DeepSeek Deep Code CLI setup: use the official settings contract, not random shell snippets

DeepSeek describes Deep Code as an open-source terminal AI coding assistant for the DeepSeek-V4 model, with deep thinking, reasoning effort control, and Agent Skills support.

That positioning matters because it separates Deep Code from generic chat wrappers. The official page treats it as a genuine coding agent that is expected to manage reasoning depth and extra tools rather than only stream plain completions.

The official page requires Node.js 18+ and installs Deep Code with `npm install -g @vegamo/deepcode-cli`. After that, `deepcode --version` is the first health check.

If a team already has a global install but the config behaves strangely, verify the package version and the shared settings file first before debugging prompts or model quality.

DeepSeek's docs say Deep Code uses `~/.deepcode/settings.json` for the key model and endpoint wiring. That is more important than any copied terminal command because this file is what actually persists behavior.

The same page shows `MODEL`, `BASE_URL`, and `API_KEY` under an `env` block, plus top-level `thinkingEnabled` and `reasoningEffort`. For DeepSeek V4, the docs say thinking mode defaults to true, which aligns with the broader official thinking-mode guidance.

The docs allow either `deepseek-v4-pro` or `deepseek-v4-flash` in the `MODEL` field. The right choice depends on the workload, not on habit.

Use Flash when Deep Code is doing broad exploratory edits, repeated tool loops, or background work where cost and concurrency dominate. Use Pro when the terminal session is focused on harder debugging, careful code review, or smaller high-value reasoning chains.

A practical team rule is to keep the default config on Flash and teach developers to switch to Pro for explicit high-precision sessions. That keeps the steady-state bill lower without blocking deeper work when it matters.

DeepSeek's Deep Code page exposes two reasoning controls that matter: `thinkingEnabled` and `reasoningEffort`. The docs say thinking defaults to `true` for DeepSeek V4 models, which means disabling it should be a deliberate latency tradeoff rather than an accident.

Use `high` for most development sessions. Use `max` when you want slower but deeper planning on tricky bugs, agent loops, or architectural changes. If a task is mostly rote file churn, a Flash route plus normal effort is usually the better default.

The official Deep Code page lists `webSearchTool` as a configuration option. That matters because search can be valuable for current versions, release notes, and external docs, but it should not silently become the default for purely local code work.

Enable it when the terminal agent truly needs current external facts. Leave it off when the job is repository-local and deterministic. The right policy is the same as elsewhere in the DeepSeek stack: use search for freshness, not as a substitute for reading your own codebase carefully.

DeepSeek's docs note that the same settings file is shared with the Deep Code VS Code extension. That means one careless change can affect both terminal and editor workflows.

If a team uses both interfaces, document ownership of the settings file and standardize a known-good baseline. Otherwise debugging becomes messy because a CLI issue may actually be caused by a prior editor-side settings change.

For follow-up reading, use `/guides/deepseek-thinking-mode-tool-calls` for reasoning-state behavior and `/guides/deepseek-openai-vs-anthropic-api-routing` for endpoint-selection rules.