dsh-artcraft

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Why this exists

ArtCraft is a family of twelve free, fair-source reinventions of Adobe's studio tools, written from scratch in pure Rust: PhotoCraft (Photoshop), VectorCraft (Illustrator), FilmCraft (Premiere Pro), LightCraft (Lightroom), PdfCraft (Acrobat), EffectCraft (After Effects), DesignCraft (InDesign), WordCraft (Word), DeckCraft (PowerPoint), GridCraft (Excel), CADCraft (AutoCAD) and SoundCraft (Pro Tools). They share one superpower that most desktop apps don't have: every menu item, slider and dialog is a command, and the exact same commands can be driven from a headless CLI, a JSON control channel, or an MCP server. The apps were built for agents from day one.

This plugin brings that surface into DeepSeek Harness, so an AI agent can operate the apps — not just talk about them:

• In chat — eight agent tools let any Harness session check the toolchain, run CLI commands, send control-channel commands to a running app, do bridged file operations, and consult a per-app capability catalog.
• In the browser — a same-origin HTTP API (/artcraft/api/*) that any Harness web UI can call, no CORS, no keys. It was built for 无限画布 / infinite-canvas, a node-based AI short-drama storyboard canvas, but any front end can use it.
• Paths belong to the caller — this plugin is a bridge and owns no data directory. Files read or written go wherever the caller points: chat invocations default to the current conversation workspace (or any path named in the prompt); the canvas writes under its own project folder.

A typical AI short-drama loop looks like this: generate storyboard frames with a model → batch color-grade and sharpen them in PhotoCraft → render an animated title in EffectCraft → assemble the final cut in FilmCraft with grading, mixing and burned-in subtitles → export H.264. Every step after "generate" runs through this plugin, headless.

How it fits together

┌──────────────── DeepSeek Harness web UI (browser) ────────────────┐
│   e.g. infinite-canvas: ① upload assets  ② start jobs  ③ fetch   │
└─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ▼  same-origin fetch, no CORS
┌──────────────── DSH Host · @ninkch/dsh-artcraft ────────────────┐
│   HTTP routes /artcraft/api/*   +   agent tools artcraft_*        │
│        → child processes (the CLIs)  →  TCP control channel       │
└──────┬───────────────────────┬───────────────────────┬───────────┘
       ▼                       ▼                       ▼
  photocraft-cli          filmcraft-cli          effectcraft-cli
  batch grading, PSD      EDL/XML in-out,        .ecproj (JSON) render,
  headless edits          cut · grade · mix      Lottie export
       └───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┘
                               ▼
              caller-decided locations (chat → conversation
              workspace · canvas → its project folder)

Everything runs locally. No cloud round-trips, no accounts, no telemetry.

Requirements

• DeepSeek Harness (desktop), any platform the Harness supports.
• ArtCraft apps — grab what you need from getartcraft.com or the storytold GitHub releases. The portable/installer builds ship the CLI binaries on Windows and Linux (photocraft-cli.exe …); macOS ships them as a separate notarized zip. Versions tested: PhotoCraft 0.6, FilmCraft 0.5, EffectCraft (early).
• Nothing else. No Python, no FFmpeg — the ArtCraft apps bring their own codecs.

Setup

1. Get the plugin onto disk (this repository). Any folder works; keeping it inside the Harness workspace next to your other local plugins is the convention.

2. Register it with your Harness profile. A Harness profile is a pnpm package at C:\Users\<you>\.dsh\profiles\<profile>\ (desktop profile by default). Two edits:

// package.json in the profile
{
  "dependencies": {
    // ...existing deps...
    "@ninkch/dsh-artcraft": "^0.1.1",                                    // ← from npm
    // or, for local development, a link into this repository:
    // "@ninkch/dsh-artcraft": "link:D:/code/deepseek-plugin/dsh-artcraft"
  },
  "dsh": { "profile": { "bundles": [
    // ...existing bundles...
    "@ninkch/dsh-artcraft"                                               // ← add the name
  ] } }
}

Then link and restart the Harness once (Host-side code loads at startup):

pnpm install --dir C:/Users/<you>/.dsh/profiles/desktop

If your Harness build ships a plugin manager UI that installs from a folder, that works too — it ends up writing exactly the two lines above.

3. Configure artcraft.config.json (copy from artcraft.config.json.example). Recommended location: C:\Users\<you>\.dsh\artcraft.config.json (persists across plugin updates); placing it next to index.js also works (legacy). The file is re-read on every request — no restart needed for path changes:

{
  "bins": {
    // three accepted forms: a directory (the <name>-cli binary is appended),
    // a full path to the executable, or a bare name looked up on PATH
    "photocraft":  "C:/craft/photocraft-0.6.0-windows-x64-portable",
    "filmcraft":   "C:/craft/filmcraft-0.5.0-windows-x64-portable",
    "effectcraft": "C:/Program Files/EffectCraft"
  },
  "control": { "filmcraft": 9876, "effectcraft": 9877 }
}

4. Verify. In any Harness chat, ask your agent to run artcraft_status. Green lights across bins.*.found and you're done.

Driving it from chat

The plugin registers four tools. The agent composes them, so plain language works:

"Color-grade every PNG in demo/media with a soft S-curve and smart sharpening at 80, put the results in demo/out/graded."

Behind that sentence the agent will typically do:

artcraft_cli  { bin:"photocraft", args:["batch","--actions","demo/craft/grade.json",
                                        "--in","demo/media","--out","demo/out/graded"] }

Tool	What it does
artcraft_status	Toolchain health check: which of the 12 CLIs resolved, config location, control ports, running jobs
artcraft_cli	Run any CLI subcommand synchronously (photocraft-cli run/batch, wordcraft-cli convert, …)
artcraft_control	One command over the JSON control channel of a running app (filmcraft 9876 / effectcraft 9877 / vectorcraft 7979 / lightcraft 7980, or pass port)
artcraft_fs	Bridged file ops — list / stat / read / write / mkdir at caller-decided absolute paths
artcraft_discover	Family install auto-discovery: fills missing paths, auto-corrects stale ones
artcraft_apps	Capability catalog for all 12 apps: CLI subcommands, control ports, MCP, repo/docs links
artcraft_recipes	Built-in expert recipes: 8 cross-app professional workflows
artcraft_update	The plugin's own update (check / apply)

Driving it from the browser

Same-origin HTTP, JSON in and out. The workhorse pattern is the job lifecycle — start, poll, fetch — which keeps long renders off the request cycle:

POST /artcraft/api/job      { "bin":"effectcraft",
                              "args":["render","--comp","Main",
                                      "--out","demo/out/intro.mp4","demo/craft/intro.ecproj"],
                              "outputs":["demo/out/intro.mp4"] }
                         →  { "id":"7f2c…" }

GET  /artcraft/api/job?id=7f2c…&tail=30
                         →  { "status":"running|done|failed|timeout",
                              "stdout":"…last lines…", "stderr":"…",
                              "outputs":[{"rel":"demo/out/intro.mp4","exists":true,"size":812345}] }

GET  /artcraft/api/file?rel=demo/out/intro.mp4        → raw bytes (streamed)
POST /artcraft/api/job/cancel  { "id":"7f2c…" }

Full route list:

Route	Purpose
GET /artcraft/api/status	Toolchain health (same payload as artcraft_status)
POST /artcraft/api/fs?action=write&path=…	Write a file — absolute path, raw body (Blob upload) or JSON {base, rel, text|base64}
GET /artcraft/api/fs?op=list|stat|readtext&path=…	Read directories, metadata, small text files
GET /artcraft/api/file?path=…	Download a file — streamed, up to 2 GB
POST /artcraft/api/job · GET ?id=… · POST /artcraft/api/job/cancel	Job lifecycle with output statting and tail logs
POST /artcraft/api/control	Synchronous control-channel call (app or port)
GET /artcraft/api/apps[?id=…]	Family capability catalog (12 apps)
POST /artcraft/api/discover	Family install discovery + config self-repair
GET /artcraft/api/update/check · POST /artcraft/api/update/apply	The plugin's own update

Uploads are capped at 320 MB per request (Blob direct, no base64 needed for the raw path); downloads stream up to 2 GB. All path arguments are absolute (or base absolute directory + relative rel) — the caller decides where files live: chat calls point at the conversation workspace, the canvas points at its project folder.

The control channel: drive a running app

CLI runs are headless and one-shot. When you'd rather watch and fine-tune — grading a scene, scrubbing a cut — start the desktop app with its control channel and speak to it live:

filmcraft --control 9876      # or set FILMCRAFT_CONTROL_PORT; loopback only

POST /artcraft/api/control
{ "app": "filmcraft", "method": "engine.execute",
  "params": { "command": "timeline.place",
              "params": { "item": 1, "track": "V1", "seconds": 0, "duration": 1270080000000 } } }

// a Lumetri curve on clip 87 …
{ "command": "effects.setParam",
  "params": { "clip": 87, "effect": "lumetri", "param": "curve_luma",
              "value": [[0,0],[0.25,0.21],[0.75,0.82],[1,1]] } }

// …and a look at what the app shows
{ "method": "ui.screenshot", "params": { "path": "frame.png" } }

Time accepts seconds, frame or timecode (internally FilmCraft counts ticks at 254,016,000,000/s). filmcraft-cli commands lists the 650+ engine commands; the protocol is documented in filmcraft/docs/control-protocol.md. EffectCraft listens the same way on its own port (default 9877); VectorCraft defaults to 7979 and LightCraft to 7980 (both built into artcraft_control's app). The remaining apps pick dynamic ports: start them with app --port PORT, then pass port to artcraft_control. Each app's control surface is described in the artcraft_apps catalog.

PhotoCraft's control channel is an authenticated variant and PdfCraft's is file-based (--control FILE); both are deliberately not proxied here — the headless CLI covers everything this plugin needs.

Working with 无限画布 (infinite-canvas)

The two plugins are decoupled — they meet only on HTTP and the disk layout. The canvas:

1. syncs its generated assets (IndexedDB blobs) into <project>/media/,
2. starts PhotoCraft/FilmCraft/EffectCraft jobs with per-project files in <project>/craft/,
3. fetches finished renders from <project>/out/ back into its asset library.

If you're building a similar front end, mirror that contract: project slug as folder name, keep the media · craft · out triad, and everything composes.

Recipes

Uniform grading across storyboard frames — demo/craft/grade.json:

{ "actions": [
  { "cmd": "layer.newAdjustmentLayer.curves", "params": { "points": [[0,0],[64,48],[192,212],[255,255]] } },
  { "cmd": "filter.sharpen.smartSharpen",     "params": { "amount": 80 } }
] }

photocraft-cli batch --actions demo/craft/grade.json --in demo/media --out demo/out/graded

Final cut without a browser recorder — the canvas exports its storyboard as a Final Cut Pro 7 XML (xmeml) or CMX3600 EDL into demo/craft/timeline.xml; FilmCraft imports it, links media from demo/media/, and exports H.264 (hardware NVENC on Windows), ProRes, DNxHR with EBU R128 loudness normalization and burned-in captions. Interchange is where FilmCraft's automation really pays off — EDL/XML are plain text your pipeline already knows how to write.

Animated titles as code — EffectCraft projects (.ecproj) are versioned JSON, so a model can write one outright or fill a template. Render to MP4/ProRes — ProRes 4444 with alpha drops straight onto a FilmCraft track as a graphics layer — or export Lottie and play it inline in a web UI.

Troubleshooting

• bins.*.found: false — check the path forms above; the CLI must exist next to the app (or be on PATH). Changes to artcraft.config.json apply on the next request.
• 404 on /artcraft/api/* — the bundle isn't registered with the profile (see Setup) or the Harness hasn't been restarted since registration. artcraft_status from chat is the quick probe.
• Control channel refused — the app must be running with --control <port>; the channel is loopback-only and unauthenticated, so nothing else will answer on that port.
• A job hangs — GET /artcraft/api/job lists everything with logs; cancel by id. Plugin reloads kill all child jobs by design.
• "需要绝对路径" errors — pass absolute paths (chat: the conversation workspace; canvas: the project folder), or a base absolute directory + relative rel.

Security & trust model

The HTTP surface has no authentication and rides on the Harness web server, which listens on loopback only — treat the port as trusted-local and don't expose it to a network; put a reverse proxy with auth in front if you must. Child processes are locked to the twelve allow-listed family CLIs; the control channel only ever dials 127.0.0.1.

Publishing

This plugin is published to npm as @ninkch/dsh-artcraft (scoped packages publish with npm publish --access public). To consume it, add the package name to your Harness profile's dependencies and dsh.profile.bundles (see Setup) — pnpm install in the profile does the rest. For local development, swap the dependency for a "link:<path-to-this-repo>" instead. The three places that must agree on the package name are the profile package.json (dependency + bundles) and this repo's cordis.patch.yml.

GitHub: this repository is self-contained; README.md is English-first with a 简体中文 companion.

Releases run through npm Trusted Publishing (GitHub Actions OIDC — no tokens, no OTP): publishing is triggered by creating a GitHub Release (tag vX.Y.Z matching package.json); .github/workflows/publish.yml verifies the release commit is on main and the versions align, then publishes. Release flow and rules live in RELEASING.md — in short: changes land on dev, get tested there, and are only merged to main and released with the maintainer's explicit approval.

License

This plugin (@ninkch/dsh-artcraft): Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE. It ships none of the ArtCraft apps' code — it only drives their public automation surfaces (headless CLI + JSON control channel).

The ArtCraft apps themselves are not OSI open source: they are distributed under the ArtCraft License (WIP), a "fair source" license (verbatim text). The short version for anyone building on them:

• ✅ free to use; back up, copy, modify and compile for private purposes
• ✅ every piece of media you create with the apps is yours — your rendered episodes are commercial assets, full stop
• ❌ no selling the apps as your own software, no competing products built from their code
• ❌ no stripping community/donation links from a fork; no using the ArtCraft name, logo or mascots to promote a business without permission
• 🤝 the team's public promise: if the business ever ends, the software transitions to an OSI-approved open-source license

Practical reading for an AI short-drama studio: run the apps locally, leave their community links alone, and sell your films — not the apps.