diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e7f72eded..399369fde 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 - Onboarding/Gateway: persist non-interactive gateway token auth in config; add WS wizard + gateway tool-calling regression coverage.
 - CLI: `clawdbot sessions` now includes `elev:*` + `usage:*` flags in the table output.
 - Branding: normalize user-facing “ClawdBot”/“CLAWDBOT” → “Clawdbot” (CLI, status, docs).
+- Models/Auth: allow MiniMax API configs without `models.providers.minimax.apiKey` (auth profiles / `MINIMAX_API_KEY`). (#656) — thanks @mneves75.
 
 ## 2026.1.9
 
diff --git a/src/commands/configure.ts b/src/commands/configure.ts
index e7229c9ac..0c4780e80 100644
--- a/src/commands/configure.ts
+++ b/src/commands/configure.ts
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ import { healthCommand } from "./health.js";
 import { formatHealthCheckFailure } from "./health-format.js";
 import {
   applyAuthProfileConfig,
+  applyMinimaxApiConfig,
   applyMinimaxConfig,
   applyMinimaxHostedConfig,
   applyOpencodeZenConfig,
@@ -369,6 +370,7 @@ async function promptAuthConfig(
     | "gemini-api-key"
     | "apiKey"
     | "minimax-cloud"
+    | "minimax-api"
     | "minimax"
     | "opencode-zen"
     | "skip";
@@ -788,6 +790,21 @@ async function promptAuthConfig(
     next = applyMinimaxHostedConfig(next);
   } else if (authChoice === "minimax") {
     next = applyMinimaxConfig(next);
+  } else if (authChoice === "minimax-api") {
+    const key = guardCancel(
+      await text({
+        message: "Enter MiniMax API key",
+        validate: (value) => (value?.trim() ? undefined : "Required"),
+      }),
+      runtime,
+    );
+    await setMinimaxApiKey(String(key).trim());
+    next = applyAuthProfileConfig(next, {
+      profileId: "minimax:default",
+      provider: "minimax",
+      mode: "api_key",
+    });
+    next = applyMinimaxApiConfig(next);
   } else if (authChoice === "opencode-zen") {
     note(
       [
diff --git a/src/commands/onboard-auth.ts b/src/commands/onboard-auth.ts
index 303512c5a..43f16ac2a 100644
--- a/src/commands/onboard-auth.ts
+++ b/src/commands/onboard-auth.ts
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ export function applyMinimaxApiProviderConfig(
   const providers = { ...cfg.models?.providers };
   providers.minimax = {
     baseUrl: MINIMAX_API_BASE_URL,
-    apiKey: "", // Resolved via MINIMAX_API_KEY env var or auth profile
+    // apiKey omitted: resolved via MINIMAX_API_KEY env var or auth profile by default.
     api: "anthropic-messages",
     models: [buildMinimaxApiModelDefinition(modelId)],
   };
diff --git a/src/config/config.test.ts b/src/config/config.test.ts
index 092c95bec..1670f4e9d 100644
--- a/src/config/config.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.test.ts
@@ -240,6 +240,57 @@ describe("config identity defaults", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("accepts blank model provider apiKey values", async () => {
+    await withTempHome(async (home) => {
+      const configDir = path.join(home, ".clawdbot");
+      await fs.mkdir(configDir, { recursive: true });
+      await fs.writeFile(
+        path.join(configDir, "clawdbot.json"),
+        JSON.stringify(
+          {
+            models: {
+              mode: "merge",
+              providers: {
+                minimax: {
+                  baseUrl: "https://api.minimax.io/anthropic",
+                  apiKey: "",
+                  api: "anthropic-messages",
+                  models: [
+                    {
+                      id: "MiniMax-M2.1",
+                      name: "MiniMax M2.1",
+                      reasoning: false,
+                      input: ["text"],
+                      cost: {
+                        input: 0,
+                        output: 0,
+                        cacheRead: 0,
+                        cacheWrite: 0,
+                      },
+                      contextWindow: 200000,
+                      maxTokens: 8192,
+                    },
+                  ],
+                },
+              },
+            },
+          },
+          null,
+          2,
+        ),
+        "utf-8",
+      );
+
+      vi.resetModules();
+      const { loadConfig } = await import("./config.js");
+      const cfg = loadConfig();
+
+      expect(cfg.models?.providers?.minimax?.baseUrl).toBe(
+        "https://api.minimax.io/anthropic",
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
   it("respects empty responsePrefix to disable identity defaults", async () => {
     await withTempHome(async (home) => {
       const configDir = path.join(home, ".clawdbot");
diff --git a/src/config/types.ts b/src/config/types.ts
index c7c940f4a..dbac18a92 100644
--- a/src/config/types.ts
+++ b/src/config/types.ts
@@ -1201,7 +1201,7 @@ export type ModelDefinitionConfig = {
 
 export type ModelProviderConfig = {
   baseUrl: string;
-  apiKey: string;
+  apiKey?: string;
   api?: ModelApi;
   headers?: Record<string, string>;
   authHeader?: boolean;
diff --git a/src/config/zod-schema.ts b/src/config/zod-schema.ts
index 3f07f7d96..39164e69f 100644
--- a/src/config/zod-schema.ts
+++ b/src/config/zod-schema.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ const ModelDefinitionSchema = z.object({
 
 const ModelProviderSchema = z.object({
   baseUrl: z.string().min(1),
-  apiKey: z.string().min(1),
+  apiKey: z.string().optional(),
   api: ModelApiSchema.optional(),
   headers: z.record(z.string(), z.string()).optional(),
   authHeader: z.boolean().optional(),