> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://bifrost-backport-outbound-fetchers.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # DeepSeek > DeepSeek API conversion guide - OpenAI-compatible chat and responses by default, optional per-key/per-alias Anthropic-compatible endpoints, OpenAI-compatible beta text completions, streaming, tool calling, and reasoning ## Overview DeepSeek is a provider with a dedicated Bifrost provider implementation. By default, Chat Completions, the Responses API, and Text Completions all use DeepSeek's **OpenAI-compatible** endpoints. Each key (or an individual alias) can opt into routing Chat Completions and the Responses API through DeepSeek's **Anthropic-compatible** endpoint instead, using the `use_anthropic_endpoints` toggle. Key characteristics: * **OpenAI-compatible by default** - Chat Completions use `/chat/completions`, authenticated with a bearer token * **Optional Anthropic-compatible mode** - Set `use_anthropic_endpoints` on a key (or override it per-alias) to route Chat Completions and the Responses API through `/anthropic/v1/messages`, authenticated with `x-api-key`, using the shared Anthropic request/response converters * **Streaming support** - Server-Sent Events for chat, responses, and text completions, in both endpoint modes * **Tool calling** - Function tools are supported on both the OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-compatible paths * **Reasoning support** - Reasoning parameters are mapped through the OpenAI converters by default, or the Anthropic converters when Anthropic-compatible mode is enabled * **Beta text completions** - Text/FIM completions always use DeepSeek's OpenAI-compatible `/beta/completions` endpoint, regardless of `use_anthropic_endpoints` ### Supported Operations | Operation | Non-Streaming | Streaming | Endpoint (default) | Endpoint (`use_anthropic_endpoints: true`) | | - | - | - | - | - | | Chat Completions | ✅ | ✅ | `/chat/completions` | `/anthropic/v1/messages` | | Responses API | ✅ | ✅ | `/chat/completions` (via Chat Completions fallback) | `/anthropic/v1/messages` | | Text Completions | ✅ | ✅ | `/beta/completions` | `/beta/completions` (unaffected) | | List Models | ✅ | - | `/models` | `/models` (unaffected) | | Embeddings | ❌ | ❌ | - | - | | Image Generation | ❌ | ❌ | - | - | | Speech (TTS) | ❌ | ❌ | - | - | | Transcriptions (STT) | ❌ | ❌ | - | - | | Files | ❌ | ❌ | - | - | | Batch | ❌ | ❌ | - | - | **Unsupported Operations** (❌): Embeddings, Image Generation, Speech, Transcriptions, Files, Batch, cached content, containers, token counting, compaction, OCR, rerank, video, and passthrough are not supported by the upstream DeepSeek API through this provider. These return `UnsupportedOperationError`. ## Setup & Configuration Configure DeepSeek as a provider. DeepSeek provider dashboard 1. Navigate to **Models** > **Model Providers**. Look for **DeepSeek** under **Configured Providers**. If it is missing, click on **Add New Provider** and select **DeepSeek**. 2. Click **Add Key** or edit an existing key. 3. Set a name for your key. 4. Paste your API key directly or use an environment variable (for example, `env.DEEPSEEK_API_KEY`). 5. Set **Allowed Models** to **All Models** (default) or the specific model allowlist you want this key to serve. 6. Leave **Use Anthropic Endpoints** off to use DeepSeek's OpenAI-compatible endpoints (the default), or turn it on to route Chat Completions and the Responses API through DeepSeek's Anthropic-compatible endpoint instead. See [Anthropic-Compatible Endpoints](#anthropic-compatible-endpoints-optional) below. 7. Save the provider configuration. ```json theme={null} { "providers": { "deepseek": { "keys": [ { "name": "deepseek-key-1", "value": "env.DEEPSEEK_API_KEY", "models": [ "*" ], "weight": 1.0 } ] } } } ``` Refer to the API documentation for [Provider Keys Management](https://docs.getbifrost.ai/api-reference/providers/create-a-key-for-a-provider). ```go theme={null} case schemas.DeepSeek: return []schemas.Key{{ Name: "deepseek-key-1", Value: *schemas.NewSecretVar("env.DEEPSEEK_API_KEY"), Models: []string{"*"}, Weight: 1.0, }}, nil ``` *** ## Anthropic-Compatible Endpoints (optional) DeepSeek exposes an Anthropic-compatible Messages endpoint (`/anthropic/v1/messages`) alongside its default OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions API. Setting `use_anthropic_endpoints` routes Chat Completions and the Responses API through that endpoint instead — Text Completions are unaffected and always use `/beta/completions`. The setting can be configured per key, and overridden per model alias: * **Key-level** - Sets the default endpoint mode for every request made with that key. * **Alias-level** - Overrides the key-level default for a single alias, so one key can serve some aliases through the OpenAI-compatible endpoints and others through the Anthropic-compatible endpoint. If neither is set, requests fall back to DeepSeek's OpenAI-compatible endpoints. On the key form, toggle **Use Anthropic Endpoints** (off by default). To override this for a specific alias, open that alias's expanded row in the deployments table and toggle **Use Anthropic endpoints** under **Deepseek overrides** — this takes priority over the key-level setting for that alias only. The `use_anthropic_endpoints` boolean is part of the same key payload used by [Provider Keys Management](https://docs.getbifrost.ai/api-reference/providers/create-a-key-for-a-provider), and the alias payload for that key's `models` entries. ```json theme={null} { "providers": { "deepseek": { "keys": [ { "name": "deepseek-key-1", "value": "env.DEEPSEEK_API_KEY", "models": [ "*" ], "weight": 1.0, "use_anthropic_endpoints": true } ] } } } ``` To override this per-alias (for example, on a virtual key's model config), set `use_anthropic_endpoints` alongside the alias's `model_id`: ```json theme={null} { "model_id": "deepseek-v4-flash", "use_anthropic_endpoints": false } ``` | Field | Type | Required | Description | | - | - | - | - | | `use_anthropic_endpoints` | boolean | No | Routes chat completions and responses requests through Anthropic-compatible endpoints. Default: `false`. | *** # 1. Chat Completions ## Request Parameters By default, DeepSeek Chat Completions use DeepSeek's OpenAI-compatible `/chat/completions` endpoint, authenticated with `Authorization: Bearer `. For the full parameter reference and message conversion behavior, see [OpenAI Chat Completions](/providers/supported-providers/openai#1-chat-completions). When `use_anthropic_endpoints` is enabled, requests are sent instead to DeepSeek's Anthropic-compatible endpoint (`/anthropic/v1/messages`), authenticated with `x-api-key: `, and built using the shared Anthropic converters. For that parameter reference and message conversion behavior, see [Anthropic Chat Completions](/providers/supported-providers/anthropic#1-chat-completions). ### Authentication | Mode | Header | | - | - | | Default (OpenAI-compatible) | `Authorization: Bearer ` | | `use_anthropic_endpoints: true` | `x-api-key: ` | Bifrost sets the correct header automatically based on the resolved endpoint mode for the request. ### Reasoning Parameter * **Default (OpenAI-compatible):** Reasoning parameters follow the same conventions as the [OpenAI provider](/providers/supported-providers/openai#1-chat-completions) (for example, `reasoning.effort`). * **`use_anthropic_endpoints: true`:** Reasoning/thinking parameters are mapped through the Anthropic converters (`reasoning` → `thinking`), the same as the [Anthropic provider](/providers/supported-providers/anthropic#1-chat-completions). Reasoning effort is sent as `output_config.effort` (Anthropic's own field placement), not nested under `thinking.reasoning_effort` as DeepSeek's native API documents it. ### Forced Tool Choice DeepSeek models run with thinking enabled by default, even when no `reasoning` parameter is set, and reject certain forced `tool_choice` combinations while thinking is on. Bifrost automatically disables thinking (`thinking: {"type": "disabled"}`) to avoid this, but which combination triggers the fix depends on the endpoint mode: * **Default (OpenAI-compatible):** Thinking is disabled when `tool_choice` is the generic `"required"` string (forcing some tool call, without pinning a specific one). * **`use_anthropic_endpoints: true`:** Thinking is disabled when `tool_choice` pins a specific named function, for both Chat Completions and the Responses API. `tool_choice: "required"`/`"any"` is left untouched in this mode, since DeepSeek's Anthropic-compatible endpoint accepts that combination with thinking on. ### Extra Parameters DeepSeek enables passthrough extra parameters for Chat Completions and Text Completions when using the default OpenAI-compatible endpoints. Extra parameters are **not** passed through by default when `use_anthropic_endpoints` is enabled. *** # 2. Responses API * **Default (OpenAI-compatible):** Responses requests fall back to Chat Completions, the same conversion pattern used by other OpenAI-compatible-only providers: ``` ResponsesRequest → ChatRequest → Response conversion ``` * **`use_anthropic_endpoints: true`:** Responses requests are sent natively to DeepSeek's Anthropic-compatible endpoint at `/anthropic/v1/messages` — there is no internal conversion to Chat Completions. Both non-streaming and streaming Responses requests build an Anthropic-format request body directly from the `BifrostResponsesRequest` and convert the response back to Bifrost's Responses format. Same parameter support as Chat Completions in either mode, with response format differences (output items instead of message content). *** # 3. Text Completions DeepSeek supports beta text/FIM (Fill-In-Middle) completions through `/beta/completions`, regardless of `use_anthropic_endpoints`: | Parameter | Mapping | | - | - | | `prompt` | Sent as-is | | `suffix` | Enables FIM mode — text that should follow the completion; sent as-is | | `max_tokens` | max\_tokens | | `temperature` | temperature | | `top_p` | top\_p | | `stop` | stop sequences | | `echo` | echo | | `logprobs` | logprobs | | `extra_params` | Passed through to DeepSeek (e.g. `thinking` control) | Setting `suffix` alongside `prompt` puts the request in FIM mode: DeepSeek generates the text that belongs between `prompt` and `suffix` rather than a plain continuation of `prompt`. Response returns `choices[].text` with completion text. *** # 4. Text Completions Streaming Streaming text completions use DeepSeek's OpenAI-compatible SSE format on `/beta/completions`. *** # 5. List Models Lists available models from DeepSeek through `/models`. *** ## Unsupported Features | Feature | Reason | | - | - | | Embedding | Not offered by DeepSeek API through this provider | | Image Generation | Not offered by DeepSeek API through this provider | | Speech/TTS | Not offered by DeepSeek API through this provider | | Transcription/STT | Not offered by DeepSeek API through this provider | | Batch Operations | Not offered by DeepSeek API through this provider | | File Management | Not offered by DeepSeek API through this provider | | Cached Content | Only Gemini and Vertex AI support cached content in Bifrost | | Container Management | Not offered by DeepSeek API through this provider | | Token Counting | Not offered by DeepSeek API through this provider | | Rerank/OCR/Video | Not offered by DeepSeek API through this provider | *** ## Caveats **Severity**: Medium **Behavior**: DeepSeek bills the V4 models at two different rates depending on the time of day. Peak is Monday-Friday `01:00-04:00` and `06:00-10:00` UTC; every other hour, weekends included, is off-peak at half the peak rate, across cache-hit input, cache-miss input, and output alike **Impact**: Bifrost prices this through the generic time-of-day fields (`off_peak_cost_multiplier` and `peak_hours`) on the model's pricing row. If those fields are absent from the pricing datasheet in use, DeepSeek requests bill at the peak rate around the clock, overstating cost for most of the week — set them with a [custom pricing override](/providers/custom-pricing#time-of-day-costs) to correct it. Peak vs off-peak is decided by the request's start time, so a stream crossing a boundary bills entirely at its start-time rate **Code**: `offPeakMultiplier` and `scaleUsageCost` in `framework/modelcatalog/datasheet/cost.go` **Severity**: Low **Behavior**: DeepSeek defaults to `https://api.deepseek.com` **Impact**: Custom DeepSeek-compatible deployments must override `network_config.base_url` **Code**: `NewDeepSeekProvider` sets the default base URL when no provider-level base URL is configured **Severity**: Medium **Behavior**: Text completions are routed to `/beta/completions` **Impact**: FIM/text completion behavior follows DeepSeek's beta API contract and may differ from standard OpenAI `/completions` **Code**: `TextCompletion` and `TextCompletionStream` use `/beta/completions` **Severity**: Low **Behavior**: User field > 64 characters is silently dropped **Impact**: Longer user identifiers are lost **Code**: `SanitizeUserField` enforces 64-char max in the shared OpenAI converter, still used for Text Completions **Severity**: Low **Behavior**: An alias-level `use_anthropic_endpoints` override always wins over the key-level setting for that alias; if neither is set, requests default to the OpenAI-compatible endpoints **Impact**: A single key can serve some aliases through OpenAI-compatible endpoints and others through the Anthropic-compatible endpoint **Code**: `anthropic.ResolveUseAnthropicEndpoints` in `core/providers/anthropic/utils.go`, used by `ChatCompletion`, `ChatCompletionStream`, `Responses`, and `ResponsesStream` in `core/providers/deepseek/deepseek.go` **Severity**: Medium **Behavior**: When thinking is on (the default), Bifrost forces `thinking: {"type": "disabled"}` in the outbound request — for the generic `tool_choice: "required"` on the default OpenAI-compatible endpoint, or for a `tool_choice` pinning a specific named function on the Anthropic-compatible endpoint **Impact**: Prevents DeepSeek's `"Thinking mode does not support this tool_choice"` error for the combination each endpoint mode actually rejects; the other combination is left untouched on each path **Code**: `disableThinkingForForcedToolChoice` in `core/providers/deepseek/deepseek.go` (OpenAI-compatible path); `core/providers/anthropic/chat.go` and `core/providers/anthropic/responses.go`, gated on `Provider == DeepSeek` (Anthropic-compatible path) **Severity**: Low **Behavior**: Extra parameters are merged into the outbound request body by default on the OpenAI-compatible path (Chat and Text Completions), but not on the Anthropic-compatible path **Impact**: Provider-specific `extra_params` set on a request may be silently dropped when `use_anthropic_endpoints` is enabled **Code**: `BifrostContextKeyPassthroughExtraParams` is set in the OpenAI-compatible branches of `ChatCompletion`/`ChatCompletionStream` (and in `TextCompletion`/`TextCompletionStream`), but not in the Anthropic-compatible branches, in `core/providers/deepseek/deepseek.go` **Severity**: Medium **Behavior**: Text Completions always use DeepSeek's OpenAI-compatible beta endpoint (`/beta/completions`, bearer token auth) regardless of `use_anthropic_endpoints`. Chat Completions and the Responses API use DeepSeek's OpenAI-compatible endpoints by default, or its Anthropic-compatible endpoint (`/anthropic/v1/messages`, `x-api-key` auth) when `use_anthropic_endpoints` is enabled **Impact**: When Anthropic-compatible mode is enabled, parameters and behavior documented for the [OpenAI provider](/providers/supported-providers/openai) no longer apply to DeepSeek Chat Completions or Responses — refer to the [Anthropic provider](/providers/supported-providers/anthropic) docs for those instead **Code**: `ChatCompletion`, `ChatCompletionStream`, `Responses`, and `ResponsesStream` in `core/providers/deepseek/deepseek.go` branch on `anthropic.ResolveUseAnthropicEndpoints`; `TextCompletion` and `TextCompletionStream` always delegate to the `openai` package This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.