---
title: generateImage
description: API Reference for generateImage.
---

# `generateImage()`

Generates images based on a given prompt using an image model.

It is ideal for use cases where you need to generate images programmatically,
such as creating visual content or generating images for data augmentation.

```ts
import { generateImage } from 'ai';

const { images } = await generateImage({
  model: openai.image('dall-e-3'),
  prompt: 'A futuristic cityscape at sunset',
  n: 3,
  size: '1024x1024',
});

console.log(images);
```

## Import

<Snippet text={`import { generateImage } from "ai"`} prompt={false} />

## API Signature

### Parameters

<PropertiesTable
  content={[
    {
      name: 'model',
      type: 'ImageModelV3',
      description: 'The image model to use.',
    },
    {
      name: 'prompt',
      type: 'string | GenerateImagePrompt',
      description: 'The input prompt to generate the image from.',
      properties: [
        {
          type: 'GenerateImagePrompt',
          type: 'object',
          description: 'A prompt object for image editing',
          parameters: [
            {
              name: 'images',
              type: 'Array<DataContent>',
              description:
                'an image item can be one of: base64-encoded string, a `Uint8Array`, an `ArrayBuffer`, or a `Buffer`.',
            },
            {
              name: 'text',
              type: 'string',
              description: 'The text prompt.',
            },
            {
              name: 'mask',
              type: 'DataContent',
              description:
                'base64-encoded string, a `Uint8Array`, an `ArrayBuffer`, or a `Buffer`.',
            },
          ],
        },
      ],
    },
    {
      name: 'n',
      type: 'number',
      isOptional: true,
      description: 'Number of images to generate.',
    },
    {
      name: 'size',
      type: 'string',
      isOptional: true,
      description:
        'Size of the images to generate. Format: `{width}x{height}`.',
    },
    {
      name: 'aspectRatio',
      type: 'string',
      isOptional: true,
      description:
        'Aspect ratio of the images to generate. Format: `{width}:{height}`.',
    },
    {
      name: 'seed',
      type: 'number',
      isOptional: true,
      description: 'Seed for the image generation.',
    },
    {
      name: 'providerOptions',
      type: 'ProviderOptions',
      isOptional: true,
      description: 'Additional provider-specific options.',
    },
    {
      name: 'maxImagesPerCall',
      type: 'number',
      isOptional: true,
      description:
        'Maximum number of images to generate per API call. When n exceeds this value, multiple API calls will be made.',
    },
    {
      name: 'maxRetries',
      type: 'number',
      isOptional: true,
      description: 'Maximum number of retries. Default: 2.',
    },
    {
      name: 'abortSignal',
      type: 'AbortSignal',
      isOptional: true,
      description: 'An optional abort signal to cancel the call.',
    },
    {
      name: 'headers',
      type: 'Record<string, string>',
      isOptional: true,
      description: 'Additional HTTP headers for the request.',
    },
  ]}
/>

### Returns

<PropertiesTable
  content={[
    {
      name: 'image',
      type: 'GeneratedFile',
      description: 'The first image that was generated.',
      properties: [
        {
          type: 'GeneratedFile',
          parameters: [
            {
              name: 'base64',
              type: 'string',
              description: 'Image as a base64 encoded string.',
            },
            {
              name: 'uint8Array',
              type: 'Uint8Array',
              description: 'Image as a Uint8Array.',
            },
            {
              name: 'mediaType',
              type: 'string',
              description: 'The IANA media type of the image.',
            },
          ],
        },
      ],
    },
    {
      name: 'images',
      type: 'Array<GeneratedFile>',
      description: 'All images that were generated.',
      properties: [
        {
          type: 'GeneratedFile',
          parameters: [
            {
              name: 'base64',
              type: 'string',
              description: 'Image as a base64 encoded string.',
            },
            {
              name: 'uint8Array',
              type: 'Uint8Array',
              description: 'Image as a Uint8Array.',
            },
            {
              name: 'mediaType',
              type: 'string',
              description: 'The IANA media type of the image.',
            },
          ],
        },
      ],
    },
    {
      name: 'warnings',
      type: 'Warning[]',
      description:
        'Warnings from the model provider (e.g. unsupported settings).',
    },
    {
      name: 'usage',
      type: 'ImageModelUsage',
      description: 'The usage statistics for the image generation.',
      properties: [
        {
          type: 'ImageModelUsage',
          parameters: [
            {
              name: 'imagesGenerated',
              type: 'number',
              description: 'The total number of images generated.',
            },
          ],
        },
      ],
    },
    {
      name: 'providerMetadata',
      type: 'ImageModelProviderMetadata',
      isOptional: true,
      description:
        'Optional metadata from the provider. The outer key is the provider name. The inner values are the metadata. An `images` key is always present in the metadata and is an array with the same length as the top level `images` key. Details depend on the provider.',
    },
    {
      name: 'responses',
      type: 'Array<ImageModelResponseMetadata>',
      description:
        'Response metadata from the provider. There may be multiple responses if we made multiple calls to the model.',
      properties: [
        {
          type: 'ImageModelResponseMetadata',
          parameters: [
            {
              name: 'timestamp',
              type: 'Date',
              description: 'Timestamp for the start of the generated response.',
            },
            {
              name: 'modelId',
              type: 'string',
              description:
                'The ID of the response model that was used to generate the response.',
            },
            {
              name: 'headers',
              type: 'Record<string, string>',
              isOptional: true,
              description: 'Response headers.',
            },
          ],
        },
      ],
    },
  ]}
/>
