Image Generation

Hermes Agent generates images from text prompts via FAL.ai. Eight models are supported out of the box, each with different speed, quality, and cost tradeoffs. The active model is user-configurable via hermes tools and persists in config.yaml.

Supported Models

Model	Speed	Strengths	Price
fal-ai/flux-2/klein/9b (default)	<1s	Fast, crisp text	$0.006/MP
fal-ai/flux-2-pro	~6s	Studio photorealism	$0.03/MP
fal-ai/z-image/turbo	~2s	Bilingual EN/CN, 6B params	$0.005/MP
fal-ai/nano-banana-pro	~8s	Gemini 3 Pro, reasoning depth, text rendering	$0.15/image (1K)
fal-ai/gpt-image-1.5	~15s	Prompt adherence	$0.034/image
fal-ai/ideogram/v3	~5s	Best typography	$0.03–0.09/image
fal-ai/recraft/v4/pro/text-to-image	~8s	Design, brand systems, production-ready	$0.25/image
fal-ai/qwen-image	~12s	LLM-based, complex text	$0.02/MP

Prices are FAL's pricing at time of writing; check fal.ai for current numbers.

Setup

Nous Subscribers

If you have a paid Nous Portal subscription, you can use image generation through the Tool Gateway without a FAL API key. Your model selection persists across both paths.

If the managed gateway returns HTTP 4xx for a specific model, that model isn't yet proxied on the portal side — the agent will tell you so, with remediation steps (set FAL_KEY for direct access, or pick a different model).

Get a FAL API Key

1. Sign up at fal.ai
2. Generate an API key from your dashboard

Configure and Pick a Model

Run the tools command:

hermes tools

Navigate to 🎨 Image Generation, pick your backend (Nous Subscription or FAL.ai), then the picker shows all supported models in a column-aligned table — arrow keys to navigate, Enter to select:

  Model                          Speed    Strengths                    Price
  fal-ai/flux-2/klein/9b         <1s      Fast, crisp text             $0.006/MP   ← currently in use
  fal-ai/flux-2-pro              ~6s      Studio photorealism          $0.03/MP
  fal-ai/z-image/turbo           ~2s      Bilingual EN/CN, 6B          $0.005/MP
  ...

Your selection is saved to config.yaml:

image_gen:
  model: fal-ai/flux-2/klein/9b
  use_gateway: false            # true if using Nous Subscription

GPT-Image Quality

The fal-ai/gpt-image-1.5 request quality is pinned to medium (~$0.034/image at 1024×1024). We don't expose the low / high tiers as a user-facing option so that Nous Portal billing stays predictable across all users — the cost spread between tiers is ~22×. If you want a cheaper GPT-Image option, pick a different model; if you want higher quality, use Klein 9B or Imagen-class models.

Usage

The agent-facing schema is intentionally minimal — the model picks up whatever you've configured:

Generate an image of a serene mountain landscape with cherry blossoms

Create a square portrait of a wise old owl — use the typography model

Make me a futuristic cityscape, landscape orientation

Aspect Ratios

Every model accepts the same three aspect ratios from the agent's perspective. Internally, each model's native size spec is filled in automatically:

Agent input	image_size (flux/z-image/qwen/recraft/ideogram)	aspect_ratio (nano-banana-pro)	image_size (gpt-image)
landscape	landscape_16_9	16:9	1536x1024
square	square_hd	1:1	1024x1024
portrait	portrait_16_9	9:16	1024x1536

This translation happens in _build_fal_payload() — agent code never has to know about per-model schema differences.

Automatic Upscaling

Upscaling via FAL's Clarity Upscaler is gated per-model:

Model	Upscale?	Why
fal-ai/flux-2-pro	✓	Backward-compat (was the pre-picker default)
All others	✗	Fast models would lose their sub-second value prop; hi-res models don't need it

When upscaling runs, it uses these settings:

Setting	Value
Upscale factor	2×
Creativity	0.35
Resemblance	0.6
Guidance scale	4
Inference steps	18

If upscaling fails (network issue, rate limit), the original image is returned automatically.

How It Works Internally

1. Model resolution — _resolve_fal_model() reads image_gen.model from config.yaml, falls back to the FAL_IMAGE_MODEL env var, then to fal-ai/flux-2/klein/9b.
2. Payload building — _build_fal_payload() translates your aspect_ratio into the model's native format (preset enum, aspect-ratio enum, or GPT literal), merges the model's default params, applies any caller overrides, then filters to the model's supports whitelist so unsupported keys are never sent.
3. Submission — _submit_fal_request() routes via direct FAL credentials or the managed Nous gateway.
4. Upscaling — runs only if the model's metadata has upscale: True.
5. Delivery — final image URL returned to the agent, which emits a MEDIA:<url> tag that platform adapters convert to native media.

Debugging

Enable debug logging:

export IMAGE_TOOLS_DEBUG=true

Debug logs go to ./logs/image_tools_debug_<session_id>.json with per-call details (model, parameters, timing, errors).

Platform Delivery

Platform	Delivery
CLI	Image URL printed as markdown  — click to open
Telegram	Photo message with the prompt as caption
Discord	Embedded in a message
Slack	URL unfurled by Slack
WhatsApp	Media message
Others	URL in plain text

Limitations

• Requires FAL credentials (direct FAL_KEY or Nous Subscription)
• Text-to-image only — no inpainting, img2img, or editing via this tool
• Temporary URLs — FAL returns hosted URLs that expire after hours/days; save locally if needed
• Per-model constraints — some models don't support seed, num_inference_steps, etc. The supports filter silently drops unsupported params; this is expected behavior