---
title: "OpenAIImageGenerator"
id: openaiimagegenerator
slug: "/openaiimagegenerator"
description: "Generate images using OpenAI's image generation models such as `gpt-image-2`."
---

# OpenAIImageGenerator

Generate images using OpenAI's image generation models such as `gpt-image-2`.

<div className="key-value-table">

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| **Most common position in a pipeline** | After a [`PromptBuilder`](../builders/promptbuilder.mdx), flexible |
| **Mandatory init variables** | `api_key`: An OpenAI API key. Can be set with `OPENAI_API_KEY` env var. |
| **Mandatory run variables** | `prompt`: A string containing the prompt for the model |
| **Output variables** | `images`: A list of generated images  <br /> <br />`revised_prompt`: A string containing the prompt that was used to generate the image, if there was any revision to the prompt made by OpenAI |
| **API reference** | [Generators](/reference/generators-api) |
| **GitHub link** | https://github.com/deepset-ai/haystack/blob/main/haystack/components/generators/openai_image_generator.py |
| **Package name** | `haystack-ai` |

</div>

## Overview

The `OpenAIImageGenerator` component generates images using OpenAI's image generation models (such as `gpt-image-2`).

By default, the component uses the `gpt-image-2` model, `"auto"` quality, and 1024x1024 resolution. You can change these parameters using `model` (during component initialization), `quality`, and `size` (during component initialization or run) parameters.

`OpenAIImageGenerator` needs an OpenAI key to work. It uses an `OPENAI_API_KEY` environment variable by default. Otherwise, you can pass an API key at initialization with `api_key`:

```
image_generator = OpenAIImageGenerator(api_key=Secret.from_token("<your-api-key>"))
```

Check our [API reference](/reference/generators-api#openaiimagegenerator) for the detailed component parameters description, or the [OpenAI documentation](https://developers.openai.com/api/reference/resources/images/methods/generate) for the details on OpenAI API parameters.

## Usage

### On its own

```python
from haystack.components.generators import OpenAIImageGenerator

image_generator = OpenAIImageGenerator()
response = image_generator.run("Show me a picture of a black cat.")

print(response)
```

### In a pipeline

In the following pipeline, we first set up a `PromptBuilder` that will structure the image description with a detailed template describing various artistic elements. The pipeline then passes this structured prompt into an `OpenAIImageGenerator` to generate the image based on this detailed description.

```python
from haystack import Pipeline
from haystack.components.generators import OpenAIImageGenerator
from haystack.components.builders import PromptBuilder

prompt_builder = PromptBuilder(
    template="""Create a {style} image with the following details:

                Main subject: {prompt}
                Artistic style: {art_style}
                Lighting: {lighting}
                Color palette: {colors}
                Composition: {composition}
                Additional details: {details}""",
)

image_generator = OpenAIImageGenerator()

pipeline = Pipeline()
pipeline.add_component("prompt_builder", prompt_builder)
pipeline.add_component("image_generator", image_generator)

pipeline.connect("prompt_builder.prompt", "image_generator.prompt")

results = pipeline.run(
    {
        "prompt": "a mystical treehouse library",
        "style": "photorealistic",
        "art_style": "fantasy concept art with intricate details",
        "lighting": "dusk with warm lantern light glowing from within",
        "colors": "rich earth tones, deep greens, and golden accents",
        "composition": "wide angle view showing the entire structure nestled in an ancient oak tree",
        "details": "spiral staircases wrapping around branches, stained glass windows, floating books, and magical fireflies providing ambient illumination",
    },
)

generated_images = results["image_generator"]["images"]
revised_prompt = results["image_generator"]["revised_prompt"]

print(f"Generated image (base64-encoded): {generated_images[0]}")
print(f"Revised prompt: {revised_prompt}")
```