imagegen

name

imagegen

description

Use this skill whenever the user asks to generate, create, render, draw, or make an image, picture, illustration, icon, logo, or any other visual asset. Also use it when the user wants to edit, modify, restyle, or combine existing images (provide them as reference_file inputs). The skill drives the `imagegen` CLI in this repo, which uses the user's local Codex ChatGPT authentication to call the private image-generation backend. Trigger phrases include "generate an image", "create a picture", "make an image of", "draw me a", "render this", "make this cat wear a hat", and similar. Prefer this skill over describing images in text.

imagegen

Generate images from text prompts (and optional reference images) by running the imagegen CLI shipped in this repository (dist/cli.js).

How to invoke

Run the CLI from the repo root. It is not published to npm; invoke it via bun run cli (or bun run cli). The TypeScript source must be compiled first with bun run build.

Basic generation

bun run build
bun run cli --prompt "flat blue square icon" --output-dir ./outputs/generate

With reference images

Pass --reference_file <path> (or -r) one or more times to use existing images as input. Supported formats: png, jpg/jpeg, gif, webp.

bun run cli -p "Make this cat wear a hat" -r ./cat.png -o ./outputs/generate --output-prefix cat-hat

Aspect ratio / size

Pass --aspect_ratio <ratio> (or -a). Accepts 1:1, 3:2, 2:3, 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4, auto, or a raw size like 1536x1024, 2048x1152, 3840x2160, 2160x3840.

bun run cli -p "a sunset over mountains" -a 16:9 -o ./outputs/generate --output-prefix sunset

Number of images

Pass --number <int> (or -n) to generate up to 4 images in one call (private-codex provider only).

bun run cli -p "a friendly robot" -n 2 -o ./outputs/generate --output-prefix robot

Provider selection

Pass --provider <name>:

• private-codex (default): direct HTTP to the private Codex backend. Fast, supports --number, --aspect_ratio, and --reference_file.
• codex-cli: headless codex exec fallback. No reference images, no size selection. Useful when the private HTTP path is rate-limited or down.
• auto: try private-codex first, fall back to codex-cli on failure. Fallback is refused when --number > 1, --aspect_ratio/size, or --reference_file are set (codex-cli cannot honor those, so we fail fast rather than silently drop them).

bun run cli --provider codex-cli -p "a red square" -o ./outputs/generate --output-prefix red

Dry run

Validate auth and print the request shape without calling the backend.

bun run cli -p "flat blue square icon" --dry-run

Required arguments

• --prompt <text> (or -p) — required text prompt
• --output-dir <dir> (or -o) — directory to save images (default: cwd)

Prerequisites the agent must check

All providers require the codex CLI authenticated via ChatGPT subscription OAuth. This is non-negotiable — no API keys, no service accounts, no fabricated auth.

1. The codex binary must be on PATH. If missing, stop and tell the user to install Codex — do not try to install it for them.
2. The codex CLI must be logged in via ChatGPT subscription OAuth. Verify with codex login status (must show "Logged in using ChatGPT"). If it shows API key auth or is not logged in, stop and tell the user to run codex login and choose the ChatGPT option.
3. Confirm ~/.codex/auth.json exists with auth_mode = chatgpt. Verify with bun run cli --auth. If missing or wrong auth_mode, stop and tell the user — do not fabricate auth state.

These checks apply regardless of which --provider is selected. The private-codex provider reuses the same ChatGPT OAuth token from ~/.codex/auth.json; the codex-cli provider drives codex exec directly. Both depend on a valid ChatGPT subscription OAuth session.

After running

imagegen saves PNG(s) to --output-dir and prints a JSON summary that includes savedPath for each image. Report savedPath back to the user.

Hook script

A convenience hook script is provided at .agents/skills/imagegen/scripts/imagegen-hook.sh that wraps the CLI with sensible defaults and streams the JSON result to stdout. It is intended to be called from other tools or shell pipelines.