dsh-image-gen

Image generation for DeepSeek Harness (dsh).

The plugin gives the agent one tool, generate_image, and puts the result where a picture belongs — in the conversation. Which service actually draws it is a setting, not a rewrite: a paid API key, your own OpenAI-compatible endpoint, or a consumer subscription you are already paying for.

A generated image is:

• shown inline in the conversation, in the plugin's own tool card;
• saved into the session working directory (<session cwd>/generated/images/*.png);
• returned to the model with its path, size and seed.

Renamed. This plugin used to be dsh-fal-image-gen. FAL is now one provider out of four, and the old name said otherwise. Upgrading carries your settings over by itself, and images in existing conversations keep working — see Upgrading from dsh-fal-image-gen.

Providers

provider	What it is	What it needs
fal (default)	the FAL queue, default model fal-ai/flux-2/klein/9b	a FAL API key
custom	any OpenAI-compatible images API — OpenAI itself, a local gateway, anything speaking that shape	a base URL, a model id, usually a key
codex	ChatGPT's image model (gpt-image-2) on your ChatGPT subscription	no key — a ChatGPT account connected in dsh-subscriptions
grok	Grok's image model (grok-imagine-image-2.0) on your Grok subscription	no key — a Grok account connected in dsh-subscriptions

The named sizes stay the same whichever provider runs — they are the tool's language, and the agent should not have to know who is drawing. FAL takes them as they are; an OpenAI-compatible API gets them translated into pixels (square_hd → 1024x1024, landscape_4_3 → 1024x768); Grok thinks in aspect ratios and gets 1:1, 2:3, 3:2. An API picky about sizes gets customSize, which is sent verbatim instead.

response_format is deliberately not sent: newer OpenAI models reject it, and the answer is accepted either way — base64 inline, or a link that gets downloaded.

Drawing on a subscription

codex and grok need no API key at all. They borrow an account that dsh-subscriptions already holds: connect ChatGPT or Grok there once, pick the provider here, and generation goes through the same subscription you use for chat.

The token never leaves the Host. The two plugins talk through a service inside the process rather than over the network — a route handing out a live subscription token would be a hole in a harness that is otherwise reachable without a password.

If dsh-subscriptions is not installed, or no account of that vendor is connected, these two providers say so instead of failing silently.

Example: OpenAI

- id: dsh-image-gen
  config:
    provider: custom
    customBaseURL: https://api.openai.com/v1
    customModel: gpt-image-1
    customKeyEnv: OPENAI_API_KEY

An empty customKeyEnv means no authorization header at all, for a local gateway that needs none.

Two delivery modes

The picture appears in the conversation either way. What differs is what the chat model receives — and that decides whether the turn survives a text-only model.

	link (default)	image
The model receives	text and a link	the image itself
Shown in the chat	yes, the card renders it from the link	yes
Works with a text-only chat model	yes, on its own	no — needs dsh-vision-bridge or a vision-capable chat model
The model can reason about the picture	no, only about the prompt and the link	yes
The link points to	this plugin's own route, as durable as the attachment	the provider's CDN, which expires

Pick image when the conversation should be able to discuss what was drawn — "make the cat bluer" needs a model that can actually see it. Without a vision model in the chat that mode fails the turn with does not support image input, which is precisely what dsh-vision-bridge exists to prevent: it swaps the picture for a description from a vision model you choose.

Install

# From npm:
dsh plugin --profile web add @goodandready/dsh-image-gen

# From GitHub:
dsh plugin --profile web add github:GooDAnDReaDY/dsh-image-gen

# Locally from a checkout:
dsh plugin --profile web add /path/to/dsh-image-gen

Restart the Web UI afterwards.

Configure

Everything lives in its own settings section: Settings → Image generation.

Field	Default	Description
provider	fal	Who draws: fal, custom, codex or grok.
model	fal-ai/flux-2/klein/9b	FAL model id, called as {baseURL}/{model}. Used when provider is fal.
apiKeyEnv	FAL_API_KEY	API key reference (credentials / env var).
baseURL	https://queue.fal.run	FAL queue base URL.
defaultSize	landscape_4_3	Default image size when the tool call omits one.
defaultFormat	png	Default output format: png, jpeg or webp.
pollIntervalMs	2000	Job status poll interval.
timeoutMs	180000	Total generation timeout — submit, poll and download together.
deliverAs	link	link — the result is text with a link, works with any chat model. image — the result carries the picture, needs dsh-vision-bridge or a vision-capable model.
customBaseURL	—	provider=custom: API root, e.g. https://api.openai.com/v1.
customModel	—	provider=custom: model id, e.g. gpt-image-1.
customKeyEnv	OPENAI_API_KEY	provider=custom: key reference. Empty means no authorization header.
customSize	—	provider=custom: fixed size sent verbatim. Empty means the named size is translated.
subscriptionQuality	—	provider=codex or grok: quality asked of the subscription — low, medium, high, or empty for the vendor default.
outputDir	generated/images	Output folder. A relative path resolves against the session working directory; an absolute path is used as given.

The same values can be set in $DSH_HOME/settings.yaml under dsh-image-gen:. The card writes to that same document, so neither way is second-class.

API key

Only fal and custom need one. Store it in Credentials (Web: Settings → Credentials) or in $DSH_HOME/.credentials.yaml:

FAL_API_KEY: <your key from https://fal.ai/dashboard/keys>

The plugin prepends FAL's Key auth prefix automatically when it is missing.

Usage

Just ask the model to draw something:

Generate an image: neon cyberpunk city at night in the rain, 16:9

Tool parameters (all except prompt are optional):

Parameter	Description
prompt	required, detailed image description
image_size	square_hd / square / portrait_4_3 / portrait_16_9 / landscape_4_3 / landscape_16_9
seed	seed for reproducibility
output_format	png (default) / jpeg / webp
output_name	file name without extension

Upgrading from dsh-fal-image-gen

Install @goodandready/dsh-image-gen and remove @goodandready/dsh-fal-image-gen from the profile. Two things are carried for you:

• Your settings. They lived under the dsh-fal-image-gen namespace. On the first start the plugin reads that block and copies it under the new name — once, and only when you have not configured the new name yourself. The old block is left in the file untouched: deleting lines from someone's settings is not a plugin's business.
• Images in existing conversations. Their links point at the old route, so the plugin still answers on it alongside the new one. Nothing in your history goes blank.

The npm package @goodandready/dsh-fal-image-gen is deprecated and will not receive further releases.

Structure

dsh-image-gen/
├── package.json            # dsh bundle/plugin metadata + peerDependencies
├── cordis.patch.yml        # bundle layer: inserts the plugin row
├── lib/index.js            # host: generate_image tool, attachment and file handling
├── lib/providers.js        # host: the providers — FAL queue, OpenAI-compatible API, subscriptions
├── lib/client.js           # browser: settings card + the generate_image tool card
├── test/                   # unit tests for the providers, on a fake fetch
├── README.md
└── LICENSE                 # MIT

Why the plugin ships its own tool card

Tool cards in dsh do not render image blocks — only user and assistant messages do — so a picture returned by a tool would otherwise show up as JSON. The plugin registers a keyed tool.call.toolview entry for generate_image and serves the stored bytes from its own route (GET /dsh-image-gen/image), which is what puts the image in the conversation.

No npm runtime dependencies (the @deepseek-ai/* peer deps resolve from the dsh install), no build step — plain ESM.

License

MIT