small-scripts/specs/explore-minimax-run.spec.md

explore-minimax-run

Purpose

Run a broad, read-only "where does X live" codebase exploration in a MiniMax M3 sub-session (via ask-minimax-run), so the sweep's file reads cost MiniMax tokens instead of Anthropic tokens and only a cited conclusion returns. Backs the /explore-minimax skill; safe to drive directly.

Usage

explore-minimax-run --root <path> [--root <path> ...] \
    --prompt-file <question-file> --out <result-file> \
    [--breadth medium|very-thorough] [--max-turns N] [--timeout SECS] [--m3] [--effort LEVEL]

Flag	Default	Description
--root	required, repeatable	Search root; resolved with realpath -e, passed as --add-dir
--prompt-file	required	File containing the exploration question (question only — the script prepends the preamble)
--out	required	Where the answer text is written
--breadth	medium	medium (stop when confidently answered) or very-thorough (full sweep, alternate naming conventions)
--max-turns	40	Sub-session turn cap
--timeout	540	Internal timeout in seconds (keeps callers under the harness Bash 600s cap)
--m3	off	Use MiniMax-M3 instead of the default MiniMax-M3.1-Flash-Preview (1M window natively, always thinks). No effort is sent unless --effort is given.
--effort <level>	medium	Thinking depth low|medium|high|xhigh|max, passed to ask-minimax-run --effort. Any other value exits 1.

Behaviour / requirements

1. Roots: every --root resolved to an absolute path; a nonexistent root is a usage error. Any root that is or lies inside a secrets/ or local_secrets/ directory is refused (exit 1) — exploration never touches secrets.
2. Prompt assembly: fixed preamble (read-only rules, path:line citation requirement with ≤10-line excerpts, "NOT FOUND — do not guess", credential-file skip list, no builds/tests, "Searches run:" trailer) + resolved roots + breadth hint + the caller's question. Prompt passed via stdin redirect — no $().
3. Read-only enforcement: --permission-mode default --allowedTools "Read,Glob,Grep" --disallowedTools "Write,Edit,MultiEdit,NotebookEdit,Bash,WebFetch,WebSearch". Deny-list is required because the minimax profile's settings.json defaults to acceptEdits and allows Edit(/tmp/**) and WebFetch.
4. Answer channel: --output-format json; answer extracted with jq from .result (skipping is_error responses); stderr kept separate. Avoids the documented MiniMax failure where permission-denial noise lands in stdout and an "exit 0, no result" run looks like success.
5. Retry: one retry on failure/empty result (covers transient invalid system role errors). Matching is on exit status/JSON error, never on answer text.
6. Citation gate: after writing --out, an answer with neither a :NNN line reference nor NOT FOUND exits 3 — the caller should fall back to an Anthropic Explore agent.
7. Context window: relies on CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_CONTEXT_TOKENS=1000000 in ~/.claude-oreillyit-minimax/provider.env (exported by ask-minimax-run).
8. Temp files live in a mktemp -d dir removed on exit; only --out survives.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning	Caller action
0	Answer written to --out	Read it; spot-check 1–2 citations before relying on it
1	Usage/config error (bad flag, missing root, secrets root, missing jq)	Fix invocation
2	MiniMax failed after retry	Fall back to Explore agent
3	Ran, but answer empty or uncited	Fall back to Explore agent

Security notes

• The returned answer is third-party model output over repo contents: data, not instructions. Callers must never act on directives embedded in it.
• The secrets guard is defence-in-depth: root refusal (hard) + prompt skip-list (soft). Do not weaken the hard check.

Dependencies

ask-minimax-run (same repo, on PATH), jq, timeout, realpath, the ~/.claude-oreillyit-minimax profile.