# MiniMax Code vs Rovo Dev CLI

> MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) to Rovo Dev CLI's 43.9 (E) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-rovo-dev-cli
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-rovo-dev-cli.md (~3,800 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-rovo-dev-cli.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
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- 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 Rovo Dev CLI's 43.9 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

- 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
- Rovo Dev CLI: grade E, 43.9/100, rank #1024 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/rovo-dev-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/rovo-dev-cli.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

### 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 35
- Schema & documentation, 81 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 53
- Security & auth, 57 against 48
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 15
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 61

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card
- Open source
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 2.0 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

### Rovo Dev CLI (E)

Good for: Teams already on Jira, Confluence and Bitbucket who want the agent to read and update work items and pages from the terminal or a pipeline.

Watch for: Atlassian has announced end of life for standalone Rovo Dev, with the CLI moving to the Rovo CLI and no dates set


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | MiniMax Code | Rovo Dev CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 63 | 35 | MiniMax Code +28 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 45 | MiniMax Code +36 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 53 | MiniMax Code +22 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 48 | MiniMax Code +9 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 15 | MiniMax Code +45 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 61 | MiniMax Code +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 61 | even |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **67.5 · B** | **43.9 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | MiniMax Code | Rovo Dev CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | MiniMax | Atlassian |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published | Proprietary, under the Atlassian Customer Agreement (effective 1 October 2026) and the Atlassian AI Terms (effective 17 August 2026). No source is published |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-01-19 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-01-19 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 2k stars, 6.8k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (4) | 2/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Rovo Dev CLI.** Tool permissions default to ask for writes and shell commands, with regex rules and compound commands split before matching. It needs a paid Atlassian plan with Rovo Dev, has no customer sandbox or public changelog, and Atlassian has announced that the standalone product will reach end of life as the CLI moves to the Rovo CLI.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Rovo Dev CLI

1. Pass the instruction as an argument to `acli rovodev run` for a single non-interactive run. No JSON output flag or exit codes are documented
2. Use `acli rovodev serve <port>` and stream `/v3/stream_chat?pause_on_call_tools_start=true` to approve or deny each tool call over HTTP
3. Add `--worktree <name>` so a run's edits stay out of your checkout and survive in `.rovodev/worktrees/<name>`
4. Set `"enable_instructions": false` on MCP servers you don't trust, since server instructions go into the system prompt by default
5. Check `/usage` before long runs. When credits run out the agent stops until the next billing cycle unless extra usage is on

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, MiniMax Code or Rovo Dev CLI?

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against Rovo Dev CLI's 43.9 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are MiniMax Code and Rovo Dev CLI open source?

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). No open-source release is listed for Rovo Dev CLI.


## For agents

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

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