env:DSH_VISION_NO_AUTH = "1"
$env:DSH_VISION_BASE_URL = "http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1"
$env:DSH_VISION_MODEL = "your-local-vision-model"

pnpm dsh web

This sends Authorization: Bearer dsh-no-auth. Use it only with a trusted local endpoint. Do not enable it for a remote service that requires a real key.

Environment reference

Data flow and privacy

For a text-only request, no data is sent to the vision endpoint.

For an image-bearing message, the selected sidecar receives:

• the image bytes;
• text in the same image-bearing message;
• a fixed instruction asking for factual visual transcription.

DeepSeek receives the normal conversation plus the generated visual description. The plugin does not send the entire conversation to the vision endpoint unless every message in that conversation independently contains an image.

Review both providers' retention and privacy policies. Image analysis can incur a separate provider charge in addition to the DeepSeek request.

The process-local cache avoids analyzing the same persisted message on every tool step. It is cleared when Harness restarts, so old image messages may be analyzed again after a restart or session resume.

Troubleshooting

Images are still rejected

Create a new session and select a specific combination under DeepSeek + Vision, not DeepSeek. The native deepseek-official model intentionally declares text-only input.

A newly added vision model is missing

Check the model's input, or its provider's defaultInput, in Settings > Models. It must include both text and image. Save, reopen the model selector, and allow up to 30 seconds for the discovery cache to refresh. Restart the Web profile if the catalog is still stale after that.

Inspect the composed tree:

pnpm dsh --profile web --dump-config

It should contain a row whose id and name are both dsh-vision-provider.

The plugin reports MISSING_CREDENTIAL

Set the environment variable named by DSH_VISION_API_KEY_ENV. The default is VISION_OPENAI_API_KEY. Restart Harness after changing persistent variables.

The vision endpoint returns 401 or 403

Check the sidecar key, Base URL, model ID, and gateway authentication rules. The DeepSeek key and vision key are separate.

The endpoint says the model does not exist

DSH_VISION_MODEL must be the exact model ID accepted by the configured vision endpoint. A display name is not an API model ID.

The vision model exhausts its output tokens

Reasoning-capable vision models can spend part of their output budget before starting the visible description. The default is 4096. If the plugin reports MAX_TOKENS, increase DSH_VISION_MAX_TOKENS and restart the Web profile.

The old standalone vision model is still visible

That route is user-owned provider configuration; the bundle does not create or remove it. Its models that advertise image input become selectable combinations under DeepSeek + Vision. Delete the provider only when none of its vision models are needed.

DeepSeek answers without using the image

Confirm that the selected entry under DeepSeek + Vision names the intended vision model. Then test that endpoint or choose another combination directly from the selector. DeepSeek sees the sidecar's textual description, so omitted visual details cannot be recovered later.

Update and uninstall

pnpm dsh plugin --profile web update dsh-vision-provider

pnpm dsh plugin --profile web remove dsh-vision-provider

Removing the bundle does not automatically delete user-owned provider settings or credentials.

Development

npm test
npm pack --dry-run

Install a local checkout:

pnpm dsh plugin --profile web add "C:\path\to\dsh-vision-provider"

The runtime is dependency-free ESM and uses the services already supplied by Harness: llm for nested DeepSeek routing and attachments for durable image bytes.

Community acknowledgements

Thanks to the Linux.do community for its discussion, feedback, and support.

License

MIT