DeepSeek V4.1 Flash in the OpenAI SDK and Aider: change one base URL

Short answer: if your code already uses the OpenAI SDK, you can call DeepSeek V4.1 Flash by changing two values: set the base URL to https://cloudgpu.app/v1 and set the model to deepseek-v4.1-flash. Aider works the same way through its OpenAI-compatible settings.

Disclosure: I work on CloudGPU, and the endpoint below is ours.

Three DeepSeek IDs, and which is which

The CloudGPU API page lists three DeepSeek chat models (checked 2026-10-26):

IDs are case-sensitive and the dot matters: a wrong ID comes back as 400 model_not_found. Per-token rates change, so this post doesn't repeat them; the current rate for each model is on the CloudGPU API page.

Get a key

1. Sign up with an email address or a Google account.
2. Add balance by card, Alipay, Google Pay, Apple Pay or USDT. The same balance pays for GPU rentals too.
3. Create a key in the API console. It starts with cgw-sk- and is shown only once, so put it straight into your environment:

export CGW_API_KEY="cgw-sk-..." 

Smoke test with curl

curl https://cloudgpu.app/v1/chat/completions \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $CGW_API_KEY" \ -d '{"model":"deepseek-v4.1-flash","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"hello"}]}' 

To list the model IDs your key can use:

curl https://cloudgpu.app/v1/models \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $CGW_API_KEY" 

Without the Authorization header this returns 401 with missing_authorization, so check the key first if you see that.

OpenAI Python SDK

# pip install openai import os from openai import OpenAI client = OpenAI( api_key=os.environ["CGW_API_KEY"], base_url="https://cloudgpu.app/v1", ) resp = client.chat.completions.create( model="deepseek-v4.1-flash", messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Explain the KV cache in one sentence."}], stream=True, ) for chunk in resp: print(chunk.choices[0].delta.content or "", end="") 

To compare the three DeepSeek models on the same prompt, loop over the IDs and keep everything else the same:

for model in ["deepseek-v4.1-flash", "deepseek-v4-flash", "deepseek-v4-pro"]: r = client.chat.completions.create( model=model, messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Write a Python debounce function."}], ) print(f"--- {model}\n{r.choices[0].message.content}\n") 

If you later switch the same loop to a thinking model such as glm-5.3-flash, don't set max_tokens too low: reasoning tokens count toward it, and with a small limit the visible content can come back empty with finish_reason="length". Raise the limit or pass reasoning_effort="low".

Node.js

// npm install openai; name the file index.mjs (top-level await needs an ES module) import OpenAI from "openai"; const client = new OpenAI({ apiKey: process.env.CGW_API_KEY, baseURL: "https://cloudgpu.app/v1", }); const resp = await client.chat.completions.create({ model: "deepseek-v4.1-flash", messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Write a TypeScript debounce function." }], }); console.log(resp.choices[0].message.content); 

Tested 2026-10-26: with the openai npm package, this returns normally for deepseek-v4.1-flash.

Aider

According to the official Aider docs ("OpenAI compatible APIs", read 2026-10-26), Aider connects to an OpenAI-compatible endpoint through two environment variables, and the model name gets an openai/ prefix:

# Mac/Linux export OPENAI_API_BASE=https://cloudgpu.app/v1 export OPENAI_API_KEY="$CGW_API_KEY" cd /path/to/your/project aider --model openai/deepseek-v4.1-flash 

REM Windows, per the Aider docs (not part of our test): restart the shell after setx setx OPENAI_API_BASE https://cloudgpu.app/v1 setx OPENAI_API_KEY %CGW_API_KEY% aider --model openai/deepseek-v4.1-flash 

Tested 2026-10-26 with Aider 0.86.2: started with --model openai/deepseek-v4.1-flash and asked to fix a bug in a small add() function, Aider chose the whole edit format by itself, printed "Applied edit", and the fix was correct. openai/deepseek-v4-flash passed the same test, again with whole.

On startup Aider prints:

Warning for openai/deepseek-v4.1-flash: Unknown context window size and costs 

The warning doesn't affect use. To skip it, add --no-show-model-warnings:

aider --model openai/deepseek-v4.1-flash --no-show-model-warnings 

Limits to know

• 100 requests per minute per API key and 10,000 requests per day per account. These are public-beta defaults and can be raised on request (API docs).
• Embeddings are not available yet.
• The API is in public beta with no SLA.
• You pay per token from a prepaid balance, with no subscription.

FAQ

Does DeepSeek V4.1 Flash work with the OpenAI SDK?
Yes. Set base_url to https://cloudgpu.app/v1, use a cgw-sk- key and set the model to deepseek-v4.1-flash.

Is deepseek-v4-flash the same as deepseek-v4.1-flash?
No. deepseek-v4-flash is served from the April V4 Flash checkpoint; deepseek-v4.1-flash is the V4.1 Flash model. Both are separate IDs on the API page.

How do I use it in Aider?
Set OPENAI_API_BASE and OPENAI_API_KEY, then start Aider with --model openai/deepseek-v4.1-flash, as the Aider docs describe for OpenAI-compatible APIs. Tested 2026-10-26 with Aider 0.86.2 (it chose the whole edit format by itself).

Where are the current rates?
On the CloudGPU API page. Rates can change, so check there before a large run.

Adapted from "DeepSeek V4 API With USDT or Card: Use the OpenAI SDK" on the CloudGPU blog.

I work on CloudGPU.