deepclaude

This is a fork of https://github.com/aattaran/deepclaude

Run Claude Code's full autonomous agent loop with openrouter.ai DeepSeek V4 Flash - same tools, same UX, dramatically lower cost.

What it does

Claude Code is the best coding agent, but its $200/month plan has usage caps and costs $15/M output tokens. deepclaude keeps the Claude Code shell (file editing, bash, git, subagents, tool loops) and replaces only the AI model:

Your terminal
  └── Claude Code CLI  (file editing, bash, git, tool loops — unchanged)
        └── API calls → DeepSeek V4 Flash via OpenRouter  ($0.28/M, not $15/M)

DeepSeek V4 Flash scores 79.0% on SWE-Bench. For coding tasks it's 80% comparable to Claude Sonnet 4.6 (79.6%) and Claude Opus 4.6 (80.8%). You can switch back to Anthropic mid-session for the hard 20%.

Quick start

1. Get an OpenRouter API key

Sign up at openrouter.ai, add credit, copy your API key. OpenRouter is an AI API aggregator that gives you access to DeepSeek and dozens of other models through a single key, hosted on US infrastructure.

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

2. Install

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

Windows: copy deepclaude.ps1 to a directory in your PATH.

3. Launch

deepclaude                    # OpenRouter + DeepSeek V4 Flash (default)
deepclaude --status           # Show configured keys and active proxy
deepclaude --cost             # Pricing comparison across backends
deepclaude --benchmark        # Latency test across all providers

How the model is selected

deepclaude sets Claude Code's model environment variables before launch so every request — including subagents — goes to DeepSeek:

Variable	Set to
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL	OpenRouter (or DeepSeek/Fireworks) endpoint
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN	Your provider API key
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL	deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL	deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL	deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL	deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash

These are set only for the current session — your shell environment is restored when you exit.

Claude Code sometimes sends Anthropic model names (e.g. claude-opus-4-6) regardless of these vars. The local proxy intercepts those requests and remaps the model name before forwarding to the active backend:

Claude Code  →  localhost:3200 (proxy)
                  ├── /v1/messages  →  remap model name  →  DeepSeek V4 Flash
                  └── everything else  →  Anthropic (passthrough)

OpenRouter

OpenRouter is an API aggregator that provides a single OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible endpoint for dozens of models from different providers. Key properties:

• Single key: access DeepSeek, Llama, Mistral, and others through one API key
• US infrastructure: lower latency than hitting DeepSeek's servers directly (especially from Europe)
• Provider routing: deepclaude routes DeepSeek V4 Flash through AtlasCloud for consistent performance
• Same price as direct: $0.44/M input, $0.87/M output — no markup vs DeepSeek direct

OpenRouter is the default backend (CHEAPCLAUDE_DEFAULT_BACKEND=or). You can change the default by setting that environment variable.

Backends

Backend	Flag	Input/M	Output/M	Notes
OpenRouter DeepSeek Pro	-b or	$0.49	$2.26	US servers, best latency from US/EU
OpenRouter DeepSeek Flash (default)	-b or	$0.14	$0.28	US servers, best latency from US/EU
DeepSeek	-b ds	$0.44	$0.87	Direct to DeepSeek; auto context caching (120x cheaper on cache hits)
Fireworks AI	-b fw	$1.74	$3.48	Fastest inference, US servers
Anthropic	-b anthropic	$3.00	$15.00	Original Claude Opus — use for hard problems

Switch backend at launch:

deepclaude -b ds          # DeepSeek direct
deepclaude -b fw          # Fireworks AI
deepclaude -b anthropic   # Normal Claude Code

Setup per backend

OpenRouter (default):

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-..."

DeepSeek direct (optional):

export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="sk-..."

Fireworks AI (optional):

export FIREWORKS_API_KEY="fw_..."

Live switching (no restart)

Switch backends mid-session — from inside Claude Code itself, without restarting.

Option 1: Slash commands (recommended)

Add these files to ~/.claude/commands/:

openrouter.md:

Switch the model proxy to OpenRouter. Run this command silently and report the result:
curl -sX POST http://127.0.0.1:3200/_proxy/mode -d "backend=openrouter"
If successful, say: "Switched to OpenRouter."

deepseek.md:

Switch the model proxy to DeepSeek. Run this command silently and report the result:
curl -sX POST http://127.0.0.1:3200/_proxy/mode -d "backend=deepseek"
If successful, say: "Switched to DeepSeek."

anthropic.md:

Switch the model proxy back to Anthropic. Run this command silently and report the result:
curl -sX POST http://127.0.0.1:3200/_proxy/mode -d "backend=anthropic"
If successful, say: "Switched to Anthropic."

Type /openrouter, /deepseek, or /anthropic inside any Claude Code session to switch instantly.

In Claude Code terminal:

In Claude Code VS Code extension:

Option 2: CLI flag

deepclaude --switch openrouter   # or: or, ds, fw, anthropic
deepclaude -s anthropic

Option 3: VS Code keyboard shortcuts

Add to .vscode/tasks.json:

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "Proxy: Switch to DeepSeek",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "Invoke-RestMethod -Uri http://127.0.0.1:3200/_proxy/mode -Method Post -Body 'backend=deepseek'",
      "presentation": { "reveal": "always" },
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "Proxy: Switch to Anthropic",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "Invoke-RestMethod -Uri http://127.0.0.1:3200/_proxy/mode -Method Post -Body 'backend=anthropic'",
      "presentation": { "reveal": "always" },
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

Bind in keybindings.json:

{ "key": "ctrl+alt+d", "command": "workbench.action.tasks.runTask", "args": "Proxy: Switch to DeepSeek" },
{ "key": "ctrl+alt+a", "command": "workbench.action.tasks.runTask", "args": "Proxy: Switch to Anthropic" }

Cost tracking

The proxy tracks token usage and calculates savings vs Anthropic:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:3200/_proxy/cost

{
  "backends": {
    "openrouter": {
      "input_tokens": 125000,
      "output_tokens": 45000,
      "requests": 12,
      "cost": 0.0941,
      "anthropic_equivalent": 1.05
    }
  },
  "total_cost": 0.0941,
  "anthropic_equivalent": 1.05,
  "savings": 0.9559
}

Cost comparison

Usage level	Anthropic Max	deepclaude (OpenRouter)	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 direct (-b ds) has automatic context caching: after the first turn, the system prompt and file context are re-read at $0.004/M instead of $0.44/M — a 120x reduction for long sessions.

What works and what doesn't

Works

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

Limitations

Feature	Status
Image/vision input	Not supported — DeepSeek's Anthropic-compatible endpoint doesn't accept images
MCP server tools	Not supported through the compatibility layer
Prompt caching headers	DeepSeek/OpenRouter ignore Anthropic's cache_control — DeepSeek direct uses its own automatic caching instead

Remote control (--remote)

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

deepclaude --remote              # Remote control + OpenRouter (default)
deepclaude --remote -b ds        # Remote control + DeepSeek direct
deepclaude --remote -b anthropic # Remote control + Anthropic (normal)

This prints a https://claude.ai/code/session_... URL you can open on any device.

Remote control needs Anthropic's WebSocket bridge, but model calls are still intercepted by the local proxy:

claude remote-control
  ├── Bridge WebSocket  →  wss://bridge.claudeusercontent.com  (Anthropic, hardcoded)
  └── Model API calls   →  http://localhost:3200 (proxy)
                              ├── /v1/messages  →  DeepSeek V4 Flash
                              └── everything else  →  Anthropic (passthrough)

Prerequisites:

• claude auth login (needed for the bridge)
• A claude.ai subscription (Anthropic infrastructure)
• Node.js 18+

VS Code / Cursor integration

Add a terminal profile so you can launch deepclaude from the IDE:

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

Windows:

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

License

MIT