Watercolor: an open laptop with a terminal screen, OpenCode and Zen icons floating nearby, a hand inserting a key into a lock

OpenCode Cold Start: DeepSeek V4 Flash Free in 5 Minutes

This is a bonus article for the “AI Path L1→L2 Upgrade Guide.” If you have not installed OpenCode yet, this guide gets you from zero to running. In Day 8 you learned about autonomous execution AI. The next step is actually installing the thing. OpenCode is an open-source AI coding assistant. It is free, supports multiple models, and has a skill system. Paired with OpenCode Zen, you can use tested models without setting up third-party API keys, including the free DeepSeek V4 Flash. ...

2026-07-06 · 4 min · Alex Wang
Watercolor: laptop terminal glowing with a golden line of AI response, notebook with token beads, tea cup, and sticky note with checkmark on desk

Day 1 Exercise: Run Your First API Code

This is the Day 1 companion exercise for the AI Path L1→L2 Upgrade Guide. Read Part 1 first, then come back here to practice. Today we do exactly one thing: run the hello_api.py from Part 1 and see AI reply in your terminal. Prerequisites Complete these steps from Part 1 (skip if already done): Register a DeepSeek developer account (Part 1, “Register for API Accounts”) Get your API Key and save it to a .env file (Part 1, “API Key Safety”) Install uv and Python 3.12 (Part 1, “Install Python”) Create a virtual environment and install dependencies (Part 1, “Create a Virtual Environment”) Confirm your project directory looks like this: ...

2026-06-02 · 3 min · Alex Wang