DeepSeek Harness

DeepSeek Harness is DeepSeek's MIT agent runtime. The software is $0. You pay the model API. api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing now lists peak / off-peak rows, not the old single Flash $0.14 / $0.28 line. deepseek-v4-flash peak is $0.014 / $0.44 / $1.32 per 1M tokens (cache hit / miss / output); off-peak is $0.007 / $0.22 / $0.66. deepseek-v4-pro peak is $0.044 / $1.32 / $3.96; off-peak $0.022 / $0.66 / $1.98. Peak hours on that page are 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC. The old 24k-star catalog number is out.

Compare DeepSeek V4 Flash for the small agent model, Claude Code if you wanted a hosted CLI instead of a harness, and OpenAI Agents SDK if you wanted OpenAI's own runtime.

Key Features

• Plugin runtime: Tools, memory, sub-agents, and stop logic are plugins. Treat the live repo README as the catalog.
• Model plus harness: The point of the project is a reference loop, not a priced SaaS seat.
• TypeScript package: Marketing still mentions @deepseek-ai/dsh. Confirm the current npm name before you script an install.
• Pay the API: There is no Harness Pro $N. Billing is DeepSeek token meters.

Use Cases

• Teams reproducing DeepSeek agent loops on V4 Flash or V4 Pro.
• People who will self-host an MIT runtime and pay peak $0.44 Flash input-miss.
• People comparing harness vs Claude Code on license, not on leftover 24k stars.

Limitation: 82.7 Terminal Bench and 54.4 DeepSWE are vendor-reported scores from the old page. We did not re-run them. Quote the live pricing page, not the August snapshot that used $0.14 / $0.28.

Pricing

Harness is $0. Model rows from DeepSeek pricing on 2026-08-17.

If a leftover blog still lists Flash at $0.14 / $0.28 without peak hours, treat this table as the source.

Getting Started

1. Clone deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness.
2. Read DeepSeek pricing before you point every loop at Pro peak.
3. Start on Flash off-peak to see cache-hit burn.
4. Confirm Claude Code if you wanted a productized CLI instead of a runtime.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the harness $0.14 / $0.28?

No. The harness is $0. Those old dollars were a prior Flash API snapshot.

Is it still 24k stars?

No. GitHub showed 144,198 the day we checked.

Same as Claude Code?

No. This is an MIT runtime plus your API key. Claude Code is Anthropic's product.

Alternatives

• DeepSeek V4 Flash: The cheap agent model behind many harness loops.
• Claude Code: Hosted terminal agent.
• OpenAI Agents SDK: OpenAI runtime.

Tips

1. Quote peak and off-peak Flash / Pro rows.
2. Do not paste 24k stars or $0.14 / $0.28 into a deck.
3. Confirm UTC peak hours before a load test.