DeepSeek published release notes on GitHub on 11 November for a new release candidate of its agent program. The release is version 0.2.2-rc.2 of DeepSeek Harness (DSH), which precedes a stable release.

DSH is an open-source harness: a program that controls an agent, giving the model tools and running its steps.

Subagents share work across several levels

According to the release notes, subagents – separate agents launched for subtasks – can now be named and nested across several levels. Users can enable AgentTeam teamwork per session, and the team has a shared member and task panel.

The change requires migration. AgentTeam now uses unified named subagents, and the interrupt tool is disabled by default. Custom plugins and SDK integrations must move to the new structure, and all processes that share session storage must be upgraded together.

Plugins can also add and remove MCP servers, the services that provide external tools. Plugins can check a server’s status and restart it, so users do not have to maintain each server’s configuration themselves.

Archiving cleans up worktrees by default

Users can now review changes in Git worktrees – parallel working directories of the same repository – by branch, commit and file type. They can also carry out GitHub reviews and update branches directly in DSH.

When a user archives a session, DSH now removes eligible worktrees by default. Branches and commits are preserved. The local directory is kept if cleanup is turned off. Custom configuration and Forge plugins must be migrated.

Changes to search and security

Web search uses the DeepSeek Search API by default. Anyone using older search providers or custom settings must migrate by following the upgrade guide.

The agent runs its commands in a terminal in the sidebar, and the user can take over by typing. If the agent is allowed to read the user’s terminal, the terminal content goes to the model and into session records.

DSH now parses Office documents in its host process, outside the shell sandbox. Old LiveShare permissions must be reconfigured. The PTC feature, which runs code, can access files outside the shared directory, the release notes say, so sessions should be shared only with trusted people.

On Windows, permissions for additional directories now apply only to file tools, not to the terminal or PTC. Custom Computer Use scripts, old Office packages and skills, plugins that rely on the old error classification and Stagehand’s extensionId setting, which no longer works, also need updating. The version also includes, among other things, support for custom model providers that use the Gemini API, as well as bug fixes.

DSH can be installed with npm and used as a desktop app, in the browser, on the command line and through the SDK. In the desktop app’s settings, users can now choose stable or development versions as the update channel. Instructions for a third-party installation on Hugging Face say that using the model requires an API key from DeepSeek or another provider.