Files
hermes-detective/docs/research-image-generation-apis.md
shoko ecfd0b1160 feat: Initial commit - Hermes Detective Agency concept
- Hermes Detective Agency: Open-ended mystery investigation game
- Roles: Chief (human), Witness (Kimi), Detective (Hermes)
- 5 difficulty levels, community cases, open-ended solving
- Scoring: Alignment %, Evidence %, Time
- Features: Retry, Journal, Observe mode
- Tech: Kimi Vision + Hermes Agent + Pollinations

Changelog:
- Research phase: Kimi capabilities, Hermes agent, image APIs
- Brainstorming: 14 ideas explored
- Comparison matrix: Detective selected as winner
- Concept finalized with all design decisions
2026-04-20 00:00:30 +00:00

2.0 KiB

Research: Image Generation APIs

Date: 2026-04-19
Purpose: Find affordable/free image generation for hackathon project

Why: Free tier, OpenAI-compatible, multiple models, simple API

Quick Start

# No auth needed for basic
curl "https://gen.pollinations.ai/image/a%20cat%20in%20space"

# With auth
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" ...

Models Available

Model Type Notes
flux Default Good quality
zimage Default Alternative
wan-image Quality Higher quality option
qwen-image Quality Alibaba model
gptimage Quality GPT-based
seedream5 Style Special styles
kontext Edit Image editing

Pricing

  • Free tier: Weekly pollen credits (tier-based)
  • Paid: $1 ≈ 1 Pollen
  • Free API: Limited but usable
  • Rate limits: Anonymous = limited, Seed/Flower = more

API Details

  • Base URL: https://gen.pollinations.ai
  • Image endpoint: GET /image/{prompt}
  • OpenAI-compatible: POST /v1/images/generations
  • No setup: Just curl it

Strengths

  • 100% Open Source
  • Free tier available
  • Multiple model options
  • Simple API (no complex setup)
  • OpenAI-compatible SDK

Weaknesses

  • ⚠️ Quality may not match DALL-E/Midjourney
  • ⚠️ Free tier has rate limits
  • ⚠️ Infrastructure may vary in reliability

Other Options Considered

Provider Free Tier Quality Notes
Midjourney No High Expensive
Stable Diffusion Local only High Needs GPU
DALL-E 3 No High OpenAI pricing
Ideogram Limited Good API in beta
Flux (Local) Free High Self-hosted, needs GPU

Recommendation

Primary: Pollinations AI (free tier + simplicity)
Fallback: Flux if we have GPU resources

Sources