Post, schedule and run ads from DeepSeek Harness

What is DeepSeek Harness?

DeepSeek Harness, dsh, is DeepSeek’s open-source agent harness, built so that everything is a plugin. It runs a local web UI (npx @deepseek-ai/dsh web), and its generic MCP client plugin connects any MCP server, local or remote. It is in developer preview, and DeepSeek warns that breaking changes are coming.

DeepSeek Harness, the DeepSeek app or the API? This page is the harness. We have found no documented way to add a custom MCP server to the DeepSeek chat app, and the DeepSeek API is a model you call from your own code, so neither has a setup of its own here.

Hermoso is marketing on autopilot: 876+ tools over one MCP endpoint covering competitor ad research, finished image and video ads across 90+ models, publishing and scheduling to ten social channels, and campaign management on Meta, Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Reddit Ads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X Ads, TikTok Ads, Snapchat Ads, ChatGPT Ads and Apple Search Ads. One connection, and DeepSeek Harness has all of it.

Connect Hermoso to DeepSeek Harness

1. Install and sign in.

   npm install -g hermoso && hermoso auth login

   Your browser opens once. Nothing to create and nothing to paste: the credential is stored owner-only in ~/.hermoso/config.json. On a machine with no browser, hermoso auth login --token hmk_… takes a key from MCP & CLI → Terminal & API keys instead.
2. Add Hermoso to a patch layer. Merge this entry into $DSH_HOME/cordis.patch.yml for every profile, or $DSH_HOME/profiles/<name>/cordis.patch.yml for one. Merge it rather than overwriting the file, since it may already hold other patches:

   - insert:
       - id: mcp-hermoso
         name: '@deepseek-ai/dsh-mcp-client'
         config:
           serverName: hermoso
           transport: stdio
           command: npx
           args: ['-y', 'hermoso', 'mcp']
           env: {}

3. Restart dsh web. Discovery runs in the background, so wait until the mcp__hermoso__ tools are listed before the first request.
4. Ask DeepSeek Harness for something. “Pull my three closest competitors’ longest-running ads and remix the best hook into a 9:16 video,” or “post this render to the channel.” The agent picks the tools; you approve the spend.

The local server is the route here because DeepSeek’s MCP client documents stdio and streamable HTTP with headers, and no OAuth sign-in. Its stdio bridge strips credential-looking environment variables before it starts a server, which does not matter for Hermoso: hermoso mcp reads the credential that hermoso auth login stored on disk. To use the hosted endpoint instead, set transport: streamable-http, the url and an Authorization: Bearer hmk_… header with a key from MCP & CLI. Quoted from the deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness repository, read on 2026-10-03, and documented rather than run here. Hermoso is not affiliated with or endorsed by DeepSeek.

Every channel DeepSeek Harness can publish to

Each channel links to its Hermoso page, with that channel’s real caption cap, visibility options and what it refuses. DeepSeek Harness reaches all of them through the same tools as every other agent.

Every one of them queues through one schedule_post calendar with per-channel captions, and list_scheduled reports per-channel outcomes rather than a single green tick, because “the job succeeded” and “the post went out” are different questions. A scheduled post lives in Hermoso, so it goes out on time whether or not DeepSeek Harness is still running.

Two channels that are built but not offered

Being straight about this is worth more than a longer list. Two publishing surfaces exist in the codebase and are held back, each waiting on the platform rather than on us:

• Reddit: organic posting and post stats are built, but Reddit’s Responsible Builder Policy requires explicit written approval before an app may use the Data API, and that ticket has not been granted. The connector is held back rather than offered as an OAuth screen leading to a dead API. Reddit Ads is a different connection and it is live: the full campaign tree, forecasting, targeting search, pixels and lead forms.
• Google Business Profile: post_to_google_business is built, with events, offers and a real call-to-action choice, and so are the listing insights. Google allowlists the Business Profile API per project and the default quota is zero, so every call would 403 for every user. It stays gated until Google grants the project access.

A connector that would hand you a successful OAuth and a dead API is worse than one that is not offered yet, so neither is listed as available.

Three things to type once it is connected

1. Research. “Who are my three closest competitors, and what are their longest-running Meta ads? Tell me which hook keeps repeating.” It runs find_competitors → pull_competitor_ads → mine_angles.
2. Create. “Make me a 9:16 UGC video ad using that hook, with my real product photo and captions burned in.” It runs get_brand → plan_ad → render_ad, and hands back a finished mp4 URL.
3. Ship. “Schedule it to Instagram and TikTok for Tuesday 9am, and build a paused Meta campaign around it targeting the US at $30 a day.” It runs schedule_post → create_meta_campaign → create_meta_ad.

What DeepSeek Harness cannot do on its own

An agent with a budget is only useful if the blast radius is bounded, so the fence is in the server rather than in a prompt. Every ad campaign, ad set, ad group and ad is created paused, and the status switches that arm real money refuse to run without an explicit confirmation flag. Every render is quoted first (hermoso_capabilities publishes each model’s exact credit cost before anything spends). Credits are reserved before the first provider call and settled at the exact cost afterwards, so a failed dispatch refunds rather than leaving you billed for nothing. Deletes are confirm-gated too, and every campaign tree is read back from the ad platform before your agent tells you what it built.

One step is deliberately yours: linking each account, once. Most channels link through the platform’s own OAuth consent screen in a browser; Bluesky takes an app password and Telegram a bot token, pasted in Hermoso. Everything after that is a tool call.

How the harness confirms a tool call depends on your profile, not on Hermoso. Hermoso’s gates hold either way: campaigns are born paused, spend switches and deletes need an explicit confirmation, and every render is priced before it runs.

What it costs

Adding Hermoso to DeepSeek Harness costs nothing extra: there is one credit meter, and it does not care which client called. A free account starts with 30 credits at signup and 250+ more to earn. Credits are spent only on AI models and Ad Spy research; posting, scheduling, ads management and analytics are free on every channel except X, which bills per call because X charges per API request. Paid plans are $19, $49 and $149 a month for 1,000, 3,000 and 10,000 credits, and every feature is on every plan. hermoso_capabilities gives the exact credit price of any render before it runs.

Troubleshooting

• A local server prints help and exits. The arguments are missing the trailing mcp. npx -y hermoso on its own prints help; npx -y hermoso mcp starts the server.
• There is no browser on that machine. Create a key under MCP & CLI → Terminal & API keys and run npx -y hermoso auth login --token hmk_… instead.
• A channel is missing. Connect it in Hermoso under Settings → Connectors, then ask DeepSeek Harness to run list_connectors again.
• DeepSeek Harness answers without using Hermoso. Name it in the request: “use Hermoso to …”. That leaves no doubt about which tools should do the job.
• No mcp__hermoso__ tools after a restart. Discovery is asynchronous, so give it a moment. If they still do not appear, check that the entry was merged into the patch file rather than replacing it, and that npx -y hermoso auth login ran on the same machine.

Beyond publishing

Publishing is the last step, and it is the smallest one. The same connection gives DeepSeek Harness the Meta, Google and LinkedIn ad libraries plus organic TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit and Threads for research; 100+ image, video, voice and writing models on a single credit meter, with UGC avatars, dubbing, upscaling and native HTML ad formats; and the full campaign tree on eleven paid platforms. There are no per-vendor API keys to hold and no separate app to learn.

See the full tool list, every agent Hermoso works in, or what a marketing MCP is.

Hermoso in other agents

The same Hermoso account works in every agent below, so your brand, library, schedule and credits follow you between them.

Frequently asked questions

Can DeepSeek Harness post to social media?

Yes, once you connect Hermoso's MCP server. DeepSeek Harness can then publish to Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Bluesky and Telegram, and schedule to all ten from one queue with per-channel captions.

How do I add Hermoso to DeepSeek Harness?

Sign in once with npx -y hermoso auth login, then merge a @deepseek-ai/dsh-mcp-client entry for hermoso into $DSH_HOME/cordis.patch.yml with transport stdio, command npx and args -y hermoso mcp. The browser sign-in stores the credential, so no key goes in the YAML. The local server is the route here because DeepSeek’s MCP client documents stdio and streamable HTTP with headers, and no OAuth sign-in. Its stdio bridge strips credential-looking environment variables before it starts a server, which does not matter for Hermoso: hermoso mcp reads the credential that hermoso auth login stored on disk. To use the hosted endpoint instead, set transport: streamable-http, the url and an Authorization: Bearer hmk_… header with a key from MCP & CLI. Quoted from the deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness repository, read on 2026-10-03, and documented rather than run here. Hermoso is not affiliated with or endorsed by DeepSeek.

Can DeepSeek Harness run my Meta and Google ad campaigns?

Yes. DeepSeek Harness can build the whole tree on Meta, Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Reddit Ads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X Ads, TikTok Ads, Snapchat Ads, ChatGPT Ads and Apple Search Ads. The summary you get is built from a read-back of what the platform actually stored.

Does using Hermoso from DeepSeek Harness cost extra?

No. There is one credit meter and it does not care which client called. A free account starts with 30 credits plus 250+ earnable; paid plans are $19, $49 and $149 a month for 1,000, 3,000 and 10,000 credits. Publishing is free on every channel except X, which bills per call because X charges us per API request.

Is it safe to let DeepSeek Harness post and run ads for me?

Hermoso keeps the steps that cost money or cannot be undone behind gates on its own server, whatever DeepSeek Harness is set to do: every campaign is created paused, spend switches and deletes need an explicit confirmation, and a post only reaches an account you connected and ticked in Hermoso. How the harness confirms a tool call depends on your profile, not on Hermoso. Hermoso’s gates hold either way: campaigns are born paused, spend switches and deletes need an explicit confirmation, and every render is priced before it runs.

Can the DeepSeek chat app use Hermoso?

Not that we can document. Hermoso works in DeepSeek Harness, the open-source agent harness, through its MCP client plugin. We have found no custom MCP option in the DeepSeek chat app, so we do not claim one.