diff --git a/intentkit/backends/deepseek/r1_backend.py b/intentkit/backends/deepseek/r1_backend.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b2486e5c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/intentkit/backends/deepseek/r1_backend.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import requests
+import os
+
+class DeepSeekR1Backend:
+    """
+    DeepSeek R1 backend for IntentKit.
+    Provides high-performance reasoning and function calling capabilities.
+    """
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.api_key = os.getenv("DEEPSEEK_API_KEY")
+        self.base_url = "https://api.deepseek.com/v1/chat/completions"
+
+    def call(self, messages, tools=None):
+        payload = {
+            "model": "deepseek-reasoner",
+            "messages": messages,
+            "tools": tools,
+            "stream": False
+        }
+        headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {self.api_key}", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
+        response = requests.post(self.base_url, headers=headers, json=payload)
+        return response.json()