dsh-request-image-cap

Keep every image DSH transmits inside the provider's per-side pixel limit.

Why

The Anthropic Messages API accepts 8000 px per side for an ordinary request but only 2000 px per side once the request carries many images:

400 invalid_request_error
messages.10.content.5.image.source.base64.data: At least one of the image
dimensions exceed max allowed size for many-image requests: 2000 pixels

Both DSH image gates are area gates:

stage	knob	default
ingest (dsh-attachment-local)	normalizedImageMaxPixels / normalizedImageMaxDimension	4 194 304 px² / 8192 px
request projection (requestImageDimensions)	llm-pi-ai.requestImagePixelBudget	4 194 304 px²

A full-page screenshot therefore lands in the store as e.g. 828x5059 (inside the area budget, far outside the per-side rule) and is transmitted verbatim. The failure is latent: the same image is fine in a short request and only kills a long session later, then on every retry, because the bytes are already in the history.

What it does

Wraps ctx.attachments.readImageRequest(ref, policy, signal) (the single seam every LLM adapter uses to materialise request bytes) and converts a per-side cap into the area budget that produces it:

maxPixels' = floor(w * h * (cap / max(w, h))^2)

requestImageDimensions scales by sqrt(maxPixels/(w*h)) and floors, so the long edge lands at or under cap, aspect ratio preserved.

• retroactive: acts at request time, so histories that already contain oversized images become sendable again;
• non-destructive: stored bytes are untouched, only the model copy shrinks;
• never widens a route policy that is already tighter;
• fails safe: if a core upgrade renames the seam it logs a warning and stays inert rather than throwing at boot;
• free: Anthropic resizes anything above ~1.15 MP server-side anyway.

Config

- id: request-image-cap
  config:
    enabled: true
    maxDimension: 2000   # 64..8192
    verbose: false       # log every clamp

Install

dsh plugin --profile web add github:lucagiftzek/dsh-request-image-cap

The package declares dsh.bundle, so it joins dsh.profile.bundles and its own patch inserts the entry. Override values with a - id: request-image-cap row (config: only, no second insert) in your profile's cordis.patch.yml. It mounts at boot: restart dsh web after installing; the log then shows request-image-cap: active, 2000px per side. A local checkout works too: dsh plugin --profile web add link:/absolute/path/to/dsh-request-image-cap. Requires Node 22.18 or newer; used on DSH 0.1.5 and 0.2.1 (the seam is ctx.attachments.readImageRequest).

Test

npm test    # node --test test/*.test.js

The tests call the real requestImageDimensions of your installed DSH. They find it under DSH_GLOBAL_PREFIX or the global prefix of the running node; set DSH_GLOBAL_PREFIX if DSH lives elsewhere.

Proof on the worst object found in a real attachment store: 828x5059 (388 KB) → 327x1998 (79 KB).

Upstream

The real fix belongs in requestImageDimensions: a route-owned maxDimension beside maxPixels. This plugin is the local stand-in.

When something goes wrong

• Ask your agent to load the image-cap-doctor skill (copy skills/image-cap-doctor into ~/.dsh/skills/ once, how).
• Symptom-first guide: docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md.
• Messages and log lines: docs/ERRORS.md.

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Built by Luca Tzekos, who also makes Job Opportunities API: employer-direct job data with per-field provenance you can verify yourself, free to read and available as an API. If this plugin is useful to you, a star on this repo or a look at jobopportunitiesapi.org is the best thanks.