openai-image-skill

A Claude Code skill that lets you generate images via OpenAI's image API directly from your Claude conversations.

Why this skill

• All OpenAI image models — DALL-E 2/3, gpt-image-1, gpt-image-1.5, auto-detects new models daily
• Quality control — --quality=low|standard|hd to balance cost vs. quality
• Multiple variants — --count=N to generate several options at once
• Any language — triggers on image requests in any language
• Self-updating — openai-image-skill.mjs update keeps you on the latest version

Requirements

• Claude Code CLI
• Node.js 18+
• OpenAI API key with image generation access

Installation

git clone https://github.com/dkarski/openai-image-skill.git
cd openai-image-skill
bash install.sh

The installer asks where to put the script:

Where should openai-image-skill.mjs be installed?

  1) ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/  ← default (co-located with skill)
  2) ~/.local/bin/                          ← advanced (in PATH, shorter CLI invocation)
  3) Custom path

Default installs everything to ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/ — the same directory Claude Code uses for skills, no PATH setup needed.

Then set your API key (if not already set):

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
# Add to ~/.zshrc to persist

Getting an API key: Go to platform.openai.com/api-keys → Create new secret key. Image generation is a paid feature — charges apply per image based on model and size. See OpenAI pricing for current rates.

Usage

Just talk to Claude naturally — the skill triggers automatically:

"generate an image of a cat on the moon" "draw a futuristic city at sunset, landscape" "créer une image d'une forêt enchantée" "erstelle ein Logo: minimalist fox"

Direct CLI usage

# Basic (path depends on your install location)
node ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/openai-image-skill.mjs "a cat on the moon"

# With options
node ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/openai-image-skill.mjs "photo" --model=gpt-image-1 --quality=hd --size=1792x1024

# Multiple variants
node ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/openai-image-skill.mjs "logo concept" --count=3

# List available models
node ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/openai-image-skill.mjs list-models

# Change default model
node ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/openai-image-skill.mjs set-default gpt-image-1

# Update to latest version
node ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/openai-image-skill.mjs update

# Check version
node ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/openai-image-skill.mjs --version

If you installed to ~/.local/bin/ (option 2), you can use openai-image-skill.mjs directly without the path prefix.

Options

Flag	Description	Example
--model	Model to use	--model=gpt-image-1
--quality	Image quality	--quality=low / standard / hd
--size	Image dimensions	--size=1792x1024
--count	Number of variants	--count=3
--output	Output file path	--output=logo.png

Size presets

Keyword	Size
square	1024x1024
landscape	1792x1024
portrait	1024x1792

Quality presets

Value	Effect	Best for
low	Fastest, lowest cost	Drafts, iteration
standard	Balanced (default)	Most use cases
hd	Highest detail	Final output, dall-e-3

Note: dall-e-2 ignores --quality. gpt-image-1 supports low/standard/hd. dall-e-3 supports standard/hd.

Models

Model	Notes
dall-e-2	Older, cheapest
dall-e-3	Reliable, supports --quality=hd
gpt-image-1	High quality, supports --quality=low/standard/hd
gpt-image-1.5	Best quality, latest

The script checks for new models once per day and notifies you when new ones are available.

Output

By default, images are saved to ~/Pictures/ai-generated/YYYY-MM/ with a timestamped filename. Use --output=filename.png to save to a specific path.

Updating

node ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/openai-image-skill.mjs update

Checks GitHub Releases and updates both the script and SKILL.md in one step. Your install location is remembered — the update goes to the same place.

Configuration

Config is stored at ~/.config/dalle/config.json:

{
  "defaultModel": "gpt-image-1",
  "knownModels": ["dall-e-2", "dall-e-3", "gpt-image-1", "gpt-image-1.5"],
  "lastChecked": "2026-03-30",
  "scriptDir": "~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill",
  "invokeCmd": "node ~/.claude/skills/openai-image-skill/openai-image-skill.mjs"
}

License

MIT