WorkBuddy/CodeBuddy is an AI agent and coding assistant. It supports custom models through local model configuration files, and DeepSeek V4 can be connected through the OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions API. 1. Install WorkBuddy/CodeBuddy ​ Install and sign in to WorkBuddy/CodeBuddy. Open a project folder once, so the application can create its local configuration directories. Get your API Key from the DeepSeek Platform . 2. Configure Local Models ​ Create or edit the user-level configuration file: To apply the configuration only to one project, create the project-level configuration file instead: Set your DeepSeek API Key as an environment variable first: Then add the following configuration: Save models.json as UTF-8 without BOM. Some desktop versions may fail to read local model configuration files saved with a UTF-8 BOM header. 3. Restart and Select the Model ​

Fully quit WorkBuddy/CodeBuddy, then open it again. In the model selector, choose: 4. Optional: Verify the API Key ​ Windows users can verify the API Key in PowerShell: If the request succeeds, the API Key and model name are valid. Troubleshooting ​ Authentication Fails or 401 : Check whether apiKey is your real DeepSeek API Key. Do not put the API URL in the API Key field. Model Not Found or 404 : Check whether the model id is exactly deepseek-flash . Failed to read local model configuration : Check whether models.json is valid JSON and saved as UTF-8 without BOM. The model does not appear in the selector: Fully restart WorkBuddy/CodeBuddy and confirm the file is placed under .codebuddy\models.json . ${DEEPSEEK_API_KEY} is shown literally in the UI: Restart WorkBuddy/CodeBuddy from a terminal where DEEPSEEK_API_KEY is available. If the desktop UI still does not expand environment variables, paste the actual API Key in the UI or in your local models.json .