If you have spent time using AI coding tools through a browser or GUI, you already know the friction. You switch windows, lose context, and your workflow gets interrupted. DeepSeek-TUI removes that friction by bringing a full DeepSeek coding agent into your terminal.
This article walks you through what DeepSeek-TUI is, what you can do with it, and exactly how to get it running.
What is DeepSeek-TUI
DeepSeek-TUI is an open-source terminal user interface that connects to DeepSeek's language models and acts as an agentic coding assistant. It is written in Rust and installable via npm, which means you do not need a Rust toolchain to get started.
The key thing to understand is that this is not just a chat interface. It is an agent — meaning it can take actions on your behalf: edit files, run shell commands, make git commits, search the web, and interact with external services through MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers.
Everything runs inside your terminal. No browser tab. No electron app. Your existing workflow stays intact.
Three Modes of Operation
DeepSeek-TUI has three visible modes you can cycle through with Tab or Shift+Tab:
Plan mode — Before the agent starts making changes, it shows you a plan. You review and approve before anything happens. Good for unfamiliar or risky tasks.
Agent mode — The default. The agent works interactively, uses tools step by step, and asks for approval on sensitive actions like running shell commands.
YOLO mode — Auto-approves all tool use. Useful in isolated, trusted environments where you want fully autonomous operation without confirmation prompts.
You can also set a default mode in your config, or launch straight into YOLO with deepseek-tui --yolo.
Installation
Prerequisites
You need Node.js installed. That is it for the npm path.
Step 1 — Install via npm
npm install -g deepseek-tui
This is the quickest way and works on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
Step 2 — Get a DeepSeek API Key
Go to
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