MiniMax API Key on OpenClaw: M2.7 Chat, Image, Video & Music

What Is MiniMax?

MiniMax is a Chinese AI lab that builds frontier multimodal models spanning chat, image, video, and music generation. Unlike many providers that specialize in one modality, a single MiniMax API key unlocks their full model family — making it one of the most versatile BYOK additions you can make on OpenClaw Launch.

MiniMax’s flagship chat model, M2.7, is a powerful reasoning model available directly via the MiniMax API (faster and often cheaper than routing through OpenRouter). Their media models — Image-01, Hailuo 2.3 video, and Music 2.5 — are also accessible under the same key, so you get chat and creative generation from a single account.

This guide covers the general BYOK setup via the API Keys page. For a deeper dive into the M2.7 model itself, see the MiniMax M3 model deep-dive guide.

What Your MiniMax Key Unlocks

One MiniMax API key enables all of the following on your OpenClaw instances:

• MiniMax M2.7 direct chat — Faster and cheaper than routing M2.7 through OpenRouter; ideal for agentic reasoning and long-context tasks
• MiniMax Image-01 (minimax/image-01, $0.01 per image) — High-quality text-to-image generation at a low per-image cost
• MiniMax Hailuo 2.3 video (minimax/MiniMax-Hailuo-2.3) — MiniMax’s latest text-to-video and image-to-video model
• MiniMax Music 2.5 (minimax/music-2.5) — Generate full music tracks from text prompts; Music 2.0 is also available as a fallback

MiniMax is a pay-as-you-go service — you are billed per token for chat and per generation for media models.

How to Get a MiniMax API Key

1. Go to the MiniMax platform — Open platform.minimax.io/user-center/basic-information/interface-key in your browser.
2. Sign in or create an account — Register with your email or phone number. MiniMax may require phone verification for new accounts.
3. Navigate to API Keys — Once logged in, the interface-key page will display your existing keys or an option to create a new one.
4. Create and copy your key — Click “Create API Key” (or similar). Your MiniMax key is a JWT token that starts with eyJ.... Copy it immediately.
5. Add billing credits — MiniMax is pay-as-you-go. Top up your account balance in the MiniMax console before making API calls.

Add It on OpenClaw Launch

1. Sign in at openclawlaunch.com and open the API Keys page.
2. Find the MiniMax card. Paste your eyJ... JWT key into the input field and click Save. OpenClaw Launch validates the key live before storing it.
3. Your key is stored encrypted at rest and applied to all your existing running instances immediately — no redeploy needed.
4. For M2.7 chat: click “Set as primary model” on the MiniMax card to route your running instances’ chat to MiniMax M2.7 directly.
5. For image, video, and music: open your instance’s settings and pick the desired MiniMax model (Image-01, Hailuo 2.3, Music 2.5) from the media settings panel.

New to OpenClaw? See the What is OpenClaw? guide or the full OpenClaw BYOK overview.

Prefer Hermes Agent? The Hermes Agent + MiniMax guide covers the same steps for Hermes instances.

Troubleshooting

401 Unauthorized / Invalid Key

• MiniMax keys are JWT tokens starting with eyJ — they are much longer than typical API keys. If your key looks short, you likely copied a group ID or another credential from the MiniMax console instead
• JWT tokens have an expiry claim; if your key expired, generate a new one at platform.minimax.io
• Check for truncation when copying long JWT strings — paste into a plain text editor and verify the token is complete (typically 200+ characters)

Model Not Found

• Make sure the MiniMax key saved successfully on the API Keys page (green checkmark). The image, video, and music model cards only appear after a valid key is stored
• Use the exact model IDs listed above (minimax/image-01, minimax/MiniMax-Hailuo-2.3, minimax/music-2.5); do not modify the provider prefix

Quota / Rate Limit Exceeded

• MiniMax enforces per-minute and per-day rate limits on API calls. If you hit a 429, wait a moment before retrying or review your account tier at platform.minimax.io
• Video generation (Hailuo 2.3) queues can be slower during peak hours — this is a provider-side delay, not an OpenClaw issue
• If your account balance reaches zero, all API calls fail with a billing error. Top up credits in the MiniMax console

Frequently Asked Questions

Does one MiniMax key really unlock chat AND all the media models?

Yes. MiniMax’s API uses a single key for their entire model family. Adding your key to the API Keys page enables M2.7 direct chat, Image-01 image generation, Hailuo 2.3 video, and Music 2.5 — all at once. You do not need separate keys for each modality.

What format is a MiniMax API key?

MiniMax API keys are JWT tokens. They start with eyJ and are typically 200 or more characters long — much longer than the short alphanumeric keys used by providers like fal or Groq. If your key does not start with eyJ, check that you copied from the “Interface Key” section of the MiniMax console, not the group ID or other fields.

Is this guide the same as the MiniMax M3 deep-dive?

No. This guide covers setting up your MiniMax BYOK key via the API Keys page so all MiniMax models become available on your OpenClaw instances. For a detailed breakdown of model capabilities, benchmarks, and use cases, see the separate MiniMax M3 model deep-dive guide.

Will adding a MiniMax key slow down my existing OpenClaw instances?

No. Saving a new API key on the API Keys page does not restart or reconfigure your running instances. Media models (image, video, music) are only invoked when you or your agent explicitly selects them. Your current chat model only changes if you click “Set as primary model” on the MiniMax card.

What's Next?

• Hermes Agent + MiniMax guide — The same MiniMax setup for Hermes Agent instances
• MiniMax M3 model deep-dive — Detailed benchmarks, context window, and use cases for MiniMax M3
• API Keys page — Add your MiniMax key now
• AI coding plans compared — Choose the right OpenClaw plan for multimodal workloads