MiniMax CLI

Unofficial terminal UI (TUI) + CLI for the MiniMax platform: chat with MiniMax-M2.1, run an approval-gated tool-using agent, and generate media (images, video, music, TTS).

Not affiliated with MiniMax Inc.

Quickstart

1. Get an API key from https://platform.minimax.io
2. Install and run:

npm install -g @hmbown/minimax-cli
export MINIMAX_API_KEY="YOUR_MINIMAX_API_KEY"
minimax

3. Press F1 or run /help for the in-app command list
4. If anything looks off, run minimax doctor

Install

Prebuilt via npm/bun (recommended)

The npm package is a thin wrapper that downloads the platform-appropriate Rust binary from GitHub Releases.

# installs `minimax`
npm install -g @hmbown/minimax-cli
bun install -g @hmbown/minimax-cli

From crates.io (Rust)

cargo install minimax-cli --locked

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/Hmbown/MiniMax-CLI.git
cd MiniMax-CLI
cargo build --release
./target/release/minimax --help

Direct download

Download a prebuilt binary from https://github.com/Hmbown/MiniMax-CLI/releases and put it on your PATH as minimax.

Configuration

On first run, the TUI can prompt for your API key and save it to ~/.minimax/config.toml. You can also create the file manually:

# ~/.minimax/config.toml
api_key = "YOUR_MINIMAX_API_KEY"   # must be non-empty
default_text_model = "MiniMax-M2.1" # optional
allow_shell = false                 # optional
max_subagents = 3                   # optional (1-5)

Useful environment variables:

• MINIMAX_API_KEY (overrides api_key)
• MINIMAX_BASE_URL (default: https://api.minimax.io; China users may use https://api.minimaxi.com)
• MINIMAX_PROFILE (selects [profiles.<name>] from the config; errors if missing)
• MINIMAX_CONFIG_PATH (override config path)
• MINIMAX_MCP_CONFIG, MINIMAX_SKILLS_DIR, MINIMAX_NOTES_PATH, MINIMAX_MEMORY_PATH, MINIMAX_ALLOW_SHELL, MINIMAX_MAX_SUBAGENTS

See config.example.toml and docs/CONFIGURATION.md for a full reference.

Modes

In the TUI, press Tab to cycle modes: Normal → Plan → Agent → YOLO → RLM → Duo → Normal.

• Normal: chat; asks before file writes, shell, or paid tools
• Plan: design-first prompting; same approvals as Normal
• Agent: multi-step tool use; asks before shell or paid tools
• YOLO: enables shell + trust + auto-approves all tools (dangerous)
• RLM: externalized context + REPL helpers; auto-approves tools (best for large files)
• Duo: player-coach autocoding with iterative validation (based on g3 paper)

Approval behavior is mode-dependent, but you can also override it at runtime with /set approval_mode auto|suggest|never.

Tools

MiniMax CLI exposes tools to the model: file read/write/patching, shell execution, web search, sub-agents, and MiniMax media APIs.

• Workspace boundary: file tools are restricted to --workspace unless you enable /trust (YOLO enables trust automatically).
• Approvals: the TUI requests approval depending on mode and tool category (file writes, shell, paid media).
• Web search: web_search uses DuckDuckGo HTML results and is auto-approved.
• Media tools: image/video/music/TTS tools make paid API calls and write real files.
• Skills: reusable workflows stored as SKILL.md directories (default: ~/.minimax/skills). Use /skills and /skill <name> (this repo includes examples under skills/).
• MCP: load external tool servers via ~/.minimax/mcp.json (supports servers and mcpServers). MCP tools currently execute without TUI approval prompts, so only enable servers you trust. See docs/MCP.md.

RLM

RLM mode is designed for “too big for context” tasks: large files, whole-doc sweeps, and big pasted blocks.

• Auto-switch triggers: “largest file”, explicit “RLM”, large file requests, and large pastes.
• In RLM mode, /load @path loads a file into the external context store (outside RLM mode, /load loads a saved chat JSON).
• Use /repl to enter expression mode (e.g. search(\"pattern\"), lines(1, 80)).
• Power tools: rlm_load, rlm_exec, rlm_status, rlm_query.

rlm_query can be expensive: prefer batching and check /status if you're doing lots of sub-queries.

Duo Mode

Duo mode implements the player-coach autocoding paradigm for iterative development with built-in validation:

• Player: implements requirements (builder role)
• Coach: validates implementation against requirements (critic role)
• Tools: duo_init, duo_player, duo_coach, duo_advance, duo_status

Workflow: init → player → coach → advance → (repeat until approved)

Examples

minimax                       # Interactive TUI
minimax -p "Write a haiku"     # One-shot prompt (prints and exits)

minimax doctor                 # Diagnose config + API key
minimax sessions --limit 50    # List sessions (~/.minimax/sessions)
minimax --resume latest        # Resume most recent session
minimax --resume <id-prefix>   # Resume by ID/prefix

minimax --workspace /path/to/project
minimax --yolo                 # Start in YOLO mode (dangerous)

minimax init                   # Generate a starter AGENTS.md

Shell completions:

minimax completions zsh > _minimax
minimax completions bash > minimax.bash
minimax completions fish > minimax.fish

Run the paid media smoke test (writes real files and spends credits):

minimax --workspace . smoke-media --confirm

Troubleshooting

• No API key: set MINIMAX_API_KEY or run minimax and complete onboarding
• Config not found: check ~/.minimax/config.toml (or MINIMAX_CONFIG_PATH)
• Wrong region / base URL: set MINIMAX_BASE_URL to https://api.minimaxi.com (China)
• Session issues: run minimax sessions and try minimax --resume latest
• MCP tools missing: validate ~/.minimax/mcp.json (or MINIMAX_MCP_CONFIG) and restart

Documentation

• docs/README.md
• docs/CONFIGURATION.md
• docs/MCP.md
• docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
• CONTRIBUTING.md

Development

cargo build
cargo test
cargo fmt
cargo clippy

License

MIT

MiniMax is a trademark of MiniMax Inc. This is an unofficial project.