Set up Pi

01 / PREPARE

Install the agent and prepare access

1. Install the agent using its official guide. Check its version before merging the examples below.
2. Purchase your DeepSeek plan, then open Billing & API keys to copy your active key. OpenAI base: https://ds-api.savemytoken.com/v1. Claude Code base: https://ds-api.savemytoken.com. DeepSeek credentials are a separate scope.
3. Back up the file you will edit. Merge fields into existing objects and tables; preserve unrelated providers, tools and permission settings. Keep credentials in private local settings.

Ready when: the agent opens, and you know which plan, process and configuration directory you will use.

02 / CONFIGURE

Save the connection and model catalog

Create the parent directories if needed. Download or copy each file, replace the example endpoint and local placeholders, then merge it into the stated location. Downloads and the examples below contain the same configuration.

{
  "providers": {
    "savemytoken-deepseek": {
      "baseUrl": "https://ds-api.savemytoken.com/v1",
      "api": "openai-completions",
      "apiKey": "$SAVEMYTOKEN_API_KEY",
      "models": [
        {
          "id": "deepseek-flash",
          "name": "DeepSeek Flash",
          "input": [
            "text"
          ],
          "reasoning": true,
          "thinkingLevelMap": {
            "off": "none",
            "minimal": null,
            "low": "low",
            "medium": null,
            "high": "high",
            "xhigh": null,
            "max": "max"
          },
          "compat": {
            "supportsReasoningEffort": true,
            "supportsDeveloperRole": false
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "defaultProvider": "savemytoken-deepseek",
  "defaultModel": "deepseek-flash",
  "modelThinkingLevels": {
    "savemytoken-deepseek/deepseek-flash": "high"
  }
}

Ready when: the files parse successfully and the selected profile points to the delivered URL, key reference and exact model catalog.

03 / START

Start the agent and choose your model

Open a terminal in a trusted project. Complete the file setup before running these commands.

export SAVEMYTOKEN_API_KEY="REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_DELIVERED_KEY"
PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR="$HOME/.config/savemytoken/deepseek/pi" pi

Save both files in the directory used by PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR. Open /model to reload the catalog, search for the model and select it.

Check: the provider is the one you configured and the selected model is deepseek-flash. A visible model list alone does not prove inference works.

04 / REASONING

Choose and verify reasoning effort

Use /thinking or Shift+Tab to choose a supported session level; inspect the footer. Ctrl+T only changes the visibility of reasoning text.

Per-model modelThinkingLevels defaults take precedence over the global fallback. Edit those defaults through /settings or settings.json. Ctrl+S in /thinking saves a global fallback and does not replace per-model entries.

/model
/thinking
/settings

On DeepSeek Flash, choose Low, then High, then Low again. Inspect the active setting each time before sending the next message. A longer answer is not evidence that effort changed.

REASONING CONTROLS

Choose effort for the actual model

The setup templates start with DeepSeek Flash. Add other delivered routes only after confirming their exact IDs and capabilities.

05 / DESKTOP

Desktop or editor terminal

Pi runs in a desktop or editor terminal. This guide does not assume a separate Pi Desktop app. Launch it with the same PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR and environment variable in each terminal.