dsh-computer-use-win

Windows computer-use bundle for DeepSeek Harness (dsh): screenshots, window and UI Automation element discovery, OCR/visual observation for text-only models, mouse/keyboard control, and direct Windows Settings launch.

The macOS-first sibling is Anionex/dsh-computer-use; this plugin fills the Windows gap.

What It Adds

Tool	Purpose
computer_screenshot	Capture the full screen or a specific window. Vision-capable routes receive an image; text-only routes receive a saved PNG path.
computer_list_windows	List visible top-level windows with process, pid, title, screen rectangle, and active state.
computer_list_elements	Search controls exposed through Windows UI Automation and return names, types, physical-pixel rectangles, click=(x,y) centers, and diagnostics when UIA cannot see inside custom UI.
computer_ocr_image	Run Windows OCR on an existing image file and return recognized text boxes with absolute coordinates.
computer_ocr_window	Capture a window and OCR it, useful for CEF/Chromium/custom-rendered apps that UIA exposes only as a shell.
computer_observe_image	Turn an existing image into a generic text-model UI map: OCR, coarse regions, clickable text centers, and heuristic visual candidates.
computer_observe_window	Capture a window and return the same UI map, useful for icon-only controls and custom-rendered apps.
computer_observe_media_controls	Observe the bottom/player area and report generic play/pause toggle state without custom pixel scripts.
computer_search_in_window	Generic search flow: locate a likely search field, click it, type a query, and press Enter.
computer_locate_text	Locate visible text in a window through OCR without moving the mouse.
computer_click_text	OCR a window, find visible text, and click the matching text center with an explicit purpose.
computer_open_settings	Open Windows Settings through the documented ms-settings: URI.
computer_click	Move the mouse and click at absolute screen coordinates.
computer_type_text	Type literal text through clipboard paste first, with SendInput fallback. This keeps CJK text reliable under VDI/RDP filtering.
computer_press_key	Press a key or key combination. SendKeys is primary; SendInput is used for combinations SendKeys cannot spell.
computer_scroll	Scroll the mouse wheel, optionally at given coordinates.
computer_drag	Left-button drag between two screen points.
computer_move_mouse	Move the cursor without clicking.

Input-injecting tools are approval-gated by default. With dsh's Full access preset (approval=never plus sandbox=danger-full-access), the plugin treats the action as already authorized and does not call the approval prompt that would otherwise deterministically reject. Confined modes still fail closed when the approval policy is never.

How It Works

The plugin has no native binary dependency. Every capability runs through a bounded PowerShell child process:

• Capture uses System.Drawing.CopyFromScreen.
• Window discovery uses Win32 EnumWindows, GetWindowTextW, GetWindowRect, and foreground-window APIs.
• Element discovery uses Windows UI Automation, which lets text-only models locate native/accessibility-aware controls without seeing screenshots.
• OCR uses Windows.Media.Ocr for text and coordinate extraction from screenshots or window captures when UI Automation cannot see inside custom-rendered apps.
• Visual observation combines OCR with coarse layout regions, suggested actions, media-control state, and simple icon/button heuristics so text-only models get a basic UI map instead of a raw image path.
• Pointer input uses SetCursorPos and mouse_event.
• Text input uses clipboard plus System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys as the reliable path under Sangfor/VDI filtering, with SendInput fallback.
• All PowerShell processes opt into DPI awareness and UTF-8 output so UIA rectangles, screenshots, and click coordinates use one physical-pixel coordinate space.

Install

Requires the dsh CLI on Windows.

From a checkout:

git clone https://github.com/you/dsh-computer-use-win.git
dsh plugin --profile web add ./dsh-computer-use-win

Or install a packed tarball:

pnpm install
pnpm pack
dsh plugin --profile web add ./dsh-computer-use-win-0.6.0.tgz

Verify the layer, then boot:

dsh --profile web --dump-config | grep computer-use
dsh --profile web

Configuration

Patch the computer-use-win row in your profile's cordis.patch.yml:

- id: computer-use-win
  config:
    requireApproval: true
    maxScreenshotBytes: 8388608

Set requireApproval: false only for unattended tests or disposable environments.

Known Limitations

• Windows input injection is global: clicks go to whatever is under the coordinates.
• Elevated administrator windows may ignore input from a non-elevated plugin process.
• Win-key combinations fall back to SendInput, which some VDI products filter. Prefer semantic tools such as computer_open_settings where possible.
• UI Automation coverage depends on the target application exposing useful accessibility metadata. CEF/Chromium/Electron/custom-rendered windows may expose only a shell pane; use computer_observe_window, computer_observe_media_controls, computer_search_in_window, computer_ocr_window, computer_locate_text, or computer_click_text for those apps.
• Text-only DeepSeek routes cannot inspect screenshot pixels directly. computer_screenshot returns a saved PNG path on those routes; use observation/OCR tools to turn that path/window into text, UI regions, visual candidates, and click coordinates.
• Visual observation is not a vision model. Icon/button candidates are heuristics with confidence and evidence; verify after clicking.

Recommended Text-Only Flow

For text-only models, prefer structured observation over coordinate guessing:

computer_list_windows
-> computer_list_elements(window: "target app")
-> if diagnostics say UIA is limited, computer_observe_window(window: "target app")
-> use suggestedActions directly when they match the task
-> computer_observe_media_controls for play/pause state instead of custom pixel scripts
-> computer_search_in_window(window: "target app", query: "...")
-> computer_locate_text / computer_click_text for text targets
-> computer_click with a high-confidence visual candidate for icon-only targets
-> computer_type_text / computer_press_key
-> verify with computer_list_windows, computer_list_elements, computer_observe_window, or OCR

Example for NetEase Cloud Music, which is CEF/custom-rendered on many systems:

computer_list_windows
computer_list_elements(window: "cloudmusic")
# If the result says UIA is limited:
computer_observe_window(window: "cloudmusic")
computer_observe_media_controls(window: "cloudmusic")
# If the media state is playing and the task asks to pause first, click the returned toggle.
computer_search_in_window(window: "cloudmusic", query: "想你的夜")

Discovery

DeepSeek Harness currently documents out-of-tree plugin installation through profile dependencies and recommends adding the dsh-plugin GitHub topic for discoverability. There is no separate official plugin upload endpoint in the public dsh docs.

License

MIT