Sharing One DeepSeek Harness Instance: Handoff and Prompt Norms
Name the driver, fork when parallel; a five-field handoff beats a long essay.
When sharing one DeepSeek Harness instance: one driver on the active session; others read Trajectory. Handoffs need gate host, version, workspace, session id, and unfinished goals. Use a short prompt template (goal/constraints/paths/acceptance/stop). Write Chinese handoffs with a translation IME; install from the download page.
1 Name a driver before debating feature toggles
On one Web entry, session logs, tool calls, and the workspace are coupled—without a driver rule people step on each other.
Public docs describe an append-only session stream you can inspect in Trajectory (resume / fork / search / replay follow your build). Many eyes on one screen helps; contradictory prompts into one box does not.
The on-call roster lists driver, observers, and bans (e.g. “no workspace switch mid-demo,” “do not wipe session dirs”). When rotating, stop the current tool turn before handing the keyboard—cheaper than incident recovery.
2 Handoff checklist: five fields beat a novel
Failed handoffs usually miss “where we actually stopped,” not word count.
Lock five fields: ① gate host + OS user; ② dsh / plugin footprint version; ③ absolute workspace path; ④ session name or id; ⑤ unfinished goals + verified facts + explicit do-nots. Paste into the ticket—never the API key.
The incoming driver replays recent Trajectory turns, checks whether tools touched disk, then sends a new prompt. An open browser tab is not a clean state.
If context is dirty: fork a clean branch per product capability, or start a new session with a “verified facts” summary—Chinese for conclusions, English for paths and commands.
3 Prompt norms: fields, not prose poems
Team norms must be scannable.
Fixed order: goal (one testable sentence) → constraints (permissions, forbidden paths) → allowed dirs/files → acceptance steps → stop conditions (when to ask a human). Stop conditions in turn one save a wasted tool loop.
Mode names (Standard / Code / Minimal / Creator and peers on public pages) follow the live UI—Wiki screenshots rot. Treat mode switches as a spoken change the observer logs.
Reviewing a pasted prompt: require searchable English error text and a measurable Chinese/English goal. Reject prompts without acceptance criteria instead of hoping the Agent “gets the business.”
4 Translation IME only for handoff writing
No reteach of mixed-flag typing—only what to write and where.
Draft handoff sheets and chat conclusions with a translation IME; put a short session name in the title for search. Copy commands, paths, and Issue keywords from the terminal or logs—do not retype.
Typing failures inside remote desktop or a shared browser: app-specific checklist. Global IME failure: not-working guide. Neither is “the Harness session is corrupt” by default.
Install/update the IME from this site’s download page; team Web topology lives in the deploy article; system mixed-typing lives in the coding-input-method article.
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FAQ
Does sharing one instance mean everyone can type into the same session?
Prefer not. Sessions and tool runs are shared state on one entry process. Safer rule: one driver on the active session; others read Trajectory or watch a screen share. For parallel work, fork a session or switch workspace—do not fight over one prompt box.
What must a handoff include?
Five fields minimum: gate host + OS user, dsh version, workspace path, session id or title, unfinished goals plus explicit do-nots. Never dictate secrets into chat—only state that credentials sit on the machine per Runbook.
How long should the team prompt template be?
One short form: goal / constraints / allowed paths / acceptance / stop conditions. Keep paths and error text English and searchable; narrative may be Chinese. Do not paste an entire design doc into turn one.
Where does the translation IME fit?
Handoff sheets, on-call conclusions, Chinese session-title summaries. Mixed-typing basics: deepseek-harness-coding-input-method. Deploy topology: deepseek-harness-web-team-deploy. This article does not repeat either.
After the handoff sheet is filled, install the translation IME from the download page for Chinese on-call notes
If you are ready to install or update, return to the download page and verify the current public version, platform notes, and on-site release information.