Model Capabilities

Imagine Overview

The Imagine API lets you generate and edit images and videos with Grok Imagine models. Use it for image generation, image editing with up to 3 reference images, video generation from text or still images, video editing, and more.

Pricing

Image generation uses flat per-image pricing regardless of prompt length. Each generated image incurs a fixed fee. Image edits are billed for both the input image and the generated output image. Video generation uses per-second pricing where both duration and resolution affect the total cost. For full pricing details, see the pricing page.

Image Generation

Generate new images from text prompts with Grok Imagine models. Configure output count (up to 10 images per request), aspect ratio, resolution, and response format.

import xai_sdk

client = xai_sdk.Client()

response = client.image.sample(
    prompt="A collage of London landmarks in a stenciled street‑art style",
    model="grok-imagine-image-quality",
)

print(response.url)

curl -X POST https://api.x.ai/v1/images/generations \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "grok-imagine-image-quality",
    "prompt": "A collage of London landmarks in a stenciled street‑art style"
  }'

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1",
    api_key="YOUR_API_KEY",
)

response = client.images.generate(
    model="grok-imagine-image-quality",
    prompt="A collage of London landmarks in a stenciled street‑art style",
)

print(response.data[0].url)

import { xai } from "@ai-sdk/xai";
import { generateImage } from "ai";

const { image } = await generateImage({
    model: xai.image("grok-imagine-image-quality"),
    prompt: "A collage of London landmarks in a stenciled street‑art style",
});

console.log(image.base64);

Image Editing

Edit a source image with natural language. Provide a public image URL or base64-encoded data URI, then describe the change you want Grok Imagine to apply. Multi-image editing supports up to 3 source images in a single request for combining subjects, transferring styles, and composing scenes.

import base64
import xai_sdk

client = xai_sdk.Client()

# Load image from file and encode as base64
with open("photo.png", "rb") as f:
    image_data = base64.b64encode(f.read()).decode("utf-8")

response = client.image.sample(
    prompt="Render this as a pencil sketch with detailed shading",
    model="grok-imagine-image-quality",
    image_url=f"data:image/png;base64,{image_data}",
)

print(response.url)

# Using a public URL as the source image
curl -X POST https://api.x.ai/v1/images/edits \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "grok-imagine-image-quality",
    "prompt": "Render this as a pencil sketch with detailed shading",
    "image": {
      "url": "https://docs.x.ai/assets/api-examples/images/style-realistic.png",
      "type": "image_url"
    }
  }'

import { xai } from "@ai-sdk/xai";
import { generateImage } from "ai";
import fs from "fs";

// Load image and encode as base64
const imageBuffer = fs.readFileSync("photo.png");
const base64Image = imageBuffer.toString("base64");

const { image } = await generateImage({
    model: xai.image("grok-imagine-image-quality"),
    prompt: {
        text: "Render this as a pencil sketch with detailed shading",
        images: [`data:image/png;base64,${base64Image}`],
    },
});

console.log(image.base64);

Image-to-Video

Animate a still image with a text prompt. The source image becomes the starting point for the generated video. Video requests are asynchronous: start a request, poll with the returned request ID, and use the completed video URL when ready. The xAI SDK and AI SDK handle polling for you.

import os
import xai_sdk

client = xai_sdk.Client(api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"))

response = client.video.generate(
    prompt="Make the water crash down and slowly pan out the camera",
    model="grok-imagine-video-1.5",
    image_url="https://docs.x.ai/assets/api-examples/video/waterfall-still.png",
    duration=12,
)

print(response.url)

import { xai } from "@ai-sdk/xai";
import { experimental_generateVideo as generateVideo } from "ai";

const result = await generateVideo({
    model: xai.video("grok-imagine-video-1.5"),
    prompt: {
        image: "https://docs.x.ai/assets/api-examples/video/waterfall-still.png",
        text: "Make the water crash down and slowly pan out the camera",
    },
    duration: 12,
});

const videoUrl = result.providerMetadata?.xai?.videoUrl;
console.log(videoUrl);

# Start the video generation request
REQUEST_ID=$(curl -s -X POST https://api.x.ai/v1/videos/generations \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "grok-imagine-video-1.5",
    "prompt": "Make the water crash down and slowly pan out the camera",
    "image": {"url": "https://docs.x.ai/assets/api-examples/video/waterfall-still.png"},
    "duration": 12
  }' | jq -r '.request_id')

# Poll until the video is ready
while true; do
  RESULT=$(curl -s https://api.x.ai/v1/videos/$REQUEST_ID \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY")
  STATUS=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.status')
  if [ "$STATUS" = "done" ]; then
    echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.video.url'
    break
  elif [ "$STATUS" = "failed" ] || [ "$STATUS" = "expired" ]; then
    echo "Request $STATUS"; echo "$RESULT" | jq .
    break
  fi
  sleep 5
done

More Capabilities

Beyond the top use cases above, the Imagine API supports several additional workflows:

Multi-Image Editing — Combine up to 3 source images in a single edit for compositing subjects, transferring styles, and building scenes from multiple references.
Video Generation — Generate videos from text prompts with configurable duration (up to 15s), aspect ratio, and resolution.
Video Editing — Modify an existing video with a text prompt while preserving the rest of the scene.
Reference-to-Video — Guide a generated video with one or more reference images that influence the output without forcing the first frame. Requires grok-imagine-video — grok-imagine-video-1.5 does not support this mode.
Video Extension — Continue an existing video from its last frame, combining the original and extension into one clip.
Files API Integration — Reference stored files as Imagine inputs by ID, persist generated assets to the Files API, and optionally create a permanent shareable public URL — all in a single request.

Enterprise Compliance & Security

The Imagine APIs are built for production workloads with strict security and compliance requirements. Generated media is subject to content policy review and is not used for training.

SOC 2 Type II — Audited controls for security, availability, and confidentiality
HIPAA Eligible — BAA available for healthcare applications handling PHI
GDPR Compliant — Data processing agreements and EU data residency options
Data Residency — Regional processing for compliance requirements
High Availability — Multi-region infrastructure with custom SLAs for enterprise workloads
SSO & RBAC — SAML SSO, role-based access, and audit logging

model-capabilities/imagine.md 2026-06-19 05:59 UTC to 2026-06-22 20:59 UTC