Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is currently mainly used for the treatment of early thymic tumors. In recent years, minimally invasive thymic surgery has been rapidly promoted at home and abroad. However, because of the low incidence of thymic tumors, the unbalanced experience of doctors, there are still many issues worthy of discussion in MIS. Standard MIS must follow similar oncological and resection principles. This paper involves the definitions of minimally invasive thymic surgery and general principles that should be adhered to when performing MIS for thymic malignances.