diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9720f3b..e543534 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,4 +12,6 @@ docs/
 *.pyw
 *.pyz
 *.pywz
-*.pyzz
\ No newline at end of file
+*.pyzz
+.venv/
+__pycache__/
diff --git a/nanobot/config/schema.py b/nanobot/config/schema.py
index c2109a1..ad2e270 100644
--- a/nanobot/config/schema.py
+++ b/nanobot/config/schema.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ class ProvidersConfig(BaseModel):
     anthropic: ProviderConfig = Field(default_factory=ProviderConfig)
     openai: ProviderConfig = Field(default_factory=ProviderConfig)
     openrouter: ProviderConfig = Field(default_factory=ProviderConfig)
+    deepseek: ProviderConfig = Field(default_factory=ProviderConfig)
     zhipu: ProviderConfig = Field(default_factory=ProviderConfig)
     vllm: ProviderConfig = Field(default_factory=ProviderConfig)
     gemini: ProviderConfig = Field(default_factory=ProviderConfig)
@@ -91,9 +92,10 @@ class Config(BaseSettings):
         return Path(self.agents.defaults.workspace).expanduser()
     
     def get_api_key(self) -> str | None:
-        """Get API key in priority order: OpenRouter > Anthropic > OpenAI > Gemini > Zhipu > vLLM."""
+        """Get API key in priority order: OpenRouter > DeepSeek > Anthropic > OpenAI > Gemini > Zhipu > vLLM."""
         return (
             self.providers.openrouter.api_key or
+            self.providers.deepseek.api_key or
             self.providers.anthropic.api_key or
             self.providers.openai.api_key or
             self.providers.gemini.api_key or
diff --git a/nanobot/providers/litellm_provider.py b/nanobot/providers/litellm_provider.py
index 42b4bf5..f6dc914 100644
--- a/nanobot/providers/litellm_provider.py
+++ b/nanobot/providers/litellm_provider.py
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ class LiteLLMProvider(LLMProvider):
             elif self.is_vllm:
                 # vLLM/custom endpoint - uses OpenAI-compatible API
                 os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"] = api_key
+            elif "deepseek" in default_model:
+                os.environ.setdefault("DEEPSEEK_API_KEY", api_key)
             elif "anthropic" in default_model:
                 os.environ.setdefault("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", api_key)
             elif "openai" in default_model or "gpt" in default_model:
@@ -103,6 +105,10 @@ class LiteLLMProvider(LLMProvider):
         if "gemini" in model.lower() and not model.startswith("gemini/"):
             model = f"gemini/{model}"
         
+        # Force set env vars for the provider based on model
+        if "deepseek" in model:
+            os.environ["DEEPSEEK_API_KEY"] = self.api_key
+        
         kwargs: dict[str, Any] = {
             "model": model,
             "messages": messages,