# mini-swe-agent vs MiniMax Code

> MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) to mini-swe-agent's 56.7 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-minimax-code
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-minimax-code.md (~3,750 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-minimax-code.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-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

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against mini-swe-agent's 56.7 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. mini-swe-agent leads on reliability. Both do agent harnesses.

- mini-swe-agent: grade C, 56.7/100, rank #704 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mini-swe-agent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mini-swe-agent.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

### mini-swe-agent (C)

Good for: Benchmark runs, research baselines and RL or fine-tuning pipelines that want a minimal, readable agent with a linear trajectory, and for people who want to read every line of their harness.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 63

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: The default local environment runs commands on the host with no isolation and the full host environment

### 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:
- Schema & documentation, 81 against 58
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 69
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 49
- Transparency & trust, 61 against 51

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where mini-swe-agent loses 4 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 | mini-swe-agent | MiniMax Code | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 63 | mini-swe-agent +7 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 58 | 81 | MiniMax Code +23 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 75 | MiniMax Code +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 57 | MiniMax Code +1 |
| 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) | 49 | 77 | MiniMax Code +28 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 61 | MiniMax Code +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **56.7 · C** | **67.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | mini-swe-agent | MiniMax Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | SWE-bench team (Princeton and Stanford) | MiniMax |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | None | 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 | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-07-23 | 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 | 8.6k stars, 4.4M PyPI/wk | 2k stars, 6.8k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | 3.5/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**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.

## Before you call either

### 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

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, mini-swe-agent or MiniMax Code?

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against mini-swe-agent's 56.7 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. mini-swe-agent leads on reliability.

### Are mini-swe-agent and MiniMax Code open source?

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

## Other comparisons with mini-swe-agent or MiniMax Code

- [Agent Zero vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Agent Zero vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-minimax-code.md)
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- [Antigravity CLI vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-minimax-code.md)
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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp