DeepClaude – Claude Code agent loop with DeepSeek V4 Pro, 17x cheaper

deepclaude

Use Claude Code's autonomous agent loop with DeepSeek V4 Pro, OpenRouter, or any Anthropic-compatible backend. Same UX, 17x cheaper.

What this does

Claude Code is the best autonomous coding agent — but it costs $200/month with usage caps. DeepSeek V4 Pro scores 96.4% on LiveCodeBench and costs $0.87/M output tokens.

deepclaude swaps the brain while keeping the body:

Your terminal └── Claude Code CLI (tool loop, file editing, bash, git — unchanged) └── API calls → DeepSeek V4 Pro ($0.87/M) instead of Anthropic ($15/M)

Everything works: file reading, editing, bash execution, subagent spawning, autonomous multi-step coding loops. The only difference is which model thinks.

Quick start (2 minutes)

1. Get a DeepSeek API key

Sign up at platform.deepseek.com, add $5 credit, copy your API key.

2. Set environment variables

Windows (PowerShell):

setx DEEPSEEK_API_KEY "sk-your-key-here"

macOS/Linux:

echo 'export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="sk-your-key-here"' >> ~/.bashrc source ~/.bashrc

3. Install

Windows:

# Copy the script to a directory in your PATH Copy-Item deepclaude.ps1 "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\deepclaude.ps1" # Or add the repo directory to PATH setx PATH "$env:PATH;C:\path\to\deepclaude"

macOS/Linux:

chmod +x deepclaude.sh sudo ln -s "$(pwd)/deepclaude.sh" /usr/local/bin/deepclaude

4. Use it

deepclaude # Launch Claude Code with DeepSeek V4 Pro deepclaude --status # Show available backends and keys deepclaude --backend or # Use OpenRouter (cheapest, $0.44/M input) deepclaude --backend fw # Use Fireworks AI (fastest, US servers) deepclaude --backend anthropic # Normal Claude Code (when you need Opus) deepclaude --cost # Show pricing comparison deepclaude --benchmark # Latency test across all providers

How it works

Claude Code reads these environment variables to determine where to send API calls:

Variable	What it does
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL	API endpoint (default: api.anthropic.com)
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN	API key for the backend
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL	Model name for Opus-tier tasks
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL	Model name for Sonnet-tier tasks
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL	Model name for Haiku-tier (subagents)
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL	Model for spawned subagents

deepclaude sets these per-session (not permanently), launches Claude Code, then restores your original settings on exit.

Supported backends

Backend	Flag	Input/M	Output/M	Servers	Notes
DeepSeek (default)	--backend ds	$0.44	$0.87	China	Auto context caching (120x cheaper on repeat turns)
OpenRouter	--backend or	$0.44	$0.87	US	Cheapest, lowest latency from US/EU
Fireworks AI	--backend fw	$1.74	$3.48	US	Fastest inference
Anthropic	--backend anthropic	$3.00	$15.00	US	Original Claude Opus (for hard problems)

Setup per backend

DeepSeek (default — just needs DEEPSEEK_API_KEY):

setx DEEPSEEK_API_KEY "sk-..." # Windows export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="sk-..." # macOS/Linux

OpenRouter (optional):

setx OPENROUTER_API_KEY "sk-or-..." # Windows export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-..." # macOS/Linux

Fireworks AI (optional):

setx FIREWORKS_API_KEY "fw_..." # Windows export FIREWORKS_API_KEY="fw_..." # macOS/Linux

Cost comparison

Usage level	Anthropic Max	deepclaude (DeepSeek)	Savings
Light (10 days/mo)	$200/mo (capped)	~$20/mo	90%
Heavy (25 days/mo)	$200/mo (capped)	~$50/mo	75%
With auto loops	$200/mo (capped)	~$80/mo	60%

DeepSeek's automatic context caching makes agent loops extremely cheap — after the first request, the system prompt and file context are cached at $0.004/M (vs $0.44/M uncached).

What works and what doesn't

Works

• File reading, writing, editing (Read/Write/Edit tools)
• Bash/PowerShell execution
• Glob and Grep search
• Multi-step autonomous tool loops
• Subagent spawning
• Git operations
• Project initialization (/init)
• Thinking mode (enabled by default)

Doesn't work or degraded

Feature	Reason
Image/vision input	DeepSeek's Anthropic endpoint doesn't support images
Parallel tool use	Disabled — tools execute one at a time
MCP server tools	Not supported through compatibility layer
Prompt caching savings	DeepSeek has its own caching (automatic), but Anthropic's cache_control is ignored

Intelligence difference

• Routine tasks (80% of work): DeepSeek V4 Pro is comparable to Claude Opus
• Complex reasoning (20%): Claude Opus is stronger — switch with --backend anthropic

VS Code / Cursor integration

Add terminal profiles so you can launch deepclaude from the IDE:

Settings > JSON:

{ "terminal.integrated.profiles.windows": { "DeepSeek Agent": { "path": "powershell.exe", "args": ["-ExecutionPolicy", "Bypass", "-NoExit", "-File", "C:\\path\\to\\deepclaude.ps1"] } } }

Or on macOS/Linux:

{ "terminal.integrated.profiles.linux": { "DeepSeek Agent": { "path": "/usr/local/bin/deepclaude" } } }

Remote control (--remote)

Open a Claude Code session in any browser — with DeepSeek as the brain:

deepclaude --remote # Remote control + DeepSeek deepclaude --remote -b or # Remote control + OpenRouter deepclaude --remote -b anthropic # Remote control + Anthropic (normal)

This prints a https://claude.ai/code/session_... URL you can open on your phone, tablet, or any browser.

How it works

Remote control needs Anthropic's bridge for the WebSocket connection, but model calls can go elsewhere. deepclaude starts a local proxy that splits the traffic:

claude remote-control ├── Bridge WebSocket → wss://bridge.claudeusercontent.com (Anthropic, hardcoded) └── Model API calls → http://localhost:3200 (proxy) ├── /v1/messages → DeepSeek ($0.87/M) └── everything else → Anthropic (passthrough)

Prerequisites

• Must be logged into Claude Code: claude auth login
• Must have a claude.ai subscription (the bridge is Anthropic infrastructure)
• Node.js 18+ (for the proxy)

The proxy starts automatically and stops when the session ends. See proxy/README.md for technical details.

License

MIT