DeepSeek Harness plugin

The Liquid Inference plugin for DeepSeek Harness (dsh) adds the exchange to the harness. It adds a liquid model route and four read-only market tools. The source is architect-xyz/liquid-dsh-plugin.

To use the exchange without the plugin, see DeepSeek Harness. That guide writes a patch file by hand. The Liquid CLI can also start dsh for you.

Before you start

A workspace with a balance and a spend key. See API keys.
DeepSeek Harness with a profile, for example web.

The package is not on npm yet. Install it from GitHub or from a packed tarball.

1. Export the buyer key

export LIQUID_API_KEY=sk-liquid-...

The plugin reads the key for each request. It reads the credential store of the profile first, and then LIQUID_API_KEY. It never writes the key to a config file. A headless profile has no credential store, so it needs the variable.

2. Install the plugin

Install from GitHub. The package builds itself when you install it:

dsh plugin --profile web add github:architect-xyz/liquid-dsh-plugin

The first run fails with ERR_PNPM_GIT_DEP_PREPARE_NOT_ALLOWED, because pnpm blocks the build script. To fix it, add the package to allowBuilds in $DSH_HOME/profiles/web/pnpm-workspace.yaml, then run the command again:

allowBuilds:
  dsh-liquid-inference: true

This setting lets the package run its build script on your computer, outside a sandbox. Pin a commit, for example github:architect-xyz/liquid-dsh-plugin#<sha>, so a later push cannot change what runs.

Install without a build permission

Pack the plugin and install the tarball:

git clone https://github.com/architect-xyz/liquid-dsh-plugin.git
cd liquid-dsh-plugin && pnpm install && pnpm pack
dsh plugin --profile web add ./dsh-liquid-inference-0.1.0.tgz

Restart the profile. Choose Liquid Auto (liquid.auto) in the model picker.

What the plugin adds

The `liquid` model route

The plugin needs no adapter code. It patches the stock llm-pi-ai adapter with api: openai-completions, the exchange base URL with /v1, and apiKeyEnv: LIQUID_API_KEY. The patch sets these values:

Setting	Value
Cap	Each request sends `x-liquid-cap-usd`. The default is 1 USD. Set `LIQUID_CAP_USD` before you start to change it.
Models	`liquid.auto`, the ranking variants `:cheapest`, `:economy`, `:balanced` and `:premium`, and `deepseek-v4-flash`.
Reasoning	The levels `low`, `medium` and `high` go to the exchange as `reasoning_effort`.

To add a model, add an entry under models in the cordis.patch.yml of your profile. Use a name from the Market page. See Market data.

The exchange does not check the reasoning level. If the winning provider refuses the level, that request fails.

Market tools

Tool	Endpoint	Key
`liquid_get_book`	`GET /v1/exchange/offers`	Not used
`liquid_get_markets`	`GET /v1/exchange/markets`	Not used
`liquid_get_routers`	`GET /v1/exchange/routers`	Not used
`liquid_get_job`	`GET /v1/jobs/{id}`	Used

Chat, image, speech and video purchases are not tools. The model route is the only place where the harness spends money.

Data handling

The harness sends full prompts and tool results to the exchange. The exchange sends them to the provider that wins the auction. See Data handling.

Notes

The patch replaces the whole config of the llm-pi-ai row. If another bundle also configures pi-ai providers, write their settings again in your cordis.patch.yml.
The cap limits each request. To limit the total spend, set a spending limit on the key. See API keys.

Next steps

DeepSeek Harness: set up the harness by hand, with no plugin.
Apps: the other plugins and tools.
Skills: teach a coding agent to use the exchange.