# Emdash vs MiniMax Code (slim)

> MiniMax Code scores 66.1 (B) to Emdash's 53.9 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/emdash-vs-minimax-code.md (~5,800 tokens) · this version ~2,180 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/emdash-vs-minimax-code.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/emdash-vs-minimax-code
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

MiniMax Code scores 66.1 (B) on agent readiness against Emdash's 53.9 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

- Emdash: D 53.9, rank #933 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/emdash.min.md
- MiniMax Code: B 66.1, rank #383 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/minimax-code.min.md
- Emdash, good for Developers who want parallel agents in worktrees, fed from their issue tracker, locally or over SSH. Also No key needed to call it.
- MiniMax Code, good for Scripted coding runs on MiniMax's models or any compatible model, driven by JSON output and exit codes. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 81 against 55; Agent ergonomics, 79 against 55; Security & auth, 57 against 38; Maintenance & community, 79 against 70; Transparency & trust, 63 against 54. Also Free to start without a card.

| Category | Emdash | MiniMax Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 55 | 51 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 55 | 81 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 55 | 79 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 38 | 57 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 70 | 79 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 54 | 63 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Emdash | MiniMax Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | General Action, Inc. | MiniMax |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-11-06 | 2026-10-30 |
| 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 read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | yes |
| Popularity | none | 2k stars, 6.8k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (4) |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, MiniMax Code +26: Emdash 55 (Harness reading. Docs site and a workspace server package (55).); MiniMax Code 81 (Harness reading. `mcode exec` returns a versioned `ExecResult` JSON document (`schemaVersion` 1) or versioned stream-json events, takes `--output-schema` for the final answer, and `mcode acp` speaks the Agent Client Protocol. No OpenAPI, since there's no server API (20). llms.txt indexes the docs, and each page is served as Markdown (10). The security page says when to use each permission policy and to keep `full` and `off` to isolated workspaces, and the automation page gives a CI baseline (16). An options table with defaults and enums for permission, output and prompt modes (12). Examples for each mode, a nine-row exit-code table, five result statuses and a named error for invalid structured output (13). A dated CLI changelog in the docs, whose latest entry (0.7.0, 26 October) trails npm's 0.7.4 (10). Total 81.)
- Agent ergonomics, MiniMax Code +24: Emdash 55 (Harness reading. Issue intake from Linear, GitHub, Jira and others, diff review, pull requests and CI checks in one place, local or over SSH (55).); MiniMax Code 79 (Harness reading, for a pipeline driving the CLI. Lightweight mode sends no tool schemas, Plan mode is separate from permissions, `/btw` side chats run without blocking the main task, and since 0.7.0 MCP tools beyond 64, or with large schemas, load on demand through `tool_search`. No per-tool allow or deny list was found in the CLI docs (16). json and stream-json output, `--timeout`, `--max-steps`, `--output-schema` and `--output-last-message` (18). Exit codes per failure class, a status field and an interaction error when a run would need a person (17). `--session`, `--continue`, fork and rewind, and a model request is retried when the first response doesn't arrive within 300 seconds (16). One positional argument runs a task and BYOK needs no MiniMax login. The TypeScript SDK `@minimax-ai/code-sdk` 0.1.0 (npm, 29 October) drives `mcode exec`, and a Python SDK is in the repository with no published release found (12). Total 79.)
- Security & auth, MiniMax Code +19: Emdash 38 (Harness reading. Telemetry is described as optional and disabled in Settings or with TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false, which reads as on by default (15 of 30). Worktree per task and remote machines over SSH (10 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance (5). No audit log (5). No security policy file found (3). 15 + 10 + 5 + 5 + 3 = 38.); MiniMax Code 57 (Harness reading of the framework checklist. 30 for credentials and what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. Provider keys are read from an environment variable and never printed, and stored in `config.yaml` in the data directory. All three telemetry channels are off by default and the doc lists every field sent. The default `smart` policy classifies actions through a cloud classifier, and what it sends isn't documented (20). Ask, Auto and Full access in the TUI. Headless defaults to `smart` and fails on a pending permission request instead of approving it, while `full` and `off` skip checks. A bundled sandbox runtime with macOS tests, a read-only filesystem policy for Explore subagents when sandboxing is available, but the default sandbox coverage isn't documented (12). SECURITY.md says permissions and sandboxing don't replace review of untrusted plugins, MCP servers and shell commands. No guidance found for fetched web content (6). Sessions kept locally, `/export` with credential redaction, `/transcript` and stream-json events (11). SECURITY.md takes private reports by email and GitHub's private advisories with no response SLA, history and build scans with Gitleaks run in a release-audit workflow, and OSV lists no advisories for `@minimax-ai/code` or `@minimax-ai/code-sdk`. No security.txt (8). Total 57.)
- Maintenance & community, MiniMax Code +9: Emdash 70 (v1.2.11 on 6 November 2026 (30). v1.2.9, v1.2.10 and v1.2.11 within two weeks (20). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). Current installers and Homebrew cask (15). Release workflows, no test CI (5). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 5 = 70.); MiniMax Code 79 (0.7.4 on npm on 30 October 2026 (30). Every npm release from 0.1.0 on 14 August falls in the last 90 days, 62 of them by 15 October per the 19 October check (20). The clone has 167 commits since 3 August and 32 since 2 October, with fixes that cite issues, but pull requests are taken only from collaborators, and issue counts and reply times couldn't be read (11). An official TypeScript SDK, `@minimax-ai/code-sdk` 0.1.0, published on 29 October, and a Python SDK in the repository with no published release found. ACP ships inside the CLI (10). CI pins its GitHub Actions by commit, and the root package pins overrides for vulnerable dependencies (8). Total 79.)
- Transparency & trust, MiniMax Code +9: Emdash 54 (Apache 2.0 (30). A telemetry page on the docs site (not read) (18 of 30). No deprecation policy (5). Disclosed with an opt-out (15 of 20). 30 + 18 + 5 + 15 = 68.); MiniMax Code 63 (First-party code is MIT, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0 and the desktop app closed. The repository says the published npm package isn't shown to be built from this source, and npm is at 0.7.4 while the source is at 0.7.2 (22 of 30). The MiniMax Agent terms (updated 19 January 2026) give MiniMax a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide licence over what users submit through the services and what the services generate from it. The privacy policy of the same date states no retention period and says nothing on training, and the telemetry doc says server-side retention isn't defined. BYOK runs that don't touch MiniMax's services aren't covered by either (8 of 30). No deprecation policy. Removed functions are listed in the changelog without dates ahead (6 of 20). Telemetry is off by default, with each field, each destination and two environment opt-outs documented (20). Total 56.)