deepseek-harness vs computer
Two of the top projects in Agent backends, side by side: who leads on each score part and who each one suits, then setup, license, activity and what each review found.
deepseek-harness
Plugin-based agent harness from DeepSeek with a local Web UI
computer
Durable Object virtual filesystem with container, shell and JavaScript runtimes for agents
Verdict
deepseek-harness ranks higher, 70 to 58. Of the 5 score parts we measure for both, deepseek-harness leads on 3, computer on none and 2 are even.
- Adoptiondeepseek-harness leads by 29 points, 100 to 71: a wide gap.
- FreshnessEven at 100.
- Maintenancedeepseek-harness leads by 10 points, 100 to 90.
- Easy to runEven at 0.
- Agent-readydeepseek-harness leads by 55 points, 85 to 30: a wide gap.
Pick deepseek-harness if you are
Developers building agents through plugins, tolerant of breaking changes
- Starts with one npx command; no Docker or database mentioned
- Everything-is-a-plugin design on Cordis, with a dsh-plugin topic for discovery
Pick computer if you are
Cloudflare developers building agents that need a persistent workspace
- One exec entry point across container, shell and JavaScript backends, which connect lazily
- SQLite in the Durable Object is the single authoritative store; isolate backends use Workers RPC with no sync
| What we compare | deepseek-harness | computer |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 100, widely used | 71, popular |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 100, healthy | 90, healthy |
| Easy to run | 0, hard | 0, hard |
| Agent-ready | 85, ready | 30, minimal |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 250.3k | 9.6k |
| License | MIT (permissive) | MIT (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | None published | Oct 2026 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Docker | No | No |
| GPU | Not stated | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Not stated | Not stated |
deepseek-harness
DeepSeek Harness (`dsh`) is a TypeScript agent harness built on the Cordis plugin framework, where every component is a plugin. It runs via `npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web` or from a source checkout with pnpm, and serves a Web UI at 127.0.0.1:3080 by default. It is a developer preview, and the README warns of compatibility-breaking changes.
Who it is for: Developers building agents through plugins, tolerant of breaking changes
Strengths
- Starts with one npx command; no Docker or database mentioned
- Everything-is-a-plugin design on Cordis, with a dsh-plugin topic for discovery
- MIT license, documentation site and third-party license notices
- Web UI binds to 127.0.0.1 by default; --no-open skips the browser
Weaknesses
- Developer preview; README warns of compatibility-breaking changes
- No tagged release published
- README does not list supported models, providers or system requirements
- Safety notice must be read before running; its contents are not in the README
- TypeScript
- Needs Node.js, pnpm (source build)
computer
Cloudflare Computer keeps a workspace filesystem in a Durable Object's SQLite and exposes it through one `workspace.runtime.exec` call. Backends are a FUSE-mounted sandbox container (via the `computerd` daemon), a just-bash shell in a Dynamic Worker, or an ECMAScript module in a Dynamic Worker. The repo includes examples for agents built with pi, TanStack AI and `@cloudflare/think`, plus an MCP example. It is labeled preview only, with unstable APIs.
Who it is for: Cloudflare developers building agents that need a persistent workspace
Strengths
- One exec entry point across container, shell and JavaScript backends, which connect lazily
- SQLite in the Durable Object is the single authoritative store; isolate backends use Workers RPC with no sync
- Container backend gives a full Linux userland through a real FUSE mount
- Many runnable examples: pi, TanStack AI, Think, MCP, egress policies, Artifacts
Weaknesses
- README states preview only, unstable APIs, and not suitable for production
- Tied to Cloudflare Workers, Durable Objects and Dynamic Workers
- Docs under docs/ are a forward-looking spec, not a description of current code
- Unsolicited pull requests are not accepted
- TypeScript
- Needs Cloudflare Workers, Durable Objects, Dynamic Workers, Cloudflare Containers, just-bash
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