MiniMax-AI/skills · critical · SystemExit

ERROR: MINIMAX_API_KEY is not set.\n export MINIMAX_API_KEY

Error message

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

What it means

Raised inside the _headers() helper, called lazily when generate_image() makes its POST. API_KEY is falsy so the Authorization Bearer header cannot be built. Because the check is in _headers (not at import), importing the module succeeds; it only fails when a request is attempted.

Source

Thrown at skills/gif-sticker-maker/scripts/minimax_image.py:33

import sys
import json
import base64
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.")

ASPECT_RATIOS = ["1:1", "16:9", "4:3", "3:2", "2:3", "3:4", "9:16", "21:9"]


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 _encode_image(image_path: str) -> str:
    """Read local image file and return base64 data URI."""
    ext = os.path.splitext(image_path)[1].lower().lstrip(".")
    mime_map = {"jpg": "jpeg", "jpeg": "jpeg", "png": "png", "webp": "webp"}
    mime = mime_map.get(ext, "jpeg")
    with open(image_path, "rb") as f:
        raw = f.read()
    return f"data:image/{mime};base64,{base64.b64encode(raw).decode()}"


def generate_image(
    prompt: str,

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_image.py "a cat" -o cat.png
ERROR: MINIMAX_API_KEY is not set.

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

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 generate_image()")
if not os.getenv("MINIMAX_API_BASE"):
    raise EnvironmentError("MINIMAX_API_BASE must be set before importing minimax_image")
from skills.gif_sticker_maker.scripts.minimax_image import generate_image

Type guard

def has_image_key() -> bool:
    """True only when the image 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_image.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 image 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 generate_image() 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/subprocess than where the export ran; key var name typo; key set interactively but not in the runner subprocess.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of MiniMax-AI/skills@60aaae52bb (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5d72569aa30f1f5a. Report an issue: GitHub.