dsh-plugins/dsh-thought-buddy
A DeepSeek Harness Web plugin that puts a dynamic little buddy — a GrokBot-style animated avatar with a synchronized typewriter status line — right in front of the "Deep diving..." indicator.
Listed
2
Theme
Bundle verified
Preview
What it does
A GrokBot-style animated avatar with a synchronized typewriter status line — right in front of the "Deep diving..." indicator.
Best for
- DSH Web users who want a more expressive visual indicator while the model is working.
- Users who prefer synchronized avatar and typewriter animations without runtime dependencies.
Not ideal for
- Users seeking functional changes to model execution, routing, or results; this plugin changes only the working-state presentation.
- Users who want all motion disabled under reduced-motion settings; expression changes and blinks remain active.
README

dsh-thought-buddy

A DeepSeek Harness Web plugin that puts a dynamic little buddy — a GrokBot-style animated avatar with a synchronized typewriter status line — right in front of the “Deep diving…” indicator.
| English | 简体中文 |
dsh-thought-buddy is a pure client-side plugin for the DeepSeek Harness Web GUI. While the model is working, the status pill that reads Deep diving... grows a tiny Grok-style robot avatar: it blinks, swaps expressions with a springy morph, wanders its gaze, and gently bobs — all drawn live as SVG via requestAnimationFrame, with zero runtime dependencies. Every time the avatar switches expression, the status text rewrites itself with a typewriter effect (deleting character by character, then typing out the next word).
The avatar animation is ported from nasawz/GrokBot (a pure Flutter CustomPaint widget) to the web: all 25 expressions × 2 eyes × 48-point eye rings, 18 body shapes, and 39 states with their expression/blink cadences are preserved.

Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| GrokBot avatar | thinking-state expression pool [8,16,14,17,5] cycles automatically; springy morph between expressions; 320 ms blinks (random 3.5–7 s interval); spherical head-turn projection + wandering gaze; gentle 1.7 s breathing bob |
| Expression-synced typewriter | on every expression switch, the status text leaves Deep diving... via a typewriter effect (delete character by character, pause, then type out the next word) cycling through 55 candidates (Accomplishing…Working), e.g. Reticulating...; React re-renders never overwrite it (the text fiber’s children string never changes, so React bails out) |
| Emoji mode | fallback mode that cycles an emoji list (default 🤿 🫧 🌊 🐙 🔍 🧠 💭) with a pop-in on every switch |
| Theme aware | follows prefers-color-scheme: light #5b7fe5/#fffdf7, dark #6689ea/#181a15 (matching the DSH theme) |
| Reduced motion | under prefers-reduced-motion: reduce, the bob and head-turn sway are disabled; expression changes and blinks remain |
| Self-cleaning | the animation stops as soon as the status pill leaves the DOM; inserted nodes survive React re-renders and are re-asserted on the next mutation if ever removed |
Install
Copy the block below and paste it to your DSH agent (the assistant in this web GUI). The agent performs the install and verification for you — no manual npm or profile editing needed:
Install the @dsh-plugin/dsh-thought-buddy plugin into the profile I specify (or ask me if I didn't name one). The npm package name is `@dsh-plugin/dsh-thought-buddy`; use the GitHub source `github:dsh-plugins/dsh-thought-buddy`, or `file:<path>` / `link:<path>` for local development.
Steps:
1. Add the plugin dependency: `dsh plugin --profile <PROFILE> add @dsh-plugin/dsh-thought-buddy` (or the equivalent plugin-manager command for my profile).
2. Verify `node_modules/@dsh-plugin/dsh-thought-buddy` resolves and holds a built `lib/` directory (at least `lib/index.js` and `lib/client.js`). The runtime has no dependencies; building the TypeScript sources needs the `typescript` devDependency (`npm ci`/`npm install` once). If the artifacts are missing, run `npm run build` in the plugin directory and re-add.
3. Make sure the profile manifest's `dsh.profile.bundles` includes `@dsh-plugin/dsh-thought-buddy` — the bundle patch (`cordis.patch.yml`) inserts the plugin row automatically at boot.
4. Do not start the profile — install and verify only, then report what you changed.
Then restart dsh web, refresh the page, and send the model a message — the buddy appears in front of Deep diving.... All runtime options are set via localStorage (see below); there is no settings page.
Install from a local checkout (link:)
For local development, wire the plugin into a web profile via a link: dependency (example: C:\Users\Administrator\.dsh\profiles\web):
// package.json (profile)
"dependencies": { "@dsh-plugin/dsh-thought-buddy": "link:C:/path/to/dsh-thought-buddy" },
"dsh": { "profile": { "bundles": [ /* ... */, "@dsh-plugin/dsh-thought-buddy" ] } }
- Build the artifacts:
npm run build→ compiles TypeScript and produceslib/client.js+lib/index.js - In the profile, run
pnpm install(works offline) -
Restart
dsh web— the client-module manifest is composed at boot, so a new bundle needs a restart - Refresh the page and send the model a message
Configuration (localStorage, applied on reload)
| Key | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
dsh-thought-buddy.enabled |
1 |
0 disables the plugin |
dsh-thought-buddy.mode |
avatar |
emoji switches to emoji cycling |
dsh-thought-buddy.size |
18 |
avatar size in px (8–64) |
dsh-thought-buddy.emojis |
🤿 🫧 🌊 🐙 🔍 🧠 💭 |
space/comma-separated emoji list (emoji mode) |
// console example
localStorage.setItem('dsh-thought-buddy.mode', 'emoji')
localStorage.setItem('dsh-thought-buddy.size', '22')
location.reload()
Development
dsh-thought-buddy/
├── ref/GrokBot/ # reference project (git-ignored, read-only)
├── src/
│ ├── index.ts # host half (no-op mount row)
│ └── client/
│ ├── data.ts # generated typed data: 25 expressions × 2 eyes × 48 points, 18 shapes, 39 states
│ └── index.ts # client engine: SVG avatar + typewriter + observer + apply()
├── scripts/
│ ├── gen-data-lib.mjs # Dart parsing + data.ts rendering helpers
│ ├── gen-data.mjs # regenerates data.ts from ref/GrokBot's Dart sources
│ └── build.mjs # assembles lib/client.js (__ModuleLoader__ contract) from tsc output
├── test/verify.mjs # browserless tests against the built bundle (SVG, pacing, typewriter)
├── tsconfig.json # host-half compile: src/index.ts → lib/ (node ESM)
├── tsconfig.client.json # client-half compile: src/client/*.ts → .build/client/ (plain scripts)
├── demo/ # local preview (node demo/server.mjs → 4173)
└── cordis.patch.yml # bundle patch: inserts the thought-buddy row
npm install # once — installs the typescript devDependency
npm run gen # refresh data (after upstream GrokBot data changes)
npm run typecheck # type-check both halves (no emit)
npm run build # compile TS → lib/ + .build/client/, then assemble lib/client.js
npm run verify # full browserless verification
node demo/server.mjs 4173 # preview http://127.0.0.1:4173/demo/demo.html (run npm run build first)
The client half is written as TypeScript “plain scripts” (no
import/export, so the types and data stay in one global scope).tsccompiles them to plain JS in.build/client/, andscripts/build.mjsconcatenates the two files into thewindow.__ModuleLoader__factory — the same loader contract as before.data.tsmust be evaluated beforeindex.ts(build order is fixed).
Architecture
-
Host half: provides only the cordis bundle mount row (
cordis.patch.ymlinsertsthought-buddy), so client-modules discovers thedsh.clientdeclaration andexports["./client"], serving the browser half at/plugins/@dsh-plugin/dsh-thought-buddy/client.js. -
Client half:
apply(ctx)registers aMutationObserverwatching[data-conversation-scroll] [role="status"]pills whose text contains “diving”; the avatar/typewriter mount in front of the text and live with the pill’s DOM lifecycle. -
Animation: a per-frame port of Flutter’s
_GrokBotState._onTick— critically-damped spring expression morphing (ω=7, 1/120 substeps), thinking-pool expression switching, 320 ms blink curve, spherical head-turn projection (asin/cosdepth culling), wandering gaze; polygon coordinates are written to the SVGpointsattribute every frame. -
Typewriter: a timer-driven state machine over the pill’s text node. React never touches the node because the text fiber’s
childrenstring is always"Deep diving..."(bail-out), exactly like the injected avatar node.
⚠️ Two different
injects: the bundle’s exportedexports.injectis the cordis service dependency (this plugin only usesctx.effect, so it must be an empty array — putting package names there makes the fiber wait forever for a service that does not exist and boot fails withpending (waiting for service: ...));package.json’sdsh.client.injectis the client module dependency declaration (this plugin needs none, so it is omitted).
Links
- Repository: https://github.com/dsh-plugins/dsh-thought-buddy
- npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@dsh-plugin/dsh-thought-buddy
License
BSD-3-Clause. The eye-ring geometry, body shapes, and state cadences derive from nasawz/GrokBot (BSD-3-Clause, Copyright (c) 2026 nasawz), credited in the LICENSE file.
Frequently Asked QuestionsFAQ
Use the verified command dsh plugin --profile default add github:dsh-plugins/dsh-thought-buddy in a DSH-enabled shell. The command resolves the public package metadata and keeps the plugin attached to the catalog identity shown on this page.
Compatibility follows the bundle and profile status shown above. If a profile is not detected, keep the plugin disabled there and check the repository documentation before enabling it in production.
The GitHub link and activity metadata are the source of truth for releases and maintenance. Revisit this page after a new release to confirm the catalog has observed the latest version.