Minis Setup Guide — Subscriptions First, Keys When Needed

The corrected mental model: for agent-style work, consumer subscriptions matter. OpenAI explicitly offers agent capabilities through paid ChatGPT plans. Claude subscriptions are useful too, especially for Claude itself and Claude Code, but third-party app access can be more plan/app-dependent. API keys are still useful — just do not make them the first hill you die on. Very inefficient hill.

1. Buy the practical subscriptions

If you already like Claude, keep Claude. Add ChatGPT too if you want agents with the fewest weird setup detours.

OpenAI / ChatGPT Plus or ProClaude Pro or MaxAPI billing later

AOpenAI / ChatGPT subscription — the clean agent path

OpenAI encourages normal users to access agent features through ChatGPT subscriptions rather than starting with raw API keys. As of this guide, ChatGPT agent-style features are tied to paid ChatGPT plans such as Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu, with plan-specific limits.

Go to chatgpt.com.
Subscribe to a paid plan — usually Plus for a first serious user, Pro if you live in AI all day.
Use ChatGPT directly for OpenAI’s hosted agent features, scheduled tasks, browsing/cloud browser, app connections, and polished consumer UX.
Later, if Minis asks for OpenAI credentials, try the built-in provider login first if available. Use API keys only if the app/tool specifically requires API access.

BClaude subscription — excellent, but a little greyer

Claude Pro/Max is worth considering if you already do good work in Claude. Claude’s subscription path clearly covers Claude’s own web/mobile/desktop experience, and Claude Code plans are subscription-friendly. For third-party apps, the exact answer can be more grey: sometimes OAuth/login works; sometimes API billing is the clean supported path.

Go to claude.com/pricing.
Start with Claude Pro if you are a regular user.
Consider Claude Max if you hit limits or use Claude Code/agentic coding heavily.
In Minis, try the Anthropic/Claude provider login if the app offers it. If that does not unlock what you need, fall back to Anthropic API billing.

CAPI keys — powerful, but not step one

API keys are for apps/tools calling models directly, automation, custom providers, heavier integrations, or model-routing setups. They are pay-as-you-go and need spending limits. Great power, tiny invoice goblin.

Subscription vs API, without the product-manager fog machine

Path	Best for	Setup pain	Minis angle
ChatGPT Plus / Pro	OpenAI’s own agent features, cloud browser, scheduled tasks, polished consumer workflow.	Low: subscribe and log in.	Use directly. In Minis, use provider login if supported; API key only if needed.
Claude Pro / Max	Claude web/app work, long-form reasoning/writing, Claude Code-heavy workflows.	Low: subscribe and log in.	Try Anthropic/Claude login in Minis. Third-party entitlement can be greyer than OpenAI’s consumer agent story.
OpenAI API billing/key	Third-party apps, custom tools, scripts, direct model calls, automation.	Medium: platform account, billing, key, limits.	Useful if Minis asks for an OpenAI API key/provider credential.
Anthropic API billing/key	Direct Claude access from apps/tools, automation, custom workflows.	Medium: console account, billing, key, limits.	The clean fallback if subscription login does not cover the Minis use case.
OpenRouter	One account/key for many models.	Medium.	Optional. Great later when comparing models or keeping costs down.

2. Connect accounts inside Minis

Open Minis → Settings → Providers. Add OpenAI and Anthropic/Claude. If Minis offers a “sign in” / OAuth flow, use that first. It is friendlier than juggling raw keys like a caffeinated sysadmin.

Add OpenAI provider.
Add Anthropic/Claude provider.
Pick a default primary model.
Send one boring test message before getting clever.

3. When you really need API credentials

Use API keys when Minis or an MCP/tool integration explicitly asks for them, or when you want predictable direct model calls independent of subscription UI limits.

Do not paste API keys into chat. Add them in Settings → Providers or Settings → Environment Variables. Chat is for instructions, not secrets.

API-key fallback steps

1OpenAI API key

Go to platform.openai.com.
Add billing / credits and set usage limits.
Create an API key.
Paste it only into Minis Provider settings or Environment Variables.

2Anthropic API key

Go to console.anthropic.com.
Add billing / credits and set usage limits.
Create an API key.
Paste it only into Minis Provider settings or Environment Variables.

Recommended first setup

1

ChatGPT Plus or Pro
Best clean on-ramp to OpenAI-hosted agents.

2

Claude Pro
Keep using Claude for the work it is already good at.

3

Minis provider logins
Connect accounts in Settings → Providers.

4

API keys later
Only when a tool or workflow needs them.

4. First-run checklist

Send a normal Minis message and confirm the provider/model replies.
Ask Minis to summarize a web page.
Attach a PDF or image and ask for extraction/analysis.
Open Settings → Memory if you want durable preferences.
Review privacy/permissions before granting Apple access.
Set provider spending limits before experimenting with API keys.

Copy/paste test prompts

Use these as quick sanity checks after connecting accounts. Each prompt is intentionally separate so you can copy only the one you need.

Web summaryExplain this page like I am smart but busy: [paste URL]

Document extractionTurn this PDF into a one-page action list.

Memory preferenceRemember that I prefer concise answers unless I ask for detail.

Tool choiceHelp me decide when to use ChatGPT, Claude, Minis, or an API key.

Now the fun shit

Once accounts work, Minis gets interesting because it can do things around the chat, not just inside it.

Skills
Reusable playbooks. Think “teach Minis how I like this task done,” then reuse it later. Great for recurring writing formats, research workflows, PDF handling, deployment steps, and household rituals masquerading as productivity.

MCP servers
Connect Minis to external tools and data sources through the Model Context Protocol. Filesystems, databases, home servers, project tools, knowledge stores — if it has an MCP bridge, Minis can potentially use it.

Apple integrations
Minis can use iOS-native powers: reminders, calendar, maps, weather, health data, clipboard, notifications, speech, photos, vision/OCR, and more — with your permission, obviously. We are not building Skynet before lunch.

Artifacts
Ask for a dashboard, guide, table, timeline, or “make this look nice,” and Minis can generate a tappable HTML artifact instead of dumping a wall of text into chat.

Shell/scripts
Behind the scenes, Minis has a real Linux shell. It can fetch data, run Python, process files, transform CSVs, inspect PDFs, generate charts, and generally be useful in ways plain chat apps cannot.

Browser work
It can browse, inspect pages, extract readable content, and help with current research. Especially useful because AI/software advice goes stale faster than milk in a sauna.

Beginner-friendly Skill ideas

“Create a reusable skill for how I write client briefs.”
“Use my research-writing skill on this topic.”
“Make this recurring task into a checklist/skill.”
“Before answering, search memory for what I already decided.”

MCP ideas that are actually useful

Personal file search across a project folder.
Home server / media server status.
Knowledge base or notes vault lookup.
Issue tracker / docs / database connection.

Security rules, blessedly short

Passwords and keys

Use provider login flows, Settings → Providers, or Environment Variables. Never paste keys into chat.

Spending limits

Subscriptions are predictable. API keys are metered. Add billing caps/alerts before letting agents roam.

Apple permissions

Calendar, reminders, photos, health, location, etc. are powerful. Say yes when useful, not because a dialog appeared.

What to ask after setup

Help me configure Minis with my ChatGPT and Claude subscriptions using safe defaults. Create a reusable skill for my weekly planning process. Research the current best model options for writing, coding, and cheap helper tasks. Turn this folder of notes into a clean summary artifact. Use Apple Reminders to create tasks from this meeting transcript.