DeepSeek Harness API Key: Setup and Credential Checks
Enter the API key for the provider you actually select in your local DeepSeek Harness Settings → Models. The reviewed UI stores the secret locally and retains a credential reference. deepseek-official uses an API-key reference; deepseek-account uses its account grant. Neither route automatically falls back to the other.
Sharing includes the public link only, without local progress or private configuration.
Save the key in local model settings
The Models page’s API-key field is write-only. After saving, it receives a redacted descriptor rather than the literal key. The reviewed implementation stores managed secrets in $DSH_HOME/.credentials.yaml and settings retain references. This website cannot validate your key or account entitlement.
Resolve the credential for the selected route
In the reviewed base-backed CLI, provider credentials resolve from the inherited environment, then the managed credential document, the invoking directory’s .env and the home .env. A stale inherited variable may therefore shadow a saved key. Check the reference name and selected profile before replacing credentials; do not print the secret value into diagnostics.
Keep account sign-in separate
deepseek-official resolves its configured API-key reference. deepseek-account resolves a stored grant for its allowed inference origin. Signing out removes the account grant and preserves separately stored API keys. Use the provider’s own account interface to check access and billing; neither route implies free API usage.
Read the error before retrying
For the official route, no key yields MISSING_CREDENTIAL and a malformed credential yields INVALID_CREDENTIAL. A remote 401 or 403 is a rejected authorization response. For a custom route, verify the reference used by that provider instead of changing the DeepSeek card. After repair, test one small request in a new session.
Frequently asked questions
Does account sign-in provide a free DeepSeek API key?
No such equivalence is documented. Account grants and API-key references are separate authentication routes, and neither automatically falls back to the other. Check the provider’s own access and billing terms before sending requests.
Is using the open-source Harness the same as free model inference?
No. The repository is MIT-licensed, but the model provider controls request access and charges. Installing the client or entering an account grant does not establish a free API allowance.
Do I use a DeepSeek API key for a local or third-party model?
Configure the provider serving that model and follow its authentication requirements. A DeepSeek key does not authenticate an unrelated gateway. Use Custom model API with the endpoint’s documented protocol and model ID, then test a new session.
First-party sources
Open the pinned or retrieved source before acting on a changed release candidate.
- Official docs/user/guide/providers.mdOfficial documentation · retrieved 2026-10-04↗
- Official packages/llm/llm-pi-ai/README.mdOfficial documentation · retrieved 2026-10-04↗
- Official packages/llm/llm-deepseek/README.mdOfficial documentation · retrieved 2026-10-04↗
- Official apps/cli/reference/README.mdOfficial documentation · retrieved 2026-10-04↗
- Official README.mdOfficial documentation · retrieved 2026-10-04↗