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This tutorial takes a new Windows user from download to a working DeepSeek coding session. DeepSeekGUI includes its own Harness runtime, Node.js, and pnpm, so the installed application does not need a development toolchain.
- A Windows 10 or Windows 11 x64 computer.
- A DeepSeek account or a DeepSeek API key.
- A folder you are comfortable letting the agent inspect and edit.
Download the Windows installer, DeepSeekGUI-Setup-<version>.exe, from the latest release. Linux AppImage is provided through a separate experimental release; see the repository homepage for the available download.
DeepSeekGUI is currently distributed without a code signature, so Windows SmartScreen may show an unknown-publisher warning. Verify the installer against the SHA256SUMS.txt file from the same release before running it:
Get-FileHash .\DeepSeekGUI-Setup-<version>.exe -Algorithm SHA256Continue only when the printed hash matches the release manifest exactly. In SmartScreen, select More info, then Run anyway.
Run the installer. It installs for the current Windows user without administrator rights, creates Start menu and desktop shortcuts, and launches DeepSeekGUI when installation finishes.
Closing the main window hides DeepSeekGUI in the system tray while Harness continues running. Use Quit DeepSeekGUI from the menu or tray when you want to stop Harness and exit completely.
On first launch DeepSeekGUI shows a welcome screen with two ways in:
- Sign in with your DeepSeek account. Your system browser opens the DeepSeek sign-in page; after you sign in, DeepSeekGUI returns to the front and a short setup introduces your credit, what you plan to use it for, and how much work detail to show. Account sessions use your account credit, so no API key is needed.
- Add API Key and paste your DeepSeek API key.
Set up later skips the screen for this run. You can sign in later from the account entry at the lower left, or add a key under Settings → Models:
- Open Settings from the lower-left corner.
- Open Models.
- Choose the DeepSeek provider and enter your API key.
- Select a model, then return to the home page.
DeepSeekGUI stores the key through the Harness credential service in the application data directory. It does not put the key in the installer, command line, or diagnostics log.
See Models and vision for model selection, image input, and custom providers.
Choose the folder for your task. In the recommended Sandbox mode, this workspace is the agent's writable file area. Start with a project copy or a folder under version control when you are evaluating unfamiliar automation.
Create a new session and give the agent one concrete outcome, for example:
Read this project, explain how it starts, and identify the three files I should understand first. Do not edit anything yet.
Once you are comfortable with the result, ask for a bounded change. DeepSeekGUI streams the reply and keeps the session in the selected Harness Home so you can resume it later.
Tool approvals come from Harness. Read the requested action before approving it. DeepSeekGUI never auto-approves an action and never maintains a separate trust cache.
Open the Changes view beside the conversation to read file diffs, and the Git view to see branch state and the session's commit results. The views read local state, so checking your project costs no model request. See Workbench views and Git tools.
Store durable collaboration preferences in Settings → Global memory; the assistant follows them in every project. Facts about this project accumulate in the session's Memory view. See Memory.
Keep Sandbox enabled for ordinary work. Turn on Full Access only when the task genuinely needs Windows-account-level access and you understand the displayed risk.