Why My Tab Key in Cursor Was Hijacking My Code and How I Fixed It
June 19, 2025How I Automated Away the Annoying 25 Tool Call Limit in Cursor IDE
June 19, 2025
I was really excited to try the new DeepSeek R1 05/28 model in Cursor after hearing it beats Gemini 2.5 Pro. But there was a problem – it wasn’t officially available yet. After some experimenting, I found a quick solution that got me coding with it immediately. Here’s exactly how I did it in just minutes.
Why I Wanted DeepSeek R1 in Cursor
As someone who lives and breathes AI, I needed DeepSeek’s latest model for two reasons: it’s budget-friendly and outperforms others. The R1 05/28 generates smarter code at lower costs, but waiting for official Cursor integration felt endless. My projects couldn’t wait, so I started looking for alternatives.
The Challenge: Official Delays and Limitations
I learned the Cursor team is working on adding R1 05/28, but it might take weeks due to scaling challenges. Plus, it’s resource-heavy – responses can be slower and cost about $2.50 per million output tokens.
Even worse? The agent feature doesn’t work yet. That means no complex, multi-step tasks in Cursor’s agent mode. Pretty frustrating, but this actually motivated me to find a fix.
My Fix: Connecting Through OpenRouter
After some digging, I discovered OpenRouter offers an API version of DeepSeek R1 05/28 that works with Cursor’s custom model setup. Here’s how I got it running:
- Step 1: Create an OpenRouter account at openrouter.ai and grab your API key
- Step 2: In Cursor’s settings, choose ‘Add Custom Model’
- Step 3: Enter these details:
- Model name:
openrouter/deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1-0528 - API key: Paste your OpenRouter key here
- Endpoint:
https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions
- Model name:
- Step 4: Save and test! I used
Create a Python function to calculate factorialsto verify it worked
Total setup time? Under five minutes. Cost? Pennies per use.
What I Learned Using It
Testing R1 05/28 through OpenRouter showed blazing speed on standard coding tasks. For complex requests, it thinks a bit longer – but outputs top-quality code.
Important note: Skip agent mode for now. Stick to direct code generation until official support arrives.
Pro tip: Watch your token usage in OpenRouter’s dashboard. It’s affordable, but good to track.
This approach keeps you productive while we wait for native integration. Seriously, try it – you’ll be coding with DeepSeek before your coffee gets cold!
