How to beginner · 3 min read

How to set temperature in DeepSeek API

Q: How to set temperature in DeepSeek API

To set the temperature in the DeepSeek API, include the temperature parameter in the chat.completions.create method call. This controls the randomness of the output, where lower values produce more focused responses and higher values increase creativity.

Quick answer

To set the temperature in the DeepSeek API, include the temperature parameter in the chat.completions.create method call. This controls the randomness of the output, where lower values produce more focused responses and higher values increase creativity.

PREREQUISITES

Python 3.8+
DeepSeek API key
pip install openai>=1.0

Setup

Install the openai Python package and set your DeepSeek API key as an environment variable.

Install the package: pip install openai
Set environment variable in your shell: export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY='your_api_key'

bash

pip install openai

Step by step

Use the OpenAI client with base_url set to DeepSeek's API endpoint. Pass the temperature parameter to control response randomness.

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": "Write a creative story about a robot."}],
    temperature=0.7
)

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

output

Once upon a time, in a world where robots dreamed, there was one who longed to explore the stars...

Common variations

You can adjust the temperature value between 0 and 1 to control creativity. Use temperature=0 for deterministic output or values closer to 1 for more diverse responses. You can also change the model to deepseek-reasoner for reasoning tasks.

python

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-chat",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Explain quantum computing simply."}],
    temperature=0.2
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

output

Quantum computing uses quantum bits that can be in multiple states at once, allowing faster problem solving for certain tasks.

Troubleshooting

If you receive errors about invalid parameters, verify that temperature is a float between 0 and 1. Also, ensure your base_url is set correctly to https://api.deepseek.com and your API key is valid.

✅

Key Takeaways

Set temperature in chat.completions.create to control output randomness in DeepSeek.
Use values near 0 for focused, deterministic responses and near 1 for creative, diverse outputs.
Always specify base_url="https://api.deepseek.com" when using DeepSeek with the OpenAI SDK.
Validate your API key and parameter ranges to avoid request errors.

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

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