DeepSeek has released a pre-release version of DeepSeek Harness, its open-source agent software, version v0.2.2-alpha.2, which was posted on GitHub on October 28. The main innovation is an experimental plugin called subagent_oar, which enables the main agent to assign an autonomous task to install Codex CLI or Claude Code on the same machine.
Previously, Harness supported Claude Code and Codex; the v0.1.0-rc.8 update in August allowed users to install them as profile packages within their subagent system. However, the new tool functions differently. It provides the main agent with a single entry point for distributing work: when calling subagent_oar, the agent selects either codex or claude, then sends the task description, the full prompt, and an optional working directory. The tool immediately returns a task ID, and upon completion, a notification of execution brings back the final answer or an error message to the main session.
External tools operate independently. Codex CLI and Claude Code maintain their own configurations, models, tools, and login process, so users must install and authorize each one, and ensure that the Harness host can find them. Provider parameters can pass the model, reasoning level, launch arguments, environment variables, and timeout, depending on each runtime's support.
The documentation sets clear limitations: the main conversation is not redirected, so the request must explicitly state which files are important and what should be returned. Tasks are one-off, without the possibility of subsequent questions, session resumption, or real-time progress streaming. Only the final answer or failure is returned, not the internal reasoning of the external agent or its tool history. Official examples allow for a writable workspace and disable permission requests, and canceling a task does not undo file changes already made by the external agent.
Other add-ons help users track delegated work. An experimental change request feature can display the status and differences of a related merge request for a session running in its own Git working tree. The developer statistics plugin details the usage of context, cache, as well as the time spent on models and tools for each step and turn. Output from small background tasks now comes through the completion notification, and the subagent waiting guide reduces the need for repeated polling.
The release also allows users to update third-party plugin packages, with the option to roll back in case of a hot update failure, and adds interface text in Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese. Earlier community materials, including multi-agent setup tests from Bilibili creators, were created by users themselves and are not DeepSeek products.
