# DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs MiniMax Code

> MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) to DeepSeek Harness's 49.2 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-19

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against DeepSeek Harness (dsh)'s 49.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

- DeepSeek Harness (dsh): grade D, 49.2/100, rank #920 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-harness.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-harness.json
- MiniMax Code: grade B, 67.5/100, rank #277 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/minimax-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-code.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 752 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### DeepSeek Harness (dsh) (D)

Good for: Developers who use DeepSeek models and want a scriptable harness with ACP, a JSON event stream and a Python SDK.

Watch for: By default each request to DeepSeek's official API carries the session log, including message text, tool arguments and results, up to 8 MiB a request

### MiniMax Code (B)

Good for: Scripted coding runs on MiniMax's models or any compatible model, driven by JSON output and exit codes.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 63 against 33
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 68
- Security & auth, 57 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 71
- Transparency & trust, 61 against 50

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where DeepSeek Harness (dsh) loses 6 points for them

Watch for: Pre-1.0 and labelled a source preview, with npm at 0.6.12 and the public source at 0.6.5


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepSeek Harness (dsh) | MiniMax Code | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 33 | 63 | MiniMax Code +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 81 | MiniMax Code +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 75 | MiniMax Code +7 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 57 | MiniMax Code +17 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 77 | MiniMax Code +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 50 | 61 | MiniMax Code +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **49.2 · D** | **67.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepSeek Harness (dsh) | MiniMax Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | DeepSeek | MiniMax |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | MIT for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-17 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-01-19 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-01-19 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | yes |
| Popularity | 245k npm/wk | 2k stars, 6.8k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | 3.5/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**DeepSeek Harness (dsh).** Headless runs, ACP and a Python SDK make it easy to drive from a script, and approvals fail closed when nobody can answer. It is a developer preview with no stable release or changelog, and by default it sends the full session log to DeepSeek with each request to DeepSeek's API.

**MiniMax Code.** An MIT-licensed terminal coding agent with a headless mode that returns versioned JSON, documented exit codes and an ACP server, and telemetry off by default. It's pre-1.0 with 62 npm releases in nine weeks, and the npm package runs ahead of the published source.

## Before you call either

### DeepSeek Harness (dsh)

1. Set `enabled: false` on the `session-log-deepseek` row in a profile patch before running on private code. Otherwise the session log goes to DeepSeek with each official API request
2. Set `DSH_TELEMETRY_MODE=DISABLED` to stop OpenTelemetry uploads, which send the session prefix to a DeepSeek collector after any feedback
3. Treat exit code 1 and the `turn_end` reason as failure. A `--json` stream can end with a `final` event for a failed run
4. Run in a disposable container or VM. The sandbox doesn't confine reads or network, and SAFETY.md says the project has had no security audit
5. Pin the version. npm `latest` (0.2.0-rc.2) and `next` (0.2.1-rc.2) differ, DeepSeek's changelog asks for 0.2.1-rc.1 or later, and the README warns of breaking changes

### MiniMax Code

1. Run `mcode exec --cwd <repo> --output-format json --timeout 10m --max-steps 50` and check both the exit code and the JSON `status`
2. Keep `--permission full` and `off` for a container or throwaway workspace. The default `smart` fails when it would need a person
3. Set `MCODE_PROVIDER_API_KEY` and add a provider for BYOK. M Plan models need a browser sign-in with `mcode login --region global`
4. Set `MINIMAX_DATA_DIR` per CI runner. Keys and sessions live in `~/.minimax` by default
5. Pin a version. npm published 62 releases in nine weeks and the public source trails it

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, DeepSeek Harness (dsh) or MiniMax Code?

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against DeepSeek Harness (dsh)'s 49.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are DeepSeek Harness (dsh) and MiniMax Code open source?

Yes. DeepSeek Harness (dsh) is open source (MIT). MiniMax Code is open source (MIT for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-harness-vs-minimax-code.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-harness-vs-minimax-code.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "deepseek-harness", "b": "minimax-code"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare deepseek-harness minimax-code`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-harness.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-code.json

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