deepseek-harness/.agents/notes/implemented/architecture/2026-06-30-bash-stdin-env-trusted-plugin-surface.md

Agent Note: stdin + extra env on the bash seam

Status: implemented

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Problem

The hooks subsystem runs external hook commands the way Claude Code and Codex do: a hook is a shell command that receives its event payload as JSON on stdin and reads context from a handful of environment variables (CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR, CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT, PLUGIN_ROOT, …). The harness already has a perfectly good command runner behind the ctx.bash capability seam (dsh-bash → dsh-bash-local), with process-group kills, output truncation/spill, and a credential scrub. Reusing it for hook execution means a hook bridge does not re-implement subprocess plumbing — but the seam had no way to write stdin or set extra env. This Agent Note adds those two inputs.

stdin and env do not create a new model capability because ordinary shell syntax already supplies both. Ambient credentials are protected by dsh-bash-local's child-environment scrub, not by hiding these Service Definition fields; model tool arguments are static JSON and do not expand shell variables. The fields therefore serve trusted in-process callers, such as hook bridges, that need to pass structured input and CLAUDE_* variables without embedding them in model-visible shell text. See defensive-patterns.md for the ambient-environment rule.

Decision

Add stdin?: string and env?: Record<string, string> to both BashExecRequest (the model-/plugin-facing request) and BashExecSpec (the resolved spec run/start act on), and thread them through dsh-bash-local: resolve() carries them verbatim, run()/start() pass them to runBash, which writes the bytes to the child's stdin and merges the extra env.

Three deliberate choices:

1. The model-facing tool omits stdin and env. Shell syntax already covers those needs, so duplicate parameters would add surface without authority separation. The tool builds requests only from declared model arguments, signal, and owner; trusted in-process callers may set the request fields directly. Harness-owned variables use the separate dshEnv channel from the managed environment decision, so ordinary env cannot replace them.

2. env merges AFTER the credential scrub, so an explicit caller entry wins even on a credential-shaped name. The later managed-namespace decision manages DSH_*: ambient entries are removed, and trusted dshEnv merges last, so an ordinary env entry can never displace a managed value. The complete order is scrub(process.env, including DSH_*) → ENV_OVERRIDES → ordinary env → dshEnv.

3. stdin/env are required-absent-OK (plain optional) on the resolved spec, NOT required-but-nullable like owner. owner is required-but-nullable because a silently missing owner yields an unowned, cross-session-readable task — a security footgun that a visible undefined guards against. stdin/env have no such hazard: a missing one means "no stdin / no extra env", which is the safe, ordinary case (every model-driven call). So they stay plain optionals, matching signal.

dsh-bash-local creates a stdin pipe only when bytes are supplied; otherwise fd 0 remains /dev/null, preserving prior behavior. It writes the bytes and closes the pipe. EPIPE from a child that exits without reading is ignored because command exit and output determine the result.

Alternatives considered

Configurable ambient-secret scrub. Rejected as speculative. Trusted callers can explicitly provide required values after the scrub without weakening the default ambient protection.

Consequences

Hook bridges pass JSON payloads and hook-specific variables through the existing bash seam, retaining its process-group, truncation, and spill behavior. The model surface remains unchanged, and the bash tool remains the sole owner of model-call request construction. The vocabulary lives in the bash data-structure reference.