# goose vs MiniMax Code

> goose scores 73.9 (BB) to MiniMax Code's 67.5 (B) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-minimax-code
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-minimax-code.md (~3,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-minimax-code.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-minimax-code.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-10-19

goose scores 73.9 (BB) on agent readiness against MiniMax Code's 67.5 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

- goose: grade BB, 73.9/100, rank #82 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/goose.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

### goose (BB)

Good for: People and pipelines that want one agent across many model providers or local models, with recipes for repeatable jobs and a desktop app for non-engineers.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 77 against 63
- Agent ergonomics, 82 against 75
- Security & auth, 77 against 57
- Maintenance & community, 86 against 77

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: Autonomous mode, which approves every tool call, is the default

### MiniMax Code (B)

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

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 2.5 out of 5

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 | goose | MiniMax Code | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 77 | 63 | goose +14 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 81 | even |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 75 | goose +7 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 77 | 57 | goose +20 |
| 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) | 86 | 77 | goose +9 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 61 | goose +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **73.9 · BB** | **67.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | goose | MiniMax Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Agentic AI Foundation (originally Block) | MiniMax |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| 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 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-16 | 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 | 55k stars | 2k stars, 6.8k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**goose.** Telemetry off until the user opts in, with the collected fields listed. Autonomous mode, which approves every tool call, is the default.

**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

### goose

1. Set `GOOSE_MODE=smart_approve` or `approve` before a run. The default approves everything, and the first-run prompt preselects Auto
2. Pass `--max-turns` with a real limit. The default is 1000
3. Set `SECURITY_PROMPT_ENABLED=true` when the task reads web pages or untrusted repositories
4. Use `--output-format json` and `--no-session` in CI, and check the exit code
5. Point remotes and links at aaif-goose/goose and goose-docs.ai. The block/goose paths redirect

### 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, goose or MiniMax Code?

goose scores 73.9 (BB) on agent readiness against MiniMax Code's 67.5 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

### Are goose and MiniMax Code open source?

Yes. goose is open source (Apache-2.0). 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/goose-vs-minimax-code.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-minimax-code.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "goose", "b": "minimax-code"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare goose minimax-code`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/goose.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-code.json

## Other comparisons with goose or MiniMax Code

- [Agent Zero vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-goose.md)
- [Agent Zero vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Aider vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-goose.md)
- [Aider vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Amp vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-goose.md)
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- [Antigravity CLI vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-goose.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-goose.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Claude Code vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-goose.md)
- [Claude Code vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Cline vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-goose.md)
- [Cline vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Crush vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-goose.md)
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- [DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-harness-vs-goose.md)
- [DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-harness-vs-minimax-code.md)
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