Claude Code + DeepSeek Installation Guide

A complete beginner-friendly guide — get your AI coding assistant running in 30 minutes

Language: English | 简体中文

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📋 Table of Contents

• Preface
• Why This Setup
• Installation Steps
  • Step 1: Install Git
  • Step 2: Install Node.js
  • Step 3: Install Claude Code
  • Skip First-Time Login
  • Step 4: Configure Claude Code for DeepSeek
  • Step 5: Get a DeepSeek API Key
  • Step 6: Verify Everything Works
• Troubleshooting
• Topics
• Contributing
• License

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📖 Preface

Claude Code is Anthropic's command-line AI coding assistant. You describe what you want in natural language, and it reads code, edits files, runs commands, and commits to Git — all from your terminal.

DeepSeek provides an API endpoint fully compatible with Anthropic's protocol. With just 4 environment variables, you can power Claude Code with DeepSeek and get a near-native coding experience at a fraction of the cost.

Why This Setup

	Claude Opus 4.7	DeepSeek V4 Pro
Input Price	~$5 / MTok	~$0.41 / MTok
Output Price	~$25 / MTok	~$0.83 / MTok
Direct Access (China)	Requires VPN	Works directly ✅
Context Window	1M	1M

Pricing (verified 2026-05-20): DeepSeek V4 Pro at ¥3 input / ¥6 output per million tokens (permanent price drop since April 26); cache-hit scenarios as low as ¥0.025. DeepSeek's output cost is roughly 1/30th of Claude Opus 4.7.

What You Need

• A computer with internet (Windows / macOS / Linux)
• A phone number (for DeepSeek registration)
• Alipay or WeChat (minimum top-up: ¥1)
• About 30 minutes

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🚀 Installation Steps

Step 1: Install Git

Git is a version control tool. Claude Code depends on it for commits, diffs, branching, and more.

Claude Code does not automatically initialize Git for you. Open your terminal, navigate to the project folder, and run git init first.

Windows

1. Open https://git-scm.com and click Download for Windows

2. Run the downloaded Git-2.xx.x-64-bit.exe

3. Click Next through all steps (defaults are fine)

4. After installation, press Win + R, type cmd, and hit Enter

5. In the terminal, type:

git --version

If you see git version 2.xx.x, Git is installed successfully.

macOS

Open Terminal (Cmd + Space, search "Terminal") and run:

git --version

If not installed, macOS will prompt you to install Xcode Command Line Tools — click Install and wait.

Optional: Install Homebrew — a "command-line App Store" that lets you install Git, Node.js, and other dev tools with a single command:

First, check if it's already installed:

brew --version

If you see Homebrew 4.x.x, you're good — skip to the next step.

If you get command not found, install it with:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Once Homebrew is ready, install Git:

brew install git

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git -y
git --version

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Step 2: Install Node.js

Claude Code runs on Node.js — you must install it first.

Windows

1. Go to https://nodejs.org and click the green LTS button
2. Run the downloaded node-v20.xx.x-x64.msi
3. Important: During installation, make sure "Add to PATH" is checked (on by default)
4. Click Next until finished
5. Close and reopen your terminal, then run:

node --version
npm --version

Both should show version numbers (e.g., v20.12.2 and 10.5.0).

macOS

If you have Homebrew installed, run in terminal:

brew install node

Or download the .pkg installer from https://nodejs.org, and click Next until finished. Verify:

node --version
npm --version

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs
node --version
npm --version

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Step 3: Install Claude Code

Once Node.js is set up, install Claude Code with one command.

💡 Users in China — set the npm mirror first (otherwise downloads may be slow or fail):

npm config set registry https://registry.npmmirror.com

Verify:

npm config get registry
# Should output: https://registry.npmmirror.com

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Windows users: Run the terminal as Administrator (right-click Start → Terminal (Admin)), otherwise you may hit permission errors.

Installation takes 1–2 minutes. Verify:

claude --version

You should see a version number (e.g., 2.1.144 (Claude Code)).

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Skip First-Time Login

When you first run claude, Claude Code normally asks you to log in with an Anthropic account. Since we're using DeepSeek as the backend, skip this by creating a .claude.json file:

Config File Location

System	Path
Windows	C:\Users\YourUsername\.claude\.claude.json
macOS / Linux	~/.claude/.claude.json

Edit .claude.json

Open .claude.json — there are two possible situations:

Situation A: File doesn't exist (fresh install)

Create the file and write:

{
  "hasCompletedOnboarding": true
}

Situation B: File already exists (Claude Code was installed before)

Open the existing file. You might see something like:

{
  "installMethod": "native",
  "autoUpdates": true
}

Notice: the line "autoUpdates": true has no trailing comma — because it's the last item.

To add the new config, do two things:

1. Add an English comma , at the end of the last existing line (after true)
2. On a new line, add "hasCompletedOnboarding": true

After editing:

{
  "installMethod": "native",
  "autoUpdates": true,
  "hasCompletedOnboarding": true
}

💡 What's the comma for?

In JSON, commas , separate multiple fields at the same level — like saying "this one's done, here comes the next." Two simple rules:

• Fields between other fields must be separated by a comma
• The last field must NOT have a trailing comma (nothing comes after it)

If there's only one field inside { } (like Situation A), it's both the first and the last — so no comma is needed.

What does this JSON mean?

• The outer { } is the standard JSON wrapper — all config must live inside these curly braces
• "hasCompletedOnboarding" is a config key — it asks "has the user finished the first-time setup?"
• true is its value — meaning "yes, it's done"; false would mean "no, not yet"
• The colon : between them means "is set to"
• In plain English: tell Claude Code "the onboarding is already done, don't show the login screen"

⚠️ JSON formatting tips:

• Curly braces { }, colons :, and commas , must all be standard English half-width characters — Chinese full-width punctuation (， ：) will break the file
• Config keys (like "hasCompletedOnboarding") must be wrapped in English double quotes " "
• true / false should NOT be quoted — they are JSON boolean keywords, not strings

Close and save the file. Now when you run claude, it will skip the login screen and go straight to the AI prompt.

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Step 4: Configure Claude Code for DeepSeek

The goal: tell Claude Code to route all requests through DeepSeek instead of Anthropic.

4.1 Config File Location

System	Path
Windows	C:\Users\YourUsername\.claude\settings.json
macOS / Linux	~/.claude/settings.json

If the file doesn't exist, create it.

4.2 Edit settings.json

Open the file in any text editor and paste the following (replace sk-your-key-here with your actual API key):

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "sk-your-deepseek-api-key",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "deepseek-v4-pro[1m]",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "deepseek-v4-pro[1m]",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "deepseek-v4-pro[1m]",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "deepseek-v4-flash[1m]",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL": "deepseek-v4-flash[1m]",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL": "max"
  }
}

Field Reference (skip if you're new):

Field	Meaning
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL	API endpoint — redirects from Anthropic to DeepSeek
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN	Your DeepSeek API key
ANTHROPIC_MODEL	Primary model; [1m] enables 1M token context
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL	Opus role → actually uses DeepSeek V4 Pro
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL	Sonnet role → actually uses DeepSeek V4 Pro
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL	Haiku role → actually uses DeepSeek V4 Flash (lightweight)
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL	Sub-agents use the lighter model to save tokens
CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL	max = strongest reasoning capability

💡 Model choice: Primary recommendation is deepseek-v4-pro[1m]; lightweight tasks use deepseek-v4-flash.

4.3 Save

Close and save the file, then proceed to get your API key.

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Step 5: Get a DeepSeek API Key

DeepSeek API is pay-as-you-go — you only pay for what you use, not a monthly subscription. Minimum top-up is ¥1, which lasts a long time for casual use.

5.1 Sign Up

1. Open https://platform.deepseek.com
2. Click Sign In (登录) in the top right, register with your phone number
3. You'll land on the console dashboard

5.2 Top Up

1. Click Top Up (充值) in the left sidebar
2. Enter an amount (minimum ¥1)
3. Pay with Alipay or WeChat

5.3 Create API Key

1. Click API Keys in the left sidebar
2. Click Create API Key
3. Give it a name (e.g., claude-code)
4. Copy and save it immediately — the key is shown only once
5. The key starts with sk- followed by a long string

⚠️ Treat your API key like a password. Never share it or commit it to a public repository.

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Step 6: Verify Everything Works

6.1 Launch Claude Code

Open a terminal and type:

claude

First launch may take 1–2 minutes to initialize. You'll see a welcome screen when ready.

6.2 Test a Conversation

Ask a simple question:

What is 1 + 1?

If it responds normally, your setup is correct. The startup banner should also mention deepseek-v4-pro.

6.3 Advanced Verification

To confirm requests are actually hitting DeepSeek:

claude --debug-file debug.log

Ask any question and exit. Open debug.log and search for api.deepseek.com — if you find it, you're 100% confirmed.

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Troubleshooting

Q: claude says "command not found"

The npm global install directory is not in your system PATH.

Windows: Reopen an Admin terminal and try again. If it still fails, run npm config get prefix to find the path, then manually add it to your system PATH.

macOS / Linux:

echo 'export PATH="$(npm config get prefix)/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Q: "401 Unauthorized" or authentication error on startup

1. Double-check ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN in settings.json (must start with sk-)
2. Check your API key status on the DeepSeek console
3. Make sure your account has a balance

Q: Responses are slow or timing out

DeepSeek may experience queues during peak hours.

Fix: add this line to the env section of settings.json:

"API_TIMEOUT_MS": "3000000"

Q: settings.json shows garbled text after saving on Windows

Notepad saved with the wrong encoding. Use Save As and change encoding to UTF-8. Better yet, use VS Code or Notepad++.

Q: npm install -g fails with permission errors (macOS / Linux)

# Recommended: use nvm to manage Node.js
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.1/install.sh | bash
nvm install 20
nvm use 20

# Alternative: change npm global directory
mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Q: Tool calling is less accurate with DeepSeek vs. native Claude

This is a known difference. Some DeepSeek models have ~80% tool-calling accuracy vs. Claude's 98%+. For daily use the impact is minimal. For complex tasks:

• Break work into smaller steps
• Double-check generated results

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Topics

claude-code deepseek ai-coding tutorial beginner-friendly developer-tools

🤝 Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Issues and PRs welcome.

📄 References

• Claude Code Official Docs
• DeepSeek API Docs
• DeepSeek Pricing

👤 Author

@hawkongz

📄 License

MIT — see LICENSE.