diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4c94cc440..942d13b16 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@
 ### Changes
 - Subagents: add config to set default sub-agent model (`agents.defaults.subagents.model` + per-agent override); still overridden by `sessions_spawn.model`.
 
+### Fixes
+- Tools/Models: MiniMax vision now uses the Coding Plan VLM endpoint (`/v1/coding_plan/vlm`) so the `image` tool works with MiniMax keys.
+- Gateway/macOS: reduce noisy loopback WS “closed before connect” logs during tests.
+
 ## 2026.1.12-1
 
 ### Changes
diff --git a/src/agents/minimax-vlm.ts b/src/agents/minimax-vlm.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0c7fd6ab0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/agents/minimax-vlm.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+type MinimaxBaseResp = {
+  status_code?: number;
+  status_msg?: string;
+};
+
+function coerceApiHost(params: {
+  apiHost?: string;
+  modelBaseUrl?: string;
+  env?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+}): string {
+  const env = params.env ?? process.env;
+  const raw =
+    params.apiHost?.trim() ||
+    env.MINIMAX_API_HOST?.trim() ||
+    params.modelBaseUrl?.trim() ||
+    "https://api.minimax.io";
+
+  try {
+    const url = new URL(raw);
+    return url.origin;
+  } catch {}
+
+  try {
+    const url = new URL(`https://${raw}`);
+    return url.origin;
+  } catch {
+    return "https://api.minimax.io";
+  }
+}
+
+function isRecord(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+  return Boolean(value && typeof value === "object" && !Array.isArray(value));
+}
+
+function pickString(rec: Record<string, unknown>, key: string): string {
+  const v = rec[key];
+  return typeof v === "string" ? v : "";
+}
+
+export async function minimaxUnderstandImage(params: {
+  apiKey: string;
+  prompt: string;
+  imageDataUrl: string;
+  apiHost?: string;
+  modelBaseUrl?: string;
+}): Promise<string> {
+  const apiKey = params.apiKey.trim();
+  if (!apiKey) throw new Error("MiniMax VLM: apiKey required");
+  const prompt = params.prompt.trim();
+  if (!prompt) throw new Error("MiniMax VLM: prompt required");
+  const imageDataUrl = params.imageDataUrl.trim();
+  if (!imageDataUrl) throw new Error("MiniMax VLM: imageDataUrl required");
+  if (!/^data:image\/(png|jpeg|webp);base64,/i.test(imageDataUrl)) {
+    throw new Error(
+      "MiniMax VLM: imageDataUrl must be a base64 data:image/(png|jpeg|webp) URL",
+    );
+  }
+
+  const host = coerceApiHost({
+    apiHost: params.apiHost,
+    modelBaseUrl: params.modelBaseUrl,
+  });
+  const url = new URL("/v1/coding_plan/vlm", host).toString();
+
+  const res = await fetch(url, {
+    method: "POST",
+    headers: {
+      Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
+      "Content-Type": "application/json",
+      "MM-API-Source": "Clawdbot",
+    },
+    body: JSON.stringify({
+      prompt,
+      image_url: imageDataUrl,
+    }),
+  });
+
+  const traceId = res.headers.get("Trace-Id") ?? "";
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    const body = await res.text().catch(() => "");
+    const trace = traceId ? ` Trace-Id: ${traceId}` : "";
+    throw new Error(
+      `MiniMax VLM request failed (${res.status} ${res.statusText}).${trace}${
+        body ? ` Body: ${body.slice(0, 400)}` : ""
+      }`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  const json = (await res.json().catch(() => null)) as unknown;
+  if (!isRecord(json)) {
+    const trace = traceId ? ` Trace-Id: ${traceId}` : "";
+    throw new Error(`MiniMax VLM response was not JSON.${trace}`);
+  }
+
+  const baseResp = isRecord(json.base_resp)
+    ? (json.base_resp as MinimaxBaseResp)
+    : {};
+  const code =
+    typeof baseResp.status_code === "number" ? baseResp.status_code : -1;
+  if (code !== 0) {
+    const msg = (baseResp.status_msg ?? "").trim();
+    const trace = traceId ? ` Trace-Id: ${traceId}` : "";
+    throw new Error(
+      `MiniMax VLM API error (${code})${msg ? `: ${msg}` : ""}.${trace}`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  const content = pickString(json, "content").trim();
+  if (!content) {
+    const trace = traceId ? ` Trace-Id: ${traceId}` : "";
+    throw new Error(`MiniMax VLM returned no content.${trace}`);
+  }
+
+  return content;
+}
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/image-tool.test.ts b/src/agents/tools/image-tool.test.ts
index c0d194542..bfdea82db 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/image-tool.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/image-tool.test.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ async function writeAuthProfiles(agentDir: string, profiles: unknown) {
 }
 
 describe("image tool implicit imageModel config", () => {
+  const priorFetch = global.fetch;
+
   beforeEach(() => {
     vi.stubEnv("OPENAI_API_KEY", "");
     vi.stubEnv("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", "");
@@ -30,6 +32,8 @@ describe("image tool implicit imageModel config", () => {
 
   afterEach(() => {
     vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+    // @ts-expect-error global fetch cleanup
+    global.fetch = priorFetch;
   });
 
   it("stays disabled without auth when no pairing is possible", async () => {
@@ -132,6 +136,60 @@ describe("image tool implicit imageModel config", () => {
       tool.execute("t2", { image: "../escape.png" }),
     ).rejects.toThrow(/escapes sandbox root/i);
   });
+
+  it("rewrites inbound absolute paths into sandbox media/inbound", async () => {
+    const stateDir = await fs.mkdtemp(
+      path.join(os.tmpdir(), "clawdbot-image-sandbox-"),
+    );
+    const agentDir = path.join(stateDir, "agent");
+    const sandboxRoot = path.join(stateDir, "sandbox");
+    await fs.mkdir(agentDir, { recursive: true });
+    await fs.mkdir(path.join(sandboxRoot, "media", "inbound"), {
+      recursive: true,
+    });
+    const pngB64 =
+      "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mP8/woAAn8B9FD5fHAAAAAASUVORK5CYII=";
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      path.join(sandboxRoot, "media", "inbound", "photo.png"),
+      Buffer.from(pngB64, "base64"),
+    );
+
+    const fetch = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      ok: true,
+      status: 200,
+      statusText: "OK",
+      headers: new Headers(),
+      json: async () => ({
+        content: "ok",
+        base_resp: { status_code: 0, status_msg: "" },
+      }),
+    });
+    // @ts-expect-error partial global
+    global.fetch = fetch;
+    vi.stubEnv("MINIMAX_API_KEY", "minimax-test");
+
+    const cfg: ClawdbotConfig = {
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          model: { primary: "minimax/MiniMax-M2.1" },
+          imageModel: { primary: "minimax/MiniMax-VL-01" },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const tool = createImageTool({ config: cfg, agentDir, sandboxRoot });
+    expect(tool).not.toBeNull();
+    if (!tool) throw new Error("expected image tool");
+
+    const res = await tool.execute("t1", {
+      prompt: "Describe the image.",
+      image: "/Users/steipete/.clawdbot/media/inbound/photo.png",
+    });
+
+    expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect((res.details as { rewrittenFrom?: string }).rewrittenFrom).toContain(
+      "photo.png",
+    );
+  });
 });
 
 describe("image tool data URL support", () => {
@@ -151,6 +209,99 @@ describe("image tool data URL support", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("image tool MiniMax VLM routing", () => {
+  const pngB64 =
+    "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mP8/woAAn8B9FD5fHAAAAAASUVORK5CYII=";
+  const priorFetch = global.fetch;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.stubEnv("MINIMAX_API_KEY", "");
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+    // @ts-expect-error global fetch cleanup
+    global.fetch = priorFetch;
+  });
+
+  it("calls /v1/coding_plan/vlm for minimax image models", async () => {
+    const fetch = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      ok: true,
+      status: 200,
+      statusText: "OK",
+      headers: new Headers(),
+      json: async () => ({
+        content: "ok",
+        base_resp: { status_code: 0, status_msg: "" },
+      }),
+    });
+    // @ts-expect-error partial global
+    global.fetch = fetch;
+
+    const agentDir = await fs.mkdtemp(
+      path.join(os.tmpdir(), "clawdbot-minimax-vlm-"),
+    );
+    vi.stubEnv("MINIMAX_API_KEY", "minimax-test");
+    const cfg: ClawdbotConfig = {
+      agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "minimax/MiniMax-M2.1" } } },
+    };
+    const tool = createImageTool({ config: cfg, agentDir });
+    expect(tool).not.toBeNull();
+    if (!tool) throw new Error("expected image tool");
+
+    const res = await tool.execute("t1", {
+      prompt: "Describe the image.",
+      image: `data:image/png;base64,${pngB64}`,
+    });
+
+    expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const [url, init] = fetch.mock.calls[0];
+    expect(String(url)).toBe("https://api.minimax.io/v1/coding_plan/vlm");
+    expect(init?.method).toBe("POST");
+    expect(
+      String((init?.headers as Record<string, string>)?.Authorization),
+    ).toBe("Bearer minimax-test");
+    expect(String(init?.body)).toContain('"prompt":"Describe the image."');
+    expect(String(init?.body)).toContain('"image_url":"data:image/png;base64,');
+
+    const text = res.content?.find((b) => b.type === "text")?.text ?? "";
+    expect(text).toBe("ok");
+  });
+
+  it("surfaces MiniMax API errors from /v1/coding_plan/vlm", async () => {
+    const fetch = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      ok: true,
+      status: 200,
+      statusText: "OK",
+      headers: new Headers(),
+      json: async () => ({
+        content: "",
+        base_resp: { status_code: 1004, status_msg: "bad key" },
+      }),
+    });
+    // @ts-expect-error partial global
+    global.fetch = fetch;
+
+    const agentDir = await fs.mkdtemp(
+      path.join(os.tmpdir(), "clawdbot-minimax-vlm-"),
+    );
+    vi.stubEnv("MINIMAX_API_KEY", "minimax-test");
+    const cfg: ClawdbotConfig = {
+      agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "minimax/MiniMax-M2.1" } } },
+    };
+    const tool = createImageTool({ config: cfg, agentDir });
+    expect(tool).not.toBeNull();
+    if (!tool) throw new Error("expected image tool");
+
+    await expect(
+      tool.execute("t1", {
+        prompt: "Describe the image.",
+        image: `data:image/png;base64,${pngB64}`,
+      }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/MiniMax VLM API error/i);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("image tool response validation", () => {
   it("rejects image-model responses with no final text", () => {
     expect(() =>
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/image-tool.ts b/src/agents/tools/image-tool.ts
index c3b1b9eab..46a16e3d2 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/image-tool.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/image-tool.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import path from "node:path";
+
 import {
   type Api,
   type AssistantMessage,
@@ -19,6 +22,7 @@ import {
   listProfilesForProvider,
 } from "../auth-profiles.js";
 import { DEFAULT_MODEL, DEFAULT_PROVIDER } from "../defaults.js";
+import { minimaxUnderstandImage } from "../minimax-vlm.js";
 import { getApiKeyForModel, resolveEnvApiKey } from "../model-auth.js";
 import { runWithImageModelFallback } from "../model-fallback.js";
 import { parseModelRef } from "../model-selection.js";
@@ -278,6 +282,38 @@ function buildImageContext(
   };
 }
 
+async function resolveSandboxedImagePath(params: {
+  sandboxRoot: string;
+  imagePath: string;
+}): Promise<{ resolved: string; rewrittenFrom?: string }> {
+  const normalize = (p: string) =>
+    p.startsWith("file://") ? p.slice("file://".length) : p;
+  const filePath = normalize(params.imagePath);
+  try {
+    const out = await assertSandboxPath({
+      filePath,
+      cwd: params.sandboxRoot,
+      root: params.sandboxRoot,
+    });
+    return { resolved: out.resolved };
+  } catch (err) {
+    const name = path.basename(filePath);
+    const candidateRel = path.join("media", "inbound", name);
+    const candidateAbs = path.join(params.sandboxRoot, candidateRel);
+    try {
+      await fs.stat(candidateAbs);
+    } catch {
+      throw err;
+    }
+    const out = await assertSandboxPath({
+      filePath: candidateRel,
+      cwd: params.sandboxRoot,
+      root: params.sandboxRoot,
+    });
+    return { resolved: out.resolved, rewrittenFrom: filePath };
+  }
+}
+
 async function runImagePrompt(params: {
   cfg?: ClawdbotConfig;
   agentDir: string;
@@ -328,6 +364,18 @@ async function runImagePrompt(params: {
         agentDir: params.agentDir,
       });
       authStorage.setRuntimeApiKey(model.provider, apiKeyInfo.apiKey);
+      const imageDataUrl = `data:${params.mimeType};base64,${params.base64}`;
+
+      if (model.provider === "minimax") {
+        const text = await minimaxUnderstandImage({
+          apiKey: apiKeyInfo.apiKey,
+          prompt: params.prompt,
+          imageDataUrl,
+          modelBaseUrl: model.baseUrl,
+        });
+        return { text, provider: model.provider, model: model.id };
+      }
+
       const context = buildImageContext(
         params.prompt,
         params.base64,
@@ -337,23 +385,19 @@ async function runImagePrompt(params: {
         apiKey: apiKeyInfo.apiKey,
         maxTokens: 512,
       })) as AssistantMessage;
-      return {
+      const text = coerceImageAssistantText({
         message,
         provider: model.provider,
         model: model.id,
-      };
+      });
+      return { text, provider: model.provider, model: model.id };
     },
   });
 
-  const text = coerceImageAssistantText({
-    message: result.result.message,
+  return {
+    text: result.result.text,
     provider: result.result.provider,
     model: result.result.model,
-  });
-  return {
-    text,
-    provider: result.provider,
-    model: result.model,
     attempts: result.attempts.map((attempt) => ({
       provider: attempt.provider,
       model: attempt.model,
@@ -423,21 +467,20 @@ export function createImageTool(options?: {
         if (imageRaw.startsWith("~")) return resolveUserPath(imageRaw);
         return imageRaw;
       })();
-      const resolvedPath = isDataUrl
-        ? null
-        : sandboxRoot
-          ? (
-              await assertSandboxPath({
-                filePath: resolvedImage.startsWith("file://")
+      const resolvedPathInfo: { resolved: string; rewrittenFrom?: string } =
+        isDataUrl
+          ? { resolved: "" }
+          : sandboxRoot
+            ? await resolveSandboxedImagePath({
+                sandboxRoot,
+                imagePath: resolvedImage,
+              })
+            : {
+                resolved: resolvedImage.startsWith("file://")
                   ? resolvedImage.slice("file://".length)
                   : resolvedImage,
-                cwd: sandboxRoot,
-                root: sandboxRoot,
-              })
-            ).resolved
-          : resolvedImage.startsWith("file://")
-            ? resolvedImage.slice("file://".length)
-            : resolvedImage;
+              };
+      const resolvedPath = isDataUrl ? null : resolvedPathInfo.resolved;
 
       const media = isDataUrl
         ? decodeDataUrl(resolvedImage)
@@ -465,6 +508,9 @@ export function createImageTool(options?: {
         details: {
           model: `${result.provider}/${result.model}`,
           image: resolvedImage,
+          ...(resolvedPathInfo.rewrittenFrom
+            ? { rewrittenFrom: resolvedPathInfo.rewrittenFrom }
+            : {}),
           attempts: result.attempts,
         },
       };