What causes "Missing ${MINIMAX_API_KEY_VAR}" in jackwener/OpenCLI?

Export the key: export MINIMAX_API_KEY="your-key" in the current shell before running the command.

jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ConfigError

Missing ${MINIMAX_API_KEY_VAR}

Error message

Missing ${MINIMAX_API_KEY_VAR}

What it means

A ConfigError thrown by requireApiKey() in clis/minimax/utils.js when the MINIMAX_API_KEY environment variable is unset or contains only whitespace. The library requires a MiniMax API key before any request to the music generation endpoint. It refuses to proceed because every call sends the key as a Bearer token, and an empty key can only produce an auth failure downstream.

Source

Thrown at clis/minimax/utils.js:18

import * as fs from 'node:fs';
import * as os from 'node:os';
import * as path from 'node:path';
import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
import { ArgumentError, AuthRequiredError, CommandExecutionError, ConfigError, TimeoutError } from '@jackwener/opencli/errors';

export const MINIMAX_API_KEY_VAR = 'MINIMAX_API_KEY';
export const MUSIC_REGIONS = {
    global: { host: 'api.minimax.io', endpoint: 'https://api.minimax.io/v1/music_generation' },
    cn: { host: 'api.minimaxi.com', endpoint: 'https://api.minimaxi.com/v1/music_generation' },
};

const AUTH_CODES = new Set([1004, 2049]);

export function requireApiKey() {
    const key = String(process.env[MINIMAX_API_KEY_VAR] ?? '').trim();
    if (!key) {
        throw new ConfigError(
            `Missing ${MINIMAX_API_KEY_VAR}`,
            `Export an API key issued for the selected MiniMax region as ${MINIMAX_API_KEY_VAR}.`,
        );
    }
    return key;
}

export function buildRequest(options) {
    const body = {
        model: options.model,
        output_format: options.outputFormat,
        audio_setting: { format: options.audioFormat },
    };
    if (options.prompt) body.prompt = options.prompt;
    if (options.lyrics) body.lyrics = options.lyrics;
    if (options.sampleRate != null) body.audio_setting.sample_rate = options.sampleRate;
    if (options.bitrate != null) body.audio_setting.bitrate = options.bitrate;
    if (options.instrumental) body.is_instrumental = true;

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

Export the key: export MINIMAX_API_KEY="your-key" in the current shell before running the command.
Add the export to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc) or to the .env file your tooling loads, then restart the shell.
In CI/CD or Docker, pass the variable explicitly (e.g. docker run -e MINIMAX_API_KEY=... or the CI secrets panel).
Verify with: node -e "console.log(!!process.env.MINIMAX_API_KEY)" that the variable is visible to Node.

Example fix

// before (shell)
minimax music --prompt "lofi beat"
// Error: Missing MINIMAX_API_KEY

// after (shell)
export MINIMAX_API_KEY="eyJhbGciOi..."
minimax music --prompt "lofi beat"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// run before invoking the library
if (!process.env.MINIMAX_API_KEY || !process.env.MINIMAX_API_KEY.trim()) {
  throw new Error('Set MINIMAX_API_KEY before calling minimax commands');
}

Prevention

Keep the export in ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc and in CI secret config, not ad-hoc per shell.
Add a startup check script that asserts MINIMAX_API_KEY is non-empty before running workflows.
Use dotenv loading in scripts so the key travels with the project environment.
Avoid lookalike variable names; standardize on MINIMAX_API_KEY.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling any command that resolves an API key via requireApiKey() (through the apiKey helper) while String(process.env.MINIMAX_API_KEY ?? '').trim() yields an empty string — the variable is unset, exported as empty, or contains only spaces.

Common situations: Fresh clones where .env is not sourced; running the CLI under cron/CI where the shell profile that exports the key is not loaded; using a different shell (e.g. switching from zsh to sh) that lacks the export; typos like MINIMAX_APIKEY; docker containers started without -e MINIMAX_API_KEY.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a0a7421729864d47. Report an issue: GitHub.