How do I set up environment variables for the DeepSeek API

To set up environment variables for the DeepSeek API, follow these steps:

Step 1: Obtain Your API Key

1. Log in to the DeepSeek Open Platform.
2. Navigate to the API Keys section in the sidebar.
3. Click on Create a new API key and copy it immediately. Store this key securely, as it will not be displayed again[5].

Step 2: Set Environment Variables

You can set your API key as an environment variable in different ways depending on your operating system.

For Windows:

1. Open the Command Prompt.
2. Use the following command to set the environment variable:

bash
   setx DEEPSEEK_API_KEY "your_api_key_here"

3. Restart your Command Prompt or any applications that need access to this variable.

For macOS and Linux:

1. Open your terminal.
2. Add the following line to your `.bashrc`, `.bash_profile`, or `.zshrc` file:

bash
   export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

3. After editing the file, run:

bash
   source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.bash_profile or ~/.zshrc depending on where you added it

Step 3: Verify Environment Variable

To ensure that the environment variable is set correctly, you can check its value:

- Windows:

bash
  echo %DEEPSEEK_API_KEY%

- macOS and Linux:

bash
  echo $DEEPSEEK_API_KEY

Step 4: Use the API Key in Your Application

In your application code, you can retrieve the API key using the appropriate method for your programming language. For example, in Python, you would use:

python
import os

api_key = os.getenv("DEEPSEEK_API_KEY")

This allows you to access your API key securely without hardcoding it into your application[6][7].

By following these steps, you will have successfully set up environment variables for the DeepSeek API, enabling secure access to your API key during development and deployment.

Citations:
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1ibwney/easiest_way_to_use_deepseek_web_api/
[2] https://www.listendata.com/2025/01/how-to-use-deepseek-in-r.html
[3] https://thinhdanggroup.github.io/blog-on-chat-deepseek-r1-api/
[4] https://relevanceai.com/llm-models/explore-deepseek-v25-for-better-data-insights
[5] https://meetcody.ai/blog/deepseek-r1-api-pricing/
[6] https://dev.to/auden/how-to-use-deepseek-api-and-enable-streaming-output-for-debugging-1ah9
[7] https://python.useinstructor.com/integrations/deepseek/
[8] https://github.com/Doriandarko/deepseek-engineer/blob/main/main.py