First check whether the Desktop app has actually failed: on macOS and Windows, closing its main window may only hide it while the page and local Host keep running. Restore it from the macOS Dock or open dsh://open; on Windows, use the tray icon. If the app shows a fatal-error dialog, follow its recovery options and use the displayed error to identify the next step.
DeepSeek Harness Desktop is an Electron shell around the dsh Web application, with a local Host involved in startup. The steps below apply to the Desktop app documented in DeepSeek AI’s official Desktop README; community forks may behave differently.
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Check whether the window is hidden
On macOS and Windows, closing the main window may hide it rather than quit the app. The page and Host can continue running, so a missing window does not necessarily mean startup failed.
- macOS: Restore the app from the Dock or open
dsh://open. - Windows: Restore it from the system tray.
This window behavior is described in the official Desktop README.
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Understand the fatal-error dialog
For fatal failures involving main-window creation, document loading, preload, the renderer, Web initialization, or backend startup, Desktop can show a native recovery dialog. It displays part of the initial error and offers actions to exit or restart, plus a recovery option to disable third-party plugins, back up the profile patch, and restart. Ordinary requests and expected shutdowns do not trigger this recovery flow.
Use the error shown in the dialog as the lead for your next step. A listener error containing listen EADDRINUSE has specific guidance; a general startup failure may call for plugin recovery or a crash report. The dialog’s documented behavior is in the recovery documentation.
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Resolve a listen EADDRINUSE listener error
This error indicates a listener could not use its address because it is already in use. For this specific failure, the README instructs users to quit other running DSH instances, then use the dialog’s Exit or Restart option. Follow that guidance before trying to reinstall.
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Desktop is documented as using an OS-assigned port by default, although a configuration patch can override it. Do not assume a fixed port without checking the installed version and configuration.
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Use plugin recovery for a suitable startup failure
The recovery option is intended to disable third-party bundles and move the profile’s cordis.patch.yml aside so Desktop can start with an empty patch. It is not a general fix for external network, API-key, proxy, or remote-service problems.
- Choose the dialog option to disable third-party plugins, back up the profile patch, and restart.
- Desktop waits for the Host to shut down, disables third-party bundles, and renames the profile
cordis.patch.ymlto a timestamped backup. - On the next start, Desktop creates an empty profile patch.
Installed packages, previous backups, and the home-level patch are preserved. If the profile data is invalid or the file operation fails, recovery reports an error rather than restarting as though it succeeded. These details are in the official recovery documentation.
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Find and interpret a fatal-error report
Before displaying the first fatal dialog, Desktop attempts to write a crash report. The write has a one-second wait limit; if it is slow or fails, the dialog may not show a report path.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors- macOS: Check
~/Library/Logs/DeepSeek Harness. - Windows and Linux: Check the
logsdirectory inside the application’suserDatalocation.
A report can identify the failure source and whether the backend reached ready. It may include application and runtime versions, the error and cause chain, Host-inspected startup errors, and recent renderer error-level console messages. The documented report retains the last 64 KiB of Host diagnostics and recent renderer console errors; the overall error chain is cut off at 256 KiB.
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Crash-report contents and limits are described in the official Desktop README.
Separate local startup trouble from connection trouble
If Desktop opens but cannot connect to a model or service, that is different from the local Host failing to start. The official README documents local startup and fatal recovery, but does not establish a complete procedure for network reachability, rejected API keys, proxy settings, or remote-service outages. Plugin recovery and patch backup should not be treated as fixes for those external conditions.
Use the exact error message to distinguish an app/Host startup failure from a model or service connection failure. Without further diagnostic evidence, the cause of an external connection problem cannot be established from the Desktop README alone.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Check the documentation for your installed release
The official Desktop README is a live repository document, and its interface or implementation details may change. If the dialog labels or behavior differ from those described here, compare them with the README for the release you have installed.
Quick Recap
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