| name | gpt-image-2 |
| description | Generate images with GPT Image 2 (ChatGPT Images 2.0) inside Claude Code, using your existing ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription — no separate OpenAI API key required, no per-image billing. Supports text-to-image, image-to-image editing, style transfer, and multi-reference composition via the local Codex CLI. Triggers on "gpt image 2", "gpt-image-2", "ChatGPT Images 2.0", "image 2", or any explicit ask to generate or edit an image through the user's ChatGPT plan.
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GPT Image 2 — Image Generation via Your ChatGPT Subscription
Generate images with GPT Image 2 (ChatGPT Images 2.0) inside your agent, using your existing ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription — no separate OpenAI API key, no Fal or Replicate tokens, no per-image billing.
Text-to-image, image-to-image editing, style transfer, and multi-reference composition. Runs entirely through the local codex CLI you're already logged into.
Heads up — this skill requires a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription plus the Codex CLI installed locally. If you have neither, you can use GPT Image 2 in the browser via RunComfy instead — hosted, no ChatGPT subscription or local install needed (RunComfy account required):
The rest of this document covers the local Codex CLI flow for agents whose user has a ChatGPT subscription.
When to trigger
Trigger when the user explicitly asks for GPT Image 2 via their ChatGPT subscription, for example:
- "use GPT Image 2" / "use gpt-image-2" / "use ChatGPT Images 2.0"
- "use Image 2" / "image 2 this"
- attached a reference image and asked to remix / edit / restyle it
Do not auto-trigger for a plain "generate an image" request if the user didn't specify this route. If they did specify it, do not silently fall back to HTML mockups, screenshots, or a different image model.
How to invoke
A single bash script handles everything: runs codex exec with the right flags, then decodes the generated image from the persisted session rollout.
Text-to-image:
bash scripts/gen.sh \
--prompt "<user's raw prompt>" \
--out <absolute/path/to/output.png>
Image-to-image (reference flag is repeatable for multi-reference composition):
bash scripts/gen.sh \
--prompt "<user's raw prompt, e.g. 'repaint in watercolor'>" \
--ref /absolute/path/to/reference.png \
--out <absolute/path/to/output.png>
Optional: --timeout-sec 300 (default 300).
Default behavior
- Pass the user's prompt through raw. Do not translate, polish, or add style modifiers unless the user asked for it.
- Choose the output path. Default to
./image-<YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS>.png in the current working directory if the user didn't specify.
- Deliver the image. After the script succeeds, display / attach the output file. Do not stop at "done, see path X".
- Text-heavy layouts are fine. Image 2 handles infographics and timeline prompts well. Do not preemptively warn just because a prompt has a lot of text.
Hard constraints
- Do not switch routes without permission. If the user said "use GPT Image 2", do not substitute DALL·E, Midjourney, an HTML mockup, or a manual screenshot workflow.
- Do not rewrite the prompt unless asked.
- Do not imply this skill works without a local
codex login and a valid ChatGPT subscription with image-generation entitlement.
Prerequisites
codex CLI installed — brew install codex or see openai/codex.- Logged in with a ChatGPT plan that includes Image 2 —
codex login.
python3 on PATH (ships with macOS; apt install python3 on Linux).
This skill does not grant image-generation capability on its own. It exposes the capability the user already has through their ChatGPT subscription.
Exit codes
| code | meaning |
|---|
| 0 | success — output path printed on stdout |
| 2 | bad args |
| 3 | codex or python3 CLI missing |
| 4 | --ref file does not exist |
| 5 | codex exec failed (auth? network? model?) |
| 6 | no new session file detected |
| 7 | imagegen did not produce an image payload (feature not enabled, quota, or capability refused) |
On failure, name the layer in one sentence instead of dumping the full stderr at the user.
How it works
The codex CLI reuses the logged-in ChatGPT session and exposes an imagegen tool (gated behind the image_generation feature flag). The script:
- snapshots
~/.codex/sessions/ before the run
- runs
codex exec --enable image_generation --sandbox read-only ... (with -i <file> for each reference image)
- diffs the sessions directory, then invokes
scripts/extract_image.py to scan every new rollout JSONL for a base64 image payload (PNG / JPEG / WebP magic-header match)
- decodes the largest matching blob and writes it to
--out
Two non-obvious flags other wrappers get wrong on codex-cli 0.111.0+:
--enable image_generation is required; the feature is still under-development and off by default.--ephemeral must not be used — ephemeral sessions aren't persisted, so the image payload has nowhere to live.
Data handling
The script is narrowly scoped on purpose:
- It reads only session rollout files created by its own
codex exec invocation. The sessions directory is snapshotted before the call and diffed after, so any prior ~/.codex/sessions/* files (which may contain unrelated Codex conversations) are never touched, read, or transmitted.
- It writes only two kinds of file: the output PNG at the caller's
--out path, and short-lived mktemp logs that are auto-deleted on exit via a trap.
- No environment variables are read. No credentials are requested. No other paths under
~/.codex/ are accessed.
- No network calls leave this skill. The only outbound traffic is the one made by the
codex CLI itself (to OpenAI, using the user's existing ChatGPT login) — this skill does not add endpoints, telemetry, or callbacks.
What this skill is not
Not a direct OpenAI API client. Not a capability grant — it depends on the user's working Codex CLI login. Not a multi-tenant service (one call per invocation; concurrent calls are serialized by the filesystem-snapshot diff).
