image-use

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Generate images with the subscriptions you already have — no OPENAI_API_KEY.

A tiny zero-dependency Python CLI (and AI-agent skill): one file, stdlib only. It uses your ChatGPT subscription by default, falls back to Codex, and can use a Gemini subscription instead. Works on a free ChatGPT account too — the default backend just drives the normal ChatGPT web chat, where even free-tier users get image generation.

Formerly chatgpt-imagegen. It was renamed once it grew non-ChatGPT backends. The chatgpt-imagegen command still works as an alias, and every CHATGPT_IMAGEGEN_* environment variable is still honoured (the new IMAGE_USE_* name wins if both are set). Your saved styles are untouched.

image-use "a watercolor cat sitting on a windowsill" -o cat.png
# -> saved: cat.png  (812,344 bytes)  size=1024x1024  quality=medium

Install

Needs Python 3.10+ and a ChatGPT subscription (free tier works).

For AI agents (recommended) — drops the skill into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, etc.:

npx skills add leeguooooo/image-use -g

Then just ask: "画一张 …" / "generate a hero banner for the README".

Standalone CLI — no pip, no virtualenv:

git clone https://github.com/leeguooooo/image-use
sudo install image-use/image-use /usr/local/bin/image-use
sudo ln -sf image-use /usr/local/bin/chatgpt-imagegen   # optional: keep the old command name

You also need one backend — web (default, drives your logged-in Chrome, spends no Codex-usage) or codex (headless fallback). image-use doctor shows what's ready. → Backends & troubleshooting

Got a Gemini subscription too? Two more backends use it instead of OpenAI: --backend gemini (drives a logged-in gemini.google.com Chrome) and --backend agy (the Antigravity CLI, headless). They bill separate quotas from each other, so either can cover for the other. Neither is ever chosen automatically — ask by name. Pin the subscribed Chrome profile with --gemini-profile, since most profiles are signed in to some Google account. Note that Gemini text-to-image output carries a visible watermark in the bottom-right corner (image-to-image does not), and --size steers the aspect ratio there rather than the exact pixel count.

Upgrade

image-use update

It runs the skills manager for you — directly when skills is on PATH, through npx when it isn't (it usually isn't). Interactive runs check for a newer version at most once a day and upgrade automatically for the next run; failures fall back to a notice listing what changed. IMAGE_USE_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1 disables installation but keeps the check and notice, while IMAGE_USE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 disables both. --quiet/--no-progress never upgrades in the background.

On 0.23.1 or earlier? That self-update only looked for a global skills and gave up when it was missing, so it cannot deliver its own fix. Bootstrap once with (installs from before the rename are registered as chatgpt-imagegen):

npx -y skills update chatgpt-imagegen

After that image-use update works on its own.

Usage

image-use "moody mountain sunset" -o web/hero.png --size 1536x1024
image-use "make it a warm golden-hour photo, cinematic 35mm" -i photo.jpg   # reference the subject
image-use "a different fictional person" --composition-ref photo.jpg        # borrow the framing, not the face
image-use "a robot mascot" --style doodle                                    # apply a gallery style (auto-pulled + saved)
image-use animate "a dog happily wagging its tail" --style-online snoopy --also-gif
OUT=$(image-use "icon" --quiet)                                              # capture the path
image-use "product hero" --backend codex --image-model gpt-image-2.5-sunburst --quality xhigh

The last line opts into the GPT Image 2.5 knobs — --image-model
(sunburst for precise editing, flare for fast high quality), --quality
(low→max), --background transparent, --compression, --action,
--partial-images. They are codex-only (the web/gemini surfaces have no
such controls), all optional, and are requests — the saved line prints the
model=/quality=/size= the backend actually used. Note: the codex
backend rewrites these server-side (observed gpt-image-2-codex / auto), so
they rarely survive there; what does matter on codex is --model, the driver
model that calls the tool (default gpt-5.6-luna, a fast/affordable Codex model
— a frontier coding model just burns the metered Codex bucket). Every run prints
the tokens= it cost.

All three below came straight out of the commands above — no retouching:

"a watercolor cat sitting on a windowsill"	"moody mountain sunset" --size 1536x1024	"a coffee shop logo, circular emblem"

animate asks the image model for a strict 4×2 sprite sheet, crops eight equal
frames, rejects obvious subject drift, and writes a smooth ping-pong loop. It
defaults to animated WebP; pass --animation-format gif or --also-gif when
GIF compatibility matters. The source sprite PNG is always kept beside the
animation. Animation post-processing needs
ImageMagick (magick); WebP output additionally
needs libwebp (img2webp).
image-use doctor reports whether both are installed.

Full options: image-use --help. → Generate images · Styles

Community styles

Browse and reuse art styles other people tuned — a public gallery at drawstyle.leeguoo.com. No script update needed:

image-use "a fox barista" --style-online doodle  # generate with a gallery style, nothing saved
image-use style search "watercolor mascot"       # search the gallery
image-use style publish mystyle --category cute --from-last   # share yours (one-time login)
image-use upload out.png --style doodle                      # share a result to the style's player gallery (no login, on request)

A style can pin a character, not just a look. Style assets carry reference images, so the same character comes back in a brand-new scene:

image-use style add pip --kind character --ref pip-ref.png
image-use "a fox barista" --style pip

the pinned reference	generated from "a fox barista"

Gallery packages can be characters too — xiaohei is one.

→ Using gallery styles · Submitting a style

Learn more

• 📖 Full documentation — install, generating, styles, backends, the platform.
• 🎨 Style gallery — browse and contribute community art styles.
• 📝 Deep dive (blog) — the design and principles behind it.
• ⚙️ How it works · HTTP API wrapper

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Disclaimer

This tool calls ChatGPT's internal backend-api/codex endpoint — the same one the official Codex CLI uses. It is not a documented public API; OpenAI could change or restrict it at any time. Use at your own risk and within the OpenAI Terms of Use — in particular, do not use your ChatGPT subscription to power a public-facing image generation service.

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