jinsiyu/dsh-safemode-profile

dsh-safemode-profile

One job: keep dsh --profile safemode clean — force-restore on startup, continuously guard at runtime, so the profile only ever contains the whitelisted core bundles.

dsh --profile safemode        # boot with zero third-party plugins (suggest: dsh --profile safemode --port 3081)

What it does (two phases)

1. On startup: force-restore (regardless of whether the profile exists or was modified)

Every time DSH boots and loads this plugin row, it unconditionally rewrites $DSH_HOME/profiles/safemode/ back to the whitelist template:

If the files already match the template, nothing is written (avoids a self-triggering watch loop); anything that drifted is rewritten.

2. At runtime: continuous guard (drift checking)

While the plugin row is alive, two channels watch the profile for modification:

• fs.watch realtime: any change to package.json / cordis.patch.yml / pnpm-workspace.yaml → debounced 300ms → immediate restore;
• 30s polling fallback: full detectDrift() comparison (covers unreliable watch mounts and files replaced wholesale externally).

On drift (bundle added/removed, patch layer written to, dependencies added) the guard restores the profile and logs a warning: safemode profile was modified (...); restored to whitelist template.

Activation (no build scripts — installs cleanly in one shot)

This package has no postinstall / no build scripts of any kind — pnpm never blocks it, dsh plugin add succeeds with exit code 0 and reconcile runs normally. No approve-builds / allowBuilds configuration needed.

All work is done by the plugin row (lib/index.js → lib/guard.js): every DSH start force-restores once, then the guard stays resident.

Optional manual tool: node scripts/ensure-safemode.mjs force-restores immediately (handy without a DSH restart, or for troubleshooting).

Install

Prerequisites: DSH (@deepseek-ai/dsh) and Node.js (>=18) installed.

Method A (recommended, one command from npm) — the package is published on npm with a dsh.bundle manifest; install directly with the official plugin command:

dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-safemode-profile

Method B (from GitHub) — install straight from the source repository (commit-ish pinned to the default branch main, works with both npm and pnpm):

dsh plugin --profile web add github:jinsiyu/dsh-safemode-profile#main

Method C (local tarball / unpublished) — pack and install a local build:

# pack inside the plugin directory
npm pack                          # → dsh-safemode-profile-0.3.5.tgz

# install into a target profile (e.g. web)
dsh plugin --profile web add .\dsh-safemode-profile-0.3.5.tgz

Restart DSH; once the plugin row is active, safemode enters "force-restore + resident guard" mode. On startup the plugin prints a short usage banner (guard status, start command, whitelist, repo link).

Custom whitelist

The whitelist is the only customization entry point — set it via the environment variable (do not hand-edit the safemode profile files; any edit is restored by the guard):

# pure CLI only (no GUI)
$env:DSH_SAFEMODE_BUNDLES = "@deepseek-ai/dsh-base"

The variable is read from process.env by both the guard and the restore logic, and takes effect the next time dsh starts with it set.

Hardening: make the three managed files read-only

Recommended: set the three managed files under ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/ read-only to block dsh plugin --profile safemode add <pkg> at the filesystem level — pnpm fails when it cannot write them, so the plugin never gets in (DSH startup is unaffected: it only reads them and writes cordis.yml):

• package.json (dependencies + bundles — the choke point of any install)
• cordis.patch.yml (the user patch layer)
• pnpm-workspace.yaml (pnpm-managed file)

⚠️ Never lock the whole directory: DSH rewrites cordis.yml on every boot (prepareProfile unconditionally writeFileSync), so a read-only directory or read-only cordis.yml makes safemode fail to start (verified: exit 1). Windows attrib +R <dir> /S recursively locks every file including cordis.yml — do not use it.

# Windows: lock only the three files (no /S recursion)
attrib +R "$env:USERPROFILE\.dsh\profiles\safemode\package.json" `
         "$env:USERPROFILE\.dsh\profiles\safemode\cordis.patch.yml" `
         "$env:USERPROFILE\.dsh\profiles\safemode\pnpm-workspace.yaml"

# POSIX: the three files to 444 (the directory still needs r-x and must stay writable)
chmod 444 ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/package.json \
          ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/cordis.patch.yml \
          ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/pnpm-workspace.yaml

To unlock:

attrib -R "$env:USERPROFILE\.dsh\profiles\safemode\package.json" `
         "$env:USERPROFILE\.dsh\profiles\safemode\cordis.patch.yml" `
         "$env:USERPROFILE\.dsh\profiles\safemode\pnpm-workspace.yaml"  # Windows
chmod 644 ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/package.json \
          ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/cordis.patch.yml \
          ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/pnpm-workspace.yaml                 # POSIX

Notes:

• Let the plugin create/restore the profile first, then lock — the content must match the whitelist template before locking (the guard only writes when it detects drift; template-matching content is left untouched, so locking coexists with the guard). If drift is found while locked, the guard's restore fails with a warning — that is the expected behavior of a lock: locked means no drift should exist.
• Unlock before changing the whitelist. The guard itself is unaffected — it reads package.json to detect drift and only writes when a drift is found.

Deeper protection: ACL (Windows) and chattr +i (Linux)

The attrib +R / chmod 444 above is "basic read-only": the two platforms treat it differently, and neither can stop deletion (deleting a file depends on the parent directory's permissions; root ignores all permission bits anyway). The following are "hard locks", pick as needed:

Windows: ACL deny (icacls) — precise control over write vs delete

# Deny the current user write access to the three files (W = write data)
icacls "$env:USERPROFILE\.dsh\profiles\safemode\package.json" /deny "$env:USERNAME:(W)"
icacls "$env:USERPROFILE\.dsh\profiles\safemode\cordis.patch.yml" /deny "$env:USERNAME:(W)"
icacls "$env:USERPROFILE\.dsh\profiles\safemode\pnpm-workspace.yaml" /deny "$env:USERNAME:(W)"

# Stronger: also deny deletion (DE = delete; WD = write data / create file)
icacls "...\package.json" /deny "$env:USERNAME:(WD,DE)"

To unlock (remove that user's deny entries):

icacls "...\package.json" /remove:d "$env:USERNAME"

Key points:

• (W) blocks content modification, (DE) blocks deletion, (WD) blocks write + create — more precise than attrib: you can block writes while leaving admins able to delete;
• Still does not stop administrators: Administrators / SYSTEM have Full Control (F) by default and can take ownership or clear the deny. To block them too, deny BUILTIN\Administrators as well — but admins can still bypass via "take ownership";
• icacls requires permission to modify the file's ACL (the file owner has it by default).

Linux: immutable attribute (chattr +i) — root cannot touch it either

# Lock: file cannot be modified, deleted, or renamed (root included)
sudo chattr +i ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/package.json \
              ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/cordis.patch.yml \
              ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/pnpm-workspace.yaml

# Inspect
lsattr ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/package.json     # output containing "i" = locked

# Unlock
sudo chattr -i ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/package.json \
              ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/cordis.patch.yml \
              ~/.dsh/profiles/safemode/pnpm-workspace.yaml

Key points:

• +i (immutable) is the strongest lock: nobody (root included) can modify, delete, or rename — you must -i first for any operation, harder than chmod or ACL;
• Requires sudo (root), and the filesystem must support the attribute (ext4/xfs do; some network/container filesystems do not);
• Side effect for safemode: the guard normally rebuilds a deleted file (detectDrift finds "missing" → force-restore), but +i blocks even that; upgrading the plugin or changing the whitelist also needs -i first. Use it only when "no account on this machine (root included) may touch the safemode config" is a real requirement; basic read-only (attrib / chmod 444) is enough for everyday use.

Three levels compared

Suggestion: basic read-only is enough for everyday use (pnpm runs as a normal user, 444 already blocks installs completely); add ACL (DE) if you want to guard against accidental deletion; only choose chattr +i when "no account (root included) may touch the safemode config" is a hard requirement.

Notes

• Port: safemode also carries the webServer, default 3080. Running it alongside the web profile conflicts (EADDRINUSE fails the boot) — use --port to separate them: dsh --profile safemode --port 3081.
• Sessions/credentials are NOT isolated: sessions, settings.yaml and .env are home-level shared; safemode only isolates plugins.
• Home patch leaks in: ~/.dsh/cordis.patch.yml applies to every profile — don't mount plugins there (the guard only watches the safemode directory itself, not the home patch).
• Don't hand-edit cordis.yml: DSH rewrites it on every boot; edit cordis.patch.yml instead — but safemode's patch layer is restored to empty by this plugin, so customize through the whitelist env var.