MiniMax-AI/skills · critical · SystemExit

ERROR: MINIMAX_API_KEY is not set. export MINIMAX_API_KEY=

Error message

ERROR: MINIMAX_API_KEY is not set.
  export MINIMAX_API_KEY='your-key'

What it means

Raised inside the _headers() helper, which is called lazily on every request (create_task, poll_task, download_video). API_KEY is falsy, so the Authorization header cannot be built. Because the check is in _headers and not at import, importing the module succeeds; it only fails when a request is attempted.

Source

Thrown at skills/frontend-dev/scripts/minimax_video.py:31

import os
import sys
import json
import time
import argparse
import requests

API_KEY = os.getenv("MINIMAX_API_KEY")
# China Mainland: https://api.minimaxi.com/v1
# Overseas:       https://api.minimax.io/v1
API_BASE = os.getenv("MINIMAX_API_BASE")
if not API_BASE:
    raise SystemExit("ERROR: MINIMAX_API_BASE is not set.")


def _headers():
    if not API_KEY:
        raise SystemExit("ERROR: MINIMAX_API_KEY is not set.\n  export MINIMAX_API_KEY='your-key'")
    return {
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    }


def _check_resp(data):
    base_resp = data.get("base_resp", {})
    code = base_resp.get("status_code", 0)
    if code != 0:
        msg = base_resp.get("status_msg", "Unknown error")
        raise SystemExit(f"API Error [{code}]: {msg}")


def create_task(
    prompt: str,
    model: str = "MiniMax-Hailuo-2.3",
    duration: int = 6,

View on GitHub (pinned to 60aaae52bb)

Solutions

Export the key: `export MINIMAX_API_KEY='your-key'` then re-run.
Source .env before launching; confirm with `env | grep MINIMAX`.
In CI, inject MINIMAX_API_KEY as a secret env on the step and assert non-empty up front.

Example fix

// before
$ python minimax_video.py "a cat" -o cat.mp4
ERROR: MINIMAX_API_KEY is not set.

// after
$ export MINIMAX_API_KEY='your-key'
$ python minimax_video.py "a cat" -o cat.mp4

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import os

if not os.getenv("MINIMAX_API_KEY"):
    raise EnvironmentError("MINIMAX_API_KEY must be set before calling create_task/poll_task/download_video")
if not os.getenv("MINIMAX_API_BASE"):
    raise EnvironmentError("MINIMAX_API_BASE must be set before importing minimax_video")
from skills.frontend_dev.scripts.minimax_video import generate

Type guard

def has_video_key() -> bool:
    """True only when the video API key env var is non-empty."""
    return bool(os.getenv("MINIMAX_API_KEY"))

Try / catch

import subprocess, sys
try:
    subprocess.run([sys.executable, "minimax_video.py", prompt, "-o", out], check=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
    if "MINIMAX_API_KEY is not set" in (e.stderr or ""):
        raise EnvironmentError("export MINIMAX_API_KEY first") from e
    raise

Prevention

Assert both MINIMAX env vars in one bootstrap step before any video call.
Gate CI steps on `test -n "$MINIMAX_API_KEY"`.
Run `env | grep MINIMAX` as a preflight in the launching shell.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling create_task/poll_task/download_video or running the CLI with MINIMAX_API_KEY unset/empty (while API_BASE was set, so import succeeded).

Common situations: .env not sourced; CI secret empty/masked; different shell than where the export ran; key var name typo; key set in interactive shell but not the runner subprocess.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of MiniMax-AI/skills@60aaae52bb (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f82f11615e1d6aee. Report an issue: GitHub.