DeepSeek key

Bring your own DeepSeek key to score and categorise mentions with DeepSeek, the cheapest of the supported AI providers and a strong fit when you're scoring a high volume of mentions. Without an AI key, BackTalk uses a free offline word-list scorer.

What it unlocks

• AI sentiment (positive / neutral / negative) instead of the offline lexicon.
• Category and priority tagging on each mention.
• A one-time background re-score of your existing mentions when you save the key.

You can save a key per provider. Left untouched, your first key powers filtering (sentiment, relevance, priority) and every saved key's model joins the AI share-of-voice comparison. Point either job at any saved key and model, including several models from one provider, under What runs each task in Settings.

Get your API key

1. Sign in to the DeepSeek Platform.
2. Add credit under Billing (pay-as-you-go, prepaid). New accounts include a one-time free-token grant, so you can start scoring before topping up.
3. Open API keys and choose Create new API key.
4. Copy the key. It starts with sk-… and is shown only once.

Add it in BackTalk

1. Go to Settings and find the DeepSeek card under AI providers.
2. Pick a model (see below) and paste your sk-… key.
3. Save. BackTalk sends one tiny test request to confirm the key and model, then stores the key encrypted and starts the background re-score.

Models & cost

Billed by DeepSeek directly at their token rates, with no markup from BackTalk. These are the lowest list prices of any supported provider (USD per million input / output tokens):

• DeepSeek V4 Flash: ~$0.14 / $0.28. Cheapest of all; the right default for sentiment.
• DeepSeek V4 Pro: ~$0.44 / $0.87. Stronger reasoning.

Troubleshooting

• "The provider rejected that API key." Wrong or revoked key, or zero balance. Recreate the key and top up.
• "That model isn't available on this key." Pick DeepSeek V4 Flash.
• Key check failed / timeout. DeepSeek can rate-limit or briefly degrade under load. Retry in a moment.

Your key stays private. It's encrypted at rest and only decrypted server-side when a scoring call runs. It is never returned to your browser and never logged. Settings shows only a masked hint.

Rotating your key: create a new key in the DeepSeek Platform, paste it into Settings to replace the old one, then revoke the previous key.