mini-swe-agent vs MiniMax Code

mini-swe-agent

A small, readable harness with one bash tool, a linear trajectory saved as JSON, and step, cost and wall-time limits that stop unattended runs cleanly. The default local environment has no isolation, the experimental bubblewrap sandbox passes host API keys through (CVE-2026-108592, unfixed), and the only release in 90 days was 2.4.6 on 23 July 2026.

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.

mini-swe-agent

1. Run with -y --exit-immediately for unattended use. Without --exit-immediately it waits for input when the agent finishes
2. Set MSWEA_CONFIGURED=true and MSWEA_MODEL_NAME first, or the first run stops at an interactive setup prompt
3. Read info.exit_status in the -o trajectory file. A run that hits its limits still exits normally
4. For untrusted repositories use -c mini.yaml -c environment.environment_class=docker -c environment.image=<image>. The local and bubblewrap environments both expose host variables
5. Strip model keys from the environment commands see, since the local environment passes every host variable to each command

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