DeepSeek API: A Guide to Listing and Understanding Available Models

DeepSeek is rapidly becoming a major player in the world of AI, offering powerful language models for various applications. To effectively utilize the DeepSeek API, it's crucial to understand which models are available and their capabilities. This article provides a comprehensive guide to listing and interpreting the available models within the DeepSeek API.

Accessing the List of Models

The DeepSeek API provides a straightforward method for retrieving a list of currently available models. By sending a simple GET request to the /models endpoint, you can obtain essential information about each model, including its owner and availability.

GET /models

For detailed API specifications, refer to the official DeepSeek API documentation.

Understanding the Response

The API response is structured in JSON format, providing a clear and organized representation of available models.

Successful Response (200 OK)

A successful request returns a 200 OK status code and a JSON payload containing a list of models.

{
  "object": "list",
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "deepseek-chat",
      "object": "model",
      "owned_by": "deepseek"
    },
    {
      "id": "deepseek-reasoner",
      "object": "model",
      "owned_by": "deepseek"
    }
  ]
}

Key Fields Explained

• object: Indicates the type of object returned, which will be "list" in this case.
• data: An array containing individual model objects.

Each model object within the "data" array contains the following:

• id: A unique string identifier for the model. This ID is crucial for referencing the model in other API endpoints, such as when creating chat completions or completions.
• object: Specifies the object type, which is always "model" for model objects.
• owned_by: Indicates the organization that owns the model. In most cases, this will be "deepseek" for models directly provided by DeepSeek.

Why is Listing Models Important?

Listing models is essential for several reasons:

• Discoverability: It allows you to discover the range of models offered by DeepSeek.
• Informed Selection: By understanding the model IDs, you can choose the most appropriate model for your specific task. For example, you might choose deepseek-chat for conversational applications or deepseek-reasoner for tasks requiring logical inference.
• Availability Awareness: The list reflects the current availability of models.
• Compatibility: Ensuring you are using a currently supported model prevents errors and ensures API compatibility.

Checking Models & Pricing

While the /models endpoint provides basic information, it doesn't include pricing details. For the most up-to-date information on pricing for each model, refer to the Models & Pricing page in the DeepSeek API documentation.

Staying Up-to-Date

The world of AI is constantly evolving, with new models being released and existing ones being updated. To stay informed about the latest models and changes to the DeepSeek API, keep an eye on the Change Log and the News section of the DeepSeek website. Recent updates include the release of DeepSeek-R1, DeepSeek App, DeepSeek-V3 , DeepSeek-V2.5 and features like Context Caching.

Exploring Further

Once you have a list of available models, you can explore other aspects of the DeepSeek API, such as:

• Creating Chat Completions: Learn about using the deepseek-chat model for building conversational AI applications.
• Understanding the Temperature Parameter: Adjust the temperature parameter to control the randomness and creativity of the model's responses. See The Temperature Parameter.
• Managing Token Usage: Understand how tokens are used and how to optimize your API usage. Check Token & Token Usage.

By understanding the available models and the various API features, you can leverage the power of DeepSeek to build innovative AI solutions.