How to beginner · 3 min read

DeepSeek API availability and regions

Quick answer

The DeepSeek API is globally available via HTTPS endpoints and supports usage from most regions without geographic restrictions. You access it using the OpenAI-compatible API with your DEEPSEEK_API_KEY environment variable set, enabling integration with models like deepseek-chat worldwide.

PREREQUISITES

Python 3.8+
DeepSeek API key (set as DEEPSEEK_API_KEY in environment)
pip install openai>=1.0

Setup

Install the openai Python package to interact with the DeepSeek API, and set your API key in the environment variable DEEPSEEK_API_KEY. The DeepSeek API uses an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, so you specify the base_url to point to DeepSeek's API.

bash

pip install openai>=1.0

Step by step

This example shows how to call the DeepSeek API from Python using the OpenAI SDK with the base_url set to DeepSeek's endpoint. It demonstrates sending a chat completion request to the deepseek-chat model.

python

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(api_key=os.environ["DEEPSEEK_API_KEY"], base_url="https://api.deepseek.com")

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-chat",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello from DeepSeek!"}]
)

print(response.choices[0].message.content)

output

Hello from DeepSeek! How can I assist you today?

Common variations

You can switch models by changing the model parameter, for example to deepseek-reasoner for reasoning tasks. Async calls are not natively supported in the OpenAI SDK but can be implemented with async HTTP clients. Streaming is not currently supported by DeepSeek's API.

Troubleshooting

If you receive authentication errors, verify your DEEPSEEK_API_KEY is correctly set. For network issues, ensure your environment allows HTTPS traffic to https://api.deepseek.com. If you encounter region-based latency, consider deploying your client closer to DeepSeek's cloud infrastructure, which is globally distributed but primarily hosted in Asia.

✅

Key Takeaways

DeepSeek API is globally accessible via HTTPS with no strict regional restrictions.
Use the OpenAI-compatible SDK with base_url="https://api.deepseek.com" to connect.
Set your API key in DEEPSEEK_API_KEY environment variable for authentication.
Models like deepseek-chat and deepseek-reasoner cover general and reasoning tasks.
Check network and API key setup if you face connection or authentication errors.

Verified 2026-04 · deepseek-chat, deepseek-reasoner

Verify ↗