deepseek-tui 0.0.1

Unofficial DeepSeek CLI - Just run 'deepseek' to start chatting
deepseek-tui-0.0.1 is not a library.

DeepSeek CLI

CI crates.io npm

Unofficial terminal UI (TUI) + CLI for the DeepSeek platform: chat with DeepSeek models and run an approval-gated tool-using agent.

Not affiliated with DeepSeek Inc.

Quickstart

  1. Get an API key from https://platform.deepseek.com
  2. Install and run:
npm install -g @hmbown/deepseek-tui
export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="YOUR_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY"
deepseek
  1. Press F1 or run /help for the in-app command list
  2. If anything looks off, run deepseek doctor

Install

Prebuilt via npm/bun (recommended)

The npm package is a thin wrapper that downloads the platform-appropriate Rust binary from GitHub Releases.

# installs `deepseek`
npm install -g @hmbown/deepseek-tui
bun install -g @hmbown/deepseek-tui

From crates.io (Rust)

cargo install deepseek-cli --locked

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/Hmbown/DeepSeek-TUI.git
cd DeepSeek-TUI
cargo build --release
./target/release/deepseek --help

Direct download

Download a prebuilt binary from https://github.com/Hmbown/DeepSeek-TUI/releases and put it on your PATH as deepseek.

Configuration

On first run, the TUI can prompt for your API key and save it to ~/.deepseek/config.toml. You can also create the file manually:

# ~/.deepseek/config.toml
api_key = "YOUR_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY"   # must be non-empty
default_text_model = "deepseek-chat" # optional
allow_shell = false                 # optional
max_subagents = 3                   # optional (1-5)

Useful environment variables:

  • DEEPSEEK_API_KEY (overrides api_key)
  • DEEPSEEK_BASE_URL (default: https://api.deepseek.com; China users may use https://api.deepseeki.com)
  • DEEPSEEK_PROFILE (selects [profiles.<name>] from the config; errors if missing)
  • DEEPSEEK_CONFIG_PATH (override config path)
  • DEEPSEEK_MCP_CONFIG, DEEPSEEK_SKILLS_DIR, DEEPSEEK_NOTES_PATH, DEEPSEEK_MEMORY_PATH, DEEPSEEK_ALLOW_SHELL, DEEPSEEK_MAX_SUBAGENTS

See config.example.toml and docs/CONFIGURATION.md for a full reference.

Modes

In the TUI, press Tab to cycle modes: Normal → Plan → Agent → YOLO → RLM → Duo → Normal.

  • Normal: chat; asks before file writes or shell
  • Plan: design-first prompting; same approvals as Normal
  • Agent: multi-step tool use; asks before shell
  • YOLO: enables shell + trust + auto-approves all tools (dangerous)
  • RLM: externalized context + REPL helpers; auto-approves tools (best for large files)
  • Duo: player-coach autocoding with iterative validation (based on g3 paper)

Approval behavior is mode-dependent, but you can also override it at runtime with /set approval_mode auto|suggest|never.

Tools

DeepSeek CLI exposes tools to the model: file read/write/patching, shell execution, web search, sub-agents, and MCP servers.

  • Workspace boundary: file tools are restricted to --workspace unless you enable /trust (YOLO enables trust automatically).
  • Approvals: the TUI requests approval depending on mode and tool category (file writes, shell).
  • Web search: web_search uses DuckDuckGo HTML results and is auto-approved.
  • Skills: reusable workflows stored as SKILL.md directories (default: ~/.deepseek/skills). Use /skills and /skill <name>.
  • MCP: load external tool servers via ~/.deepseek/mcp.json (supports servers and mcpServers). MCP tools currently execute without TUI approval prompts, so only enable servers you trust. See docs/MCP.md.

RLM

RLM mode is designed for “too big for context” tasks: large files, whole-doc sweeps, and big pasted blocks.

  • Auto-switch triggers: “largest file”, explicit “RLM”, large file requests, and large pastes.
  • In RLM mode, /load @path loads a file into the external context store (outside RLM mode, /load loads a saved chat JSON).
  • Use /repl to enter expression mode (e.g. search(\"pattern\"), lines(1, 80)).
  • Power tools: rlm_load, rlm_exec, rlm_status, rlm_query.

rlm_query can be expensive: prefer batching and check /status if you're doing lots of sub-queries.

Duo Mode

Duo mode implements the player-coach autocoding paradigm for iterative development with built-in validation:

  • Player: implements requirements (builder role)
  • Coach: validates implementation against requirements (critic role)
  • Tools: duo_init, duo_player, duo_coach, duo_advance, duo_status

Workflow: init → player → coach → advance → (repeat until approved)

Examples

deepseek                       # Interactive TUI
deepseek -p "Write a haiku"     # One-shot prompt (prints and exits)
deepseek exec "Write a haiku"   # One-shot prompt via subcommand
deepseek exec --auto "Fix lint errors"  # Agentic exec with tool access + auto approvals

deepseek doctor                 # Diagnose config + API key
deepseek sessions --limit 50    # List sessions (~/.deepseek/sessions)
deepseek --resume latest        # Resume most recent session
deepseek --resume <id-prefix>   # Resume by ID/prefix
deepseek resume --last          # Resume most recent session (subcommand)
deepseek fork --last            # Fork most recent session

deepseek --workspace /path/to/project
deepseek --yolo                 # Start in YOLO mode (dangerous)

deepseek init                   # Generate a starter AGENTS.md
deepseek login --api-key YOUR_KEY
deepseek logout                 # Clear saved API key
deepseek review --staged        # Review staged git changes
deepseek apply patch.diff       # Apply a patch file
deepseek features list          # Show feature flags and effective state
deepseek execpolicy check --rules my-policy.rules git status
deepseek mcp list               # List MCP servers
deepseek mcp tools              # List MCP tools
deepseek sandbox run -- ls -la  # Run a command in the sandbox

Shell completions:

deepseek completions zsh > _deepseek
deepseek completions bash > deepseek.bash
deepseek completions fish > deepseek.fish

Troubleshooting

  • No API key: set DEEPSEEK_API_KEY or run deepseek and complete onboarding
  • Config not found: check ~/.deepseek/config.toml (or DEEPSEEK_CONFIG_PATH)
  • Wrong region / base URL: set DEEPSEEK_BASE_URL to https://api.deepseeki.com (China)
  • Session issues: run deepseek sessions and try deepseek --resume latest
  • MCP tools missing: validate ~/.deepseek/mcp.json (or DEEPSEEK_MCP_CONFIG) and restart

Documentation

  • docs/README.md
  • docs/CONFIGURATION.md
  • docs/MCP.md
  • docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
  • CONTRIBUTING.md

Development

cargo build
cargo test
cargo fmt
cargo clippy

License

MIT

DeepSeek is a trademark of DeepSeek Inc. This is an unofficial project.