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Provider Setup

How to add your DeepSeek key

deepseek-chat, deepseek-reasoner

API key format: sk-… (35 chars)

DeepSeek offers very low-cost, high-quality models — one of the cheapest paid options.

Stored encrypted. Your key is encrypted with pgcrypto inside our Supabase database the moment you save it. Just like your password, we can’t read it back — only your rewrite requests can decrypt it in-memory to call DeepSeek.

Pricing: DeepSeek is roughly 10–20× cheaper than GPT-4o at comparable quality on rewrite tasks.

Step-by-step

  1. Create a DeepSeek account

    Go to platform.deepseek.com and sign up with email, Google, or phone number. The platform is operated from China — sign-up works worldwide but some corporate networks block it. The interface is English by default.

    Open DeepSeek platform

  2. Top up your balance

    Open ‘Top up’ in the left sidebar and add a small balance — minimum is around $2. Payment options include international card (Stripe), Alipay, WeChat Pay, and crypto. Off-peak hours (UTC 16:30–00:30) come with a 50–75% discount on most models.

    Top up

  3. Open the API keys page

    Click ‘API keys’ in the left sidebar.

    API keys page

  4. Create a new key

    Click ‘Create new API key’ and name it ‘PulseWrite’. No scopes or model restrictions to configure.

  5. Copy the key (starts with sk-…)

    Copy the key from the modal — DeepSeek shows it only once. The format looks identical to OpenAI keys (sk-…) but the two are NOT interchangeable.

  6. Paste it into PulseWrite

    Dashboard → Your AI keys → choose ‘DeepSeek’ and paste. Save.

    Open dashboard

Tips

  • Even $2 of credit lasts thousands of rewrites — deepseek-chat is ~$0.27/$1.10 per 1M tok.
  • Use deepseek-chat (V3) for everyday rewriting; deepseek-reasoner (R1) is overkill and slower.
  • Pricing: api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing. Watch for off-peak discounts.
Open DeepSeek console Go to my dashboard

DeepSeek FAQ

Is DeepSeek safe to use from outside China?

Yes, platform.deepseek.com is internationally accessible and supports international card payments via Stripe. Some corporate networks block it — try from a personal connection if sign-up fails.

Are DeepSeek keys interchangeable with OpenAI keys?

No. The format looks the same (sk-…) but the keys are not interchangeable — each is tied to its own provider.

Which DeepSeek model should I use?

deepseek-chat (V3) for everyday rewriting. deepseek-reasoner (R1) is much slower and not needed for rewriting tasks.

Other providers

OpenAI (ChatGPT)Anthropic (Claude)Google GeminiOpenRouter