MiniMax (M2.5 / M2.7)

MiniMax builds the M2/M2.5/M2.7 model family — a full-stack AI company covering text, speech, video, image, and music. M2.5 excels at multi-language coding and agent compatibility. Supports OAuth via Coding Plan or API key. Anthropic Messages API compatible.

MiniMax is a Shanghai-based AI company founded in 2022, building a comprehensive full-stack model matrix covering text, speech, video, image, and music. For OpenClaw, the relevant products are the M2.5 and M2.7 text models — competitively priced coding-focused models with Anthropic Messages API compatibility. The M2.7 model represents MiniMax's latest release, featuring 'recursive self-improvement' capabilities and significant practical gains over M2.5. Both models come in standard and Highspeed variants — the Highspeed versions offer the same quality with significantly faster inference, ideal for interactive agent use. All models use the Anthropic Messages API format, which means full compatibility with OpenClaw's streaming, tool use, and thinking features. At $0.30/$1.20 per MTok (input/output), MiniMax models sit in an attractive price band — 10x cheaper than Claude Sonnet and competitive with other budget-tier models, while delivering strong performance on coding tasks. The 200K context window handles most codebases, and the 65K max output token limit is generous for code generation. MiniMax also supports OAuth via their Coding Plan for subscription-based access. MiniMax serves over 214,000 enterprise clients and developers globally, with operations spanning 100+ countries. The company recently published 2025 financial results positioning itself as a 'platform company' — signaling long-term commitment to their API platform. Their broader product suite includes Hailuo AI (video), MiniMax Speech (TTS), and MiniMax Agent (conversational AI).

Tags: coding, anthropic-compatible, oauth, chinese-ai, multimodal-platform, agent-ready

Use Cases

  • Budget-friendly coding agent for OpenClaw at $0.30/MTok input
  • High-volume code generation and refactoring tasks
  • Multi-language coding (Python, TypeScript, Go, Rust)
  • Interactive coding agent workflows using Highspeed variants
  • Cost-optimized daily driver for teams with high API volume
  • OAuth-based coding plan for predictable monthly costs

Tips

  • Use MiniMax-M2.5-highspeed as a budget daily driver for OpenClaw — fast, cheap ($0.30/MTok), and good at coding.
  • M2.7 offers improvements over M2.5 with 'recursive self-improvement'. Try it for complex engineering tasks.
  • The Highspeed variants are recommended for interactive agent use — same quality, lower latency.
  • At $0.30/$1.20 per MTok, MiniMax is one of the cheapest providers with genuine coding capability. Great for high-volume tasks.
  • Configure alongside Anthropic or OpenAI — use MiniMax for routine coding, frontier models for complex architecture.
  • The 65K max output is generous — useful for generating large code files or comprehensive documentation.

Known Issues & Gotchas

  • No vision support — M2.5/M2.7 are text-only. Can't process screenshots or UI mockups.
  • Uses Anthropic Messages API format, NOT OpenAI Chat Completions. Make sure you're using the right API type in your config.
  • Documentation is partially in Chinese. English docs at platform.minimax.io/docs are improving but may lag.
  • MiniMax has separate model families for different modalities (text, speech, video). Only text models work with OpenClaw.
  • OAuth/Coding Plan authentication is separate from API key auth. Choose one approach and stick with it.
  • The company is based in China — consider data residency and latency implications for your use case.
  • M2.7 is the newest model but may have less community feedback compared to the established M2.5.

Alternatives

  • Anthropic (Claude Sonnet)
  • Moonshot AI (Kimi)
  • Together AI (DeepSeek V3.1)
  • Mistral (Small)

Community Feedback

MiniMax M2.5 is an absolute steal at $0.30/MTok input. For coding tasks it punches well above its price point. The Anthropic-compatible API is a nice touch.

— Reddit r/LocalLLaMA

MiniMax is quietly becoming one of the more interesting Chinese AI companies. Full-stack model coverage — text, speech, video, music — from a single platform.

— Reddit r/artificial

The Highspeed variant of M2.5 is impressively fast. Same quality but noticeably lower latency. Good for interactive coding agents.

— Hacker News

Configuration Examples

Basic MiniMax setup

providers:
  minimax:
    apiKey: your-minimax-api-key
    model: minimax/MiniMax-M2.7

MiniMax Highspeed for interactive use

providers:
  minimax:
    apiKey: your-minimax-api-key
    model: minimax/MiniMax-M2.7-highspeed
    # Lower latency, same quality — ideal for agent use

MiniMax as budget coding provider

providers:
  anthropic:
    apiKey: sk-ant-xxxxx
    model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6
  minimax:
    apiKey: your-minimax-api-key
    model: minimax/MiniMax-M2.5-highspeed
    # $0.30/MTok — use for routine coding tasks
    # Switch with: /model minimax/MiniMax-M2.5-highspeed