minimax-401-diagnostic

MiniMax 401 Diagnostic

Pattern (always identical)

1. AO worker starts → hits MiniMax proxy → proxy returns 401 Unauthorized
2. Claude Code intercepts 401 → shows /login prompt in tmux pane
3. Worker appears to hang ("waiting for input") but is actually blocked on /login
4. tmux capture-pane shows: Please run /login · API Error: 401 or login fail: carry the API secret key in the 'Authorization' field
5. Config shows agent: minimax or model: MiniMax-M2.7 — but the model name is NOT the cause

Quick Diagnosis

Step 0 — Plist template check (do this FIRST)

# Check for unsubstituted @VAR@ tokens in the installed plist
# If any exist, bash expands them to empty → 401 on every API call
python3 - "$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.agento.lifecycle-all.plist" <<'EOF'
import plistlib, re, sys
content = open(sys.argv[1]).read()
vars = re.findall(r'@[A-Z_][A-Z0-9_]*@', content)
if vars:
    print(f'BAD: Unsubstituted tokens: {sorted(set(vars))}')
else:
    print('OK: No unsubstituted @VAR@ tokens')
EOF

# If BAD: re-run setup to regenerate plist with real env vars:
bash scripts/setup-launchd.sh lifecycle
# Then verify:
bash scripts/test-launchd-env.sh

If @VAR@ tokens exist in the plist, the fix is to re-run setup-launchd.sh — no deeper diagnosis needed. This is the root cause ~90% of the time.

# Check the plist's MINIMAX_API_KEY — the sentinel means broken
grep -A2 "MINIMAX_API_KEY" ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.agento.lifecycle-all.plist

# Should show: <string>__OPENCLAW_REDACTED__</string>  ← BAD (redacted placeholder)
# Should show: <string>eyJ...</string> or a real key   ← GOOD

# Check if the keychain has a real value
security find-generic-password -s MINIMAX_API_KEY -w

# If keychain has real value, update the plist:
# bash scripts/setup-launchd.sh lifecycle

Full Diagnostic Steps

Step 1: Capture the worker's tmux pane

# Find the tmux session for the stuck worker
tmux list-sessions | grep <worker-name>

# Capture the stuck state
tmux capture-pane -pt <session>:0.0 -S -100

Look for: Please run /login, API Error: 401, login fail, MINIMAX_API_KEY

Step 2: Check the plist's MINIMAX_API_KEY

python3 - "$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.agento.lifecycle-all.plist" <<'EOF'
import plistlib, sys
data = plistlib.load(open(sys.argv[1], 'rb'))
key = data.get('EnvironmentVariables', {}).get('MINIMAX_API_KEY', '')
print(f'MINIMAX_API_KEY = {repr(key)}')
print('BAD: redacted' if key == '__OPENCLAW_REDACTED__' else 'OK: real key present' if key else 'EMPTY')
EOF

Step 3: Check keychain for the real key

security find-generic-password -s MINIMAX_API_KEY -w

If keychain has a real key but plist has __OPENCLAW_REDACTED__, the plist was set from a legacy config export that used the sentinel.

Step 4: Fix — regenerate the plist from current keychain

# Update the launchd plist with the real key
bash scripts/setup-launchd.sh lifecycle

Or manually:

REAL_KEY=$(security find-generic-password -s MINIMAX_API_KEY -w)
# Then update plist with the real key (not __OPENCLAW_REDACTED__)

Step 5: Reload the launchd service

launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/ai.agento.lifecycle-all
launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.agento.lifecycle-all.plist
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/ai.agento.lifecycle-all

Step 6: Verify workers recover

sleep 5
pgrep -f "lifecycle-worker" | wc -l  # Should show 12+ workers
tmux list-sessions | grep ao-        # Should show active sessions, not stuck on /login

Why Model Swap Does NOT Fix This

You might see model: MiniMax-M2.7 in the config and think "just switch to Claude Opus." This is wrong because:

1. The /login prompt is not model-specific — ANY model hitting a 401 with a redacted key shows it
2. Even if you switch to Claude Opus, if the worker is using the MiniMax proxy as a backend, it still passes the same MINIMAX_API_KEY and gets 401
3. The correct fix is to fix the env var, not change the model

Anti-Patterns

• WRONG: ao spawn --agent codex to "fix" the 401 — masks the symptom, wrong model for the task
• WRONG: export MINIMAX_API_KEY=... in a running shell — doesn't fix the launchd service's env
• WRONG: Changing model in agent-orchestrator.yaml — the model is not the problem
• WRONG: Killing and respawning the worker without fixing the plist — it will hit the same 401 immediately

Recurring Incident History

Date	Worker	Manifestation	Root Cause
2026-04-15	PRs #454, #453, #452, #450, #444	5 PRs stuck with 401	__OPENCLAW_REDACTED__ in plist
2026-05-01	ao-4449 (PR #511)	/login + 401, stuck at "Brewed for 3m 13s"	__OPENCLAW_REDACTED__ in plist

Files to Check

• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.agento.lifecycle-all.plist — MINIMAX_API_KEY value
• scripts/setup-launchd.sh — how MINIMAX_API_KEY is substituted into the plist
• ~/.hermes_prod/config.yaml — MiniMax credential source

Claim Class

This is a root-cause-regression skill — the same failure mode has occurred 6+ times. The fix is trivial (regenerate plist with real key) but the diagnosis keeps getting confused by the model name in the config.