Hunter BownDeepSeek TUI
npm i -g deepseek-tui
A coding agent for DeepSeek models that runs in your terminal.
Quickstart
npm install -g deepseek-tui
Start the TUI:
deepseek
On first launch, it will prompt for your API key if one is not already configured.
The package also installs deepseek-tui; both commands share the same
~/.deepseek/config.toml for DeepSeek auth and default model settings.
You can also set auth ahead of time with either of these:
deepseek login --api-key "YOUR_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY"
deepseek-tui login --api-key "YOUR_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY"
DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="YOUR_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY" deepseek-tui
To use NVIDIA NIM-hosted DeepSeek V4 Pro instead:
deepseek auth set --provider nvidia-nim --api-key "YOUR_NVIDIA_API_KEY"
deepseek --provider nvidia-nim
# or for one process:
DEEPSEEK_PROVIDER=nvidia-nim NVIDIA_API_KEY="YOUR_NVIDIA_API_KEY" deepseek
Other install methods
# From crates.io (requires Rust 1.85+)
cargo install deepseek-tui --locked # TUI
cargo install deepseek-tui-cli --locked # deepseek CLI facade
# From source
git clone https://github.com/Hmbown/DeepSeek-TUI.git
cd DeepSeek-TUI
cargo install --path crates/tui --locked
The canonical crates.io packages for this repository are deepseek-tui and
deepseek-tui-cli. The unrelated deepseek-cli crate is not part of this
project. crates.io publication can lag the repository workspace version and the
npm wrapper, so use npm or install from source if you need the newest release
surface immediately.
What it does
A terminal coding agent for DeepSeek models with file editing, shell execution, web.run browsing, git operations, session resume, and MCP server integration.
Three visible modes (Tab to cycle):
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Plan | Review a plan before the agent starts making changes |
| Agent | Default interactive mode with multi-step tool use |
| YOLO | Auto-approve tools in a trusted workspace |
Shift+Tab cycles the reasoning-effort tier for DeepSeek thinking mode:
off → high → max. The current tier is shown as a ⚡ chip in the header.
Set a default in config with reasoning_effort = "max" (or off / low /
medium / high).
Models & pricing
| Model | Thinking | Context | Input cache hit | Input cache miss | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
deepseek-v4-pro |
default | 1M | $0.145 / 1M | $1.74 / 1M | $3.48 / 1M |
deepseek-v4-flash |
default | 1M | $0.028 / 1M | $0.14 / 1M | $0.28 / 1M |
deepseek-ai/deepseek-v4-pro via NVIDIA NIM |
default | 1M | NVIDIA account terms | NVIDIA account terms | NVIDIA account terms |
deepseek-ai/deepseek-v4-flash via NVIDIA NIM |
default | 1M | NVIDIA account terms | NVIDIA account terms | NVIDIA account terms |
Legacy deepseek-chat and deepseek-reasoner remain as silent aliases for
deepseek-v4-flash (priced identically). Pricing is per 1M tokens as published
by DeepSeek and is subject to change.
Usage
deepseek # interactive TUI
deepseek "explain this in 2 sentences" # one-shot prompt
deepseek --model deepseek-v4-flash "summarize" # one-shot with model override
deepseek --yolo # YOLO mode
deepseek login --api-key "..." # save API key to shared config
deepseek doctor # check setup
deepseek models # list live DeepSeek API models
deepseek sessions # list saved sessions
deepseek resume --last # resume the latest session
deepseek serve --http # HTTP/SSE API server
Controls: F1 help, Esc backs out of the current action, Ctrl+K command palette.
Configuration
~/.deepseek/config.toml — see config.example.toml for all options.
Key environment overrides: DEEPSEEK_API_KEY, DEEPSEEK_BASE_URL,
DEEPSEEK_MODEL, DEEPSEEK_PROFILE, DEEPSEEK_PROVIDER.
For NVIDIA NIM, use DEEPSEEK_PROVIDER=nvidia-nim plus NVIDIA_API_KEY
or NVIDIA_NIM_API_KEY; the default model is deepseek-ai/deepseek-v4-pro
and the default base URL is https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1. With
--provider nvidia-nim, --model deepseek-v4-flash maps to
deepseek-ai/deepseek-v4-flash.
The client targets DeepSeek's documented OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions API
(/chat/completions). DeepSeek context caching is automatic; when the API
returns cache hit/miss token fields, the TUI includes them in usage and cost
tracking.
Full reference: docs/CONFIGURATION.md.
Docs
docs/ — configuration, modes, MCP integration, runtime API, and release runbooks.
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md. Not affiliated with DeepSeek Inc.