DeepSeek Setup

Connect DeepSeek to Chatbox with your own API key, choose a model, and troubleshoot authentication or balance errors.

Get an API Key

Create an API Key in the DeepSeek Platform.

Configure the Provider

Open Chatbox and click Settings in the bottom-left corner.

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On mobile, tap the menu in the top-left corner to expand the sidebar before opening Settings.

Select Model Provider in the left sidebar, then find DeepSeek.
Paste your DeepSeek API Key into the API Key field.
Click Check. When the connection test succeeds, the provider is ready.

DeepSeek provider configuration (Desktop) — DeepSeek provider configuration

Start Using DeepSeek

Choose an available model from the model selector. Context limits and reasoning options depend on the selected model and your Chatbox version; check the current DeepSeek model documentation before setting custom limits.

Using DeepSeek in Chatbox (Desktop) — Start chatting with DeepSeek

Going Further

After configuration, the provider can also be used in Work Mode, including AI agents, code execution, MCP servers, skills, knowledge bases, and global memory.

DeepSeek Work Mode configuration (Desktop) — Use DeepSeek in Work Mode

Troubleshooting

If authentication fails, recreate the key in the DeepSeek API platform; a Chatbox AI license is not a DeepSeek API key. For quota errors, check the API balance. Refresh the model list if a model is unavailable.

Provider reference

DeepSeek