openclaw/docs/providers/deepseek.md

summary, read_when

summary	read_when
DeepSeek setup (auth + model selection)	You want to use DeepSeek with OpenClaw You need the API key env var or CLI auth choice

DeepSeek

DeepSeek provides powerful AI models with an OpenAI-compatible API.

• Provider: deepseek
• Auth: DEEPSEEK_API_KEY
• API: OpenAI-compatible
• Base URL: https://api.deepseek.com

Quick start

Set the API key (recommended: store it for the Gateway):

openclaw onboard --auth-choice deepseek-api-key

This will prompt for your API key and set deepseek/deepseek-chat as the default model.

Non-interactive example

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice deepseek-api-key \
  --deepseek-api-key "$DEEPSEEK_API_KEY" \
  --skip-health \
  --accept-risk

Environment note

If the Gateway runs as a daemon (launchd/systemd), make sure DEEPSEEK_API_KEY is available to that process (for example, in ~/.openclaw/.env or via env.shellEnv).

Built-in catalog

Model ref	Name	Input	Context	Max output	Notes
deepseek/deepseek-chat	DeepSeek Chat	text	131,072	8,192	Default model; DeepSeek V3.2 non-thinking surface
deepseek/deepseek-reasoner	DeepSeek Reasoner	text	131,072	65,536	Reasoning-enabled V3.2 surface

Both bundled models currently advertise streaming usage compatibility in source.

Get your API key at platform.deepseek.com.