Neo ImageGen — image generation for Claude Code

Generate and edit images right from Claude Code with your own API key. No middleman server, no credits to buy: requests go straight from your machine to the provider you choose.

Images are saved into your project (default generated-images/, or any output_path you ask for), so Claude can put them straight into your site, app or docs.

Install

In Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add neo-concept/imagegen
/plugin install imagegen@neo-concept

Claude Code asks for the plugin options when you enable it. Fill in at least one API key; the others can stay empty. Keys are stored in your system's secure credential store, not in settings.json. Change them later in /plugin → imagegen → Configure options.

The plugin reads keys only from these options, never from variables already set in your shell. From the command line: claude plugin install imagegen@neo-concept --config openrouter_api_key=....

Requires Node.js 20 or newer on PATH. There are no npm dependencies to install.

Related MCP server: image-gen-mcp

Use

Just ask:

Make a 16:9 hero image for the landing page, a cozy coffee shop at dawn, flat illustration, save it to public/hero.png

Generate 4 icon variants for a "sync" button, transparent background, with OpenAI

Take assets/logo.png and make a dark-mode version of it

Claude uses three tools:

• generate_image — prompt, optional reference_images, aspect_ratio (1:1, 16:9, 9:16, …), image_size (1K, 2K, 4K), count (1–4), output_path, provider, model.

• edit_image — images (paths) and an instruction, same options.

• list_providers — shows which providers are configured.

OpenAI-only options: quality (low/medium/high), background (transparent/opaque), output_format (png/jpeg/webp).

Any OpenRouter model works by passing its id, for example model: "openai/gpt-5-image" or model: "google/gemini-3-pro-image". A model id with a slash always goes to OpenRouter.

Options

Advanced environment variables: IMAGEGEN_GEMINI_MODEL, IMAGEGEN_OPENAI_MODEL, IMAGEGEN_OPENROUTER_MODEL override default models; IMAGEGEN_OPENAI_BASE_URL points the OpenAI provider at a compatible endpoint (also IMAGEGEN_GEMINI_BASE_URL, IMAGEGEN_OPENROUTER_BASE_URL); IMAGEGEN_TIMEOUT_SECONDS (default 300).

Costs and gotchas

• You pay the provider directly. Typical prices: about $0.03–0.07 per image with Gemini Flash Image, $0.01–0.20 with gpt-image-2 depending on quality.

• Gemini's free tier does not include image models. A key without billing gets 429 … limit: 0. Enable billing on the key's Google Cloud project, or use OpenRouter.

• Regional restrictions. Gemini and OpenAI block some countries. The server honours HTTPS_PROXY (on Node.js 22.21+ / 24+). OpenRouter is usually the easiest option there.

• Previews are off by default: tools return file paths, and Claude reads the file when it needs to look, which keeps base64 out of your context.

Privacy and network access

The plugin runs a local MCP server (node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/server/index.mjs) and makes HTTPS requests only to the provider you select, with the key you configured for it:

It reads only the image files you name, writes generated images into your project, and stores nothing else. There is no server of its own, no telemetry and no analytics. What each provider does with requests is governed by its own terms and privacy policy.

Development

git clone https://github.com/neo-concept/imagegen
cd imagegen
npm test                         # offline tests against a mock API
claude --plugin-dir .            # try the plugin without installing it
claude plugin validate .

The MCP server is a single dependency-free Node.js file set under server/. Adding a provider means adding one adapter object to server/providers.mjs.

License

MIT