AI inside your spreadsheet sounds futuristic — until you actually try it. With DeepSeek R1 integrated as an AI field shortcut in Lark Base, you can ask the model to summarise customer feedback, classify support tickets, generate product descriptions, or even reason through complex data — all without leaving your base.
DeepSeek R1 is one of the most talked-about AI models in 2026, known for its strong reasoning and chain-of-thought capabilities. Combined with Lark Base’s powerful data management and automation, the result is a no-code AI workflow that small teams can stand up in under an hour.
This guide walks you through the entire process — from signing up for the BytePlus account that hosts DeepSeek, to making your first AI-powered field inside Lark Base.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Before diving in, make sure you have:
- A Lark account with access to Lark Base (desktop or web version)
- A working email address (for BytePlus signup)
- A phone number (for verification)
- About 30–45 minutes for the full setup
You do not need a credit card to get started — BytePlus allows you to skip the billing step initially and use the free trial tokens.
What Is DeepSeek R1 and Why Use It in Lark Base?
DeepSeek R1 is an advanced AI model developed by DeepSeek, recognised for its strong reasoning ability and its capacity to “think through” multi-step problems before answering. It is particularly good at:
- Analytical and logical reasoning
- Summarising complex content
- Categorising and classifying data
- Generating structured responses
- Multilingual tasks (including English and Mandarin)
When you connect DeepSeek R1 to Lark Base via BytePlus (the platform that hosts DeepSeek and other models for enterprise use), you gain a powerful AI field type that can process every row of your base automatically. Use cases include:
- Customer feedback analysis — auto-tag sentiment or themes
- Support ticket triage — classify by urgency or category
- Lead qualification — score leads based on their description
- Content generation — draft product descriptions, email replies, or summaries
- Data enrichment — extract structured information from unstructured text
Now let’s set it up.
Step 1: Sign Up for a BytePlus Account
DeepSeek R1 is accessed through BytePlus, the enterprise AI platform that hosts the model. Start here:
1.1 Go to the BytePlus signup page: www.byteplus.com
1.2 Fill in your email and create an account.
1.3 Complete Step 1 of 2 — Add account profile. Provide your:
- Organisation name (e.g. your business name)
- Full name
- Country/Region (select Malaysia)
- Address details (postal code, city, state)
- Phone number (you will receive a verification code via SMS)
1.4 Verify your phone number using the code sent to your mobile, then click Continue.
1.5 For Step 2 of 2 — Billing information, you have two options:
- Add a credit card now to unlock full credit limits
- Click Complete later to skip billing and start with free trial tokens
Tip: For first-time users, click Complete later. The free trial tokens are more than enough to test DeepSeek R1 with Lark Base before deciding whether to commit to a paid plan.
Step 2: Access ModelArk and Set Up DeepSeek R1
Once your BytePlus account is ready, you’ll need to enable the ModelArk service — this is where DeepSeek R1 is hosted.
2.1 From the BytePlus console homepage, locate ModelArk in your products list and click to access it.
2.2 Inside ModelArk, navigate to Online inference to see the endpoint configuration page.
2.3 Fill in the required endpoint details:
- Endpoint name — give it a clear name like “Lark Base DeepSeek”
- Endpoint description (optional) — describe its use case
- Model selection — this is where you’ll add DeepSeek R1
2.4 Click + Add model to choose your model.
2.5 In the model selection screen, switch to the DeepSeek tab and select DeepSeek R1, then click Confirm.
Tip: BytePlus offers multiple model providers (ByteDance, DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and more). DeepSeek R1 is the strongest pick for reasoning-heavy tasks, but feel free to experiment with others depending on your use case.
2.6 After confirming the model, you’ll see DeepSeek R1 listed under your endpoint, ready for inference.
Step 3: Generate Your API Key
To connect BytePlus to Lark Base, you’ll need an API key that authorises the connection.
3.1 In the ModelArk console, navigate to API Keys in the left sidebar.
3.2 Click Create API Key, give it a name (e.g. “Lark Base Integration”), and confirm.
3.3 Once generated, copy the API key immediately and store it somewhere safe (a password manager or Lark Doc with restricted access works well).
Important: API keys are usually displayed only once. If you lose it, you will need to generate a new one. Treat it like a password — never share it publicly or commit it to a public file.
Step 4: Add DeepSeek R1 as an AI Field in Lark Base
Now for the part that brings it all together. With your BytePlus account set up and your API key in hand, you can finally connect DeepSeek R1 to your Lark Base.
4.1 Open the Lark Base where you want to use DeepSeek R1.
4.2 Click the + icon to add a new field.
4.3 Enter a Field title (e.g. “AI Summary” or “Sentiment Analysis”).
4.4 For Field type, scroll through the options and select DeepSeek R1 under Recommended or Explore Field Shortcuts.
4.5 Lark Base will prompt you to connect your BytePlus ModelArk account. Paste in:
- The API key you generated in Step 3
- Any other required details (such as the endpoint name)
4.6 Confirm the connection. Once connected, DeepSeek R1 is now available as an AI field in your base.
4.7 Configure your prompt. Tell DeepSeek what to do with each row’s data — for example:
“Summarise the customer feedback in this row in one sentence.”
“Classify the sentiment of this comment as Positive, Negative, or Neutral.”
“Extract the product name and issue from the support ticket text.”
4.8 Save the field. DeepSeek R1 will now run automatically for every row, populating the AI field with reasoning-powered output.
Tip: Start with a small base (10–20 rows) to test your prompt and confirm the output quality before running it across hundreds of records. Iterating prompts is much faster on small datasets.
Practical Use Cases for SMEs and Startups
Here are real-world ways SMEs are already using DeepSeek R1 inside Lark Base:
Customer feedback analysis
Auto-classify customer reviews into themes (delivery, quality, pricing, support) so you can spot patterns without reading every single review.
Support ticket triage
Have DeepSeek read incoming tickets and assign priority levels, categories, or suggested response templates — saving your team hours per week.
Lead scoring
Pass lead descriptions or notes through DeepSeek and let it score each lead’s quality based on criteria you define in the prompt.
Product description generation
Feed in product specs and let DeepSeek draft polished marketing copy for your e-commerce site.
Meeting notes summarisation
Paste raw notes or transcripts into a Lark Base field and use DeepSeek to extract action items, decisions, and follow-ups.
Multilingual content support
Translate or localise content automatically — particularly useful for businesses serving Malaysia’s multilingual market (English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin).
Pro Tips for Working with DeepSeek R1 in Lark Base
- Refine prompts iteratively. Your first prompt is rarely your best one. Test, observe outputs, and improve.
- Use clear input fields. DeepSeek performs best when the input data is structured and well-labelled. Messy data leads to messy output.
- Watch your token usage. Every AI call consumes tokens from your BytePlus quota. Disable the AI field on rows where it is not needed.
- Combine with Lark automations. Use DeepSeek’s output to trigger Lark workflows — for example, auto-notify the support manager when a ticket is classified as “urgent”.
- Document your setup. Keep a Lark Doc that records your endpoint name, model version, and prompt patterns. This is invaluable when onboarding new team members.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. How do I use DeepSeek in Lark Base?
Sign up for a BytePlus account, set up DeepSeek R1 inside ModelArk, generate an API key, then add a new field in your Lark Base and select DeepSeek R1 as the field type. Connect your BytePlus account using the API key, configure your prompt, and DeepSeek will process every row automatically.
2. Is DeepSeek R1 free to use in Lark Base?
BytePlus offers free trial tokens for new accounts, which is enough to test the integration. After the trial, usage is metered based on tokens consumed. Pricing depends on the volume of AI calls you make.
3. Do I need a credit card to set up BytePlus?
No. You can click Complete later during signup and start using free trial tokens immediately without entering payment details.
4. What can DeepSeek R1 do inside Lark Base?
DeepSeek R1 can summarise text, classify content, extract structured information from unstructured text, generate written content, and reason through multi-step problems — all applied row by row to your Base data.
5. Is my data safe when using DeepSeek through BytePlus?
BytePlus is the enterprise-grade platform that hosts DeepSeek, with its own data security and privacy policies. Always review BytePlus’s data handling terms before sending sensitive customer or business data through the API.
6. Can I use other AI models besides DeepSeek R1 in Lark Base?
Yes. BytePlus ModelArk supports multiple models including ByteDance, DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and others. The setup process is the same — swap DeepSeek R1 for your preferred model in Step 2.
7. What if I lose my API key?
You will need to generate a new one from the API Keys page in BytePlus, then update the connection in Lark Base. The old key will stop working once revoked.
Bring AI Into Your Daily Workflows
DeepSeek R1 inside Lark Base turns your everyday spreadsheets into intelligent, self-processing data tables.
For SMEs and startups, this is the kind of automation that used to require an engineering team — and now takes less than an hour to set up.
Start with one use case (customer feedback or ticket classification are great first projects), validate the value, then expand DeepSeek across more bases as your team gets comfortable.
Combined with Lark’s automations, dashboards, and approvals, you have a no-code AI platform that genuinely scales with your business.
Ready to Power Your Business with Lark?
Lark Base is just one part of an all-in-one platform that brings messaging, meetings, documents, approvals, and AI-powered automations together for your entire team.
As the Platinum Partner for Lark in Malaysia, Exabytes offers tailored Lark plans, hands-on onboarding, and dedicated local support to help you build AI-driven workflows like this one — and many more — for your business.
