@inliner/cli

CLI for Inliner.ai — generate and edit AI images from the terminal.

Install

npm install -g @inliner/cli

Or run directly with npx:

npx @inliner/cli generate "hero image" --project mysite --size 1200x600

Setup

Get an API key from Account > API Keys in the Inliner dashboard.

export INLINER_API_KEY=your-key

Or pass it per-command:

inliner-ai generate "hero" --api-key=YOUR_KEY --project mysite

Commands

Smart Mode (Default)

When no command is specified, the CLI parses your input as a smart description string:

# Pattern 1: Filename with dimensions and format → saves to local file
inliner-ai "hero-image_1200x600.png" -p mysite
# → Generates 1200x600 PNG, saves to hero-image_1200x600.png

# Pattern 2: Description with dimensions → outputs URL (or pipe to file)
inliner-ai "fat happy cats 900x900" -p mysite
# → Generates 900x900 PNG, prints URL to stdout

# Pattern 3: Filename with format only → saves to local file
inliner-ai "sunset-landscape.jpg" -p mysite
# → Generates JPG (API decides dimensions, usually 1024x1024), saves to sunset-landscape.jpg

# Override output filename with -o flag
inliner-ai "hero-image_1200x600.png" -p mysite -o custom-name.png
# → Generates image, saves to custom-name.png instead

# Auto-detects project if omitted (uses default project or first project)
inliner-ai "test-image_800x600.png"
# → Uses your default project automatically, saves to test-image_800x600.png

Supported patterns:

• description_WxH.jpg or description_WxH.png → extracts dimensions and format, saves to file
• description WxH → extracts dimensions, defaults to PNG, outputs URL
• description.jpg → extracts format, API decides dimensions (usually 1024x1024), saves to file
• description → no dimensions or format, API decides (usually 1024x1024 PNG), outputs URL
• Auto-detects project if -p is omitted
• Use -o filename.png to override the auto-detected output filename

generate

Generate an AI image from a text prompt.

# Print image URL to terminal
inliner-ai generate "modern office hero" -p acme --size 1200x600

# Pipe binary to file
inliner-ai gen "sunset landscape" -p mysite > hero.png

# Save directly
inliner-ai g "product shot" -p store -o product.png

# Auto-detect project (uses default project or first project)
inliner-ai generate "hero image" --size 1200x600

# No dimensions specified - API decides (usually 1024x1024)
inliner-ai generate "hero image" -p mysite

Options: | Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | -p, --project | Project namespace (auto-detects if omitted) | | --size WxH | Dimensions (default: API decides, usually 1024x1024) | | --width, --height | Alternative to --size | | -f, --format | png or jpg (default: png) | | -o, --output | Save to file |

edit

Edit an image with AI instructions. Accepts a local file, Inliner URL, or stdin.

# Edit a local file
inliner-ai edit photo.png "remove the background" -p myproject -o clean.png

# Pipe from stdin
cat photo.jpg | inliner-ai edit - "make it warmer" -p proj > warm.jpg

# Edit an existing Inliner image by URL
inliner-ai edit https://img.inliner.ai/proj/hero_800x600.png "add sunset sky"

For local files, the CLI uploads the image to your project first, then applies the AI edit.

inline

Process HTML files to resolve Inliner image references. Reads from stdin or a file.

# Replace placeholders with Inliner image tags
inliner-ai inline template.html -p acme > output.html

# Embed images as base64 data URIs (for emails, offline HTML)
cat email.html | inliner-ai inline --embed > email-inlined.html

Supported HTML patterns (with --project):

<!-- inliner: hero banner sunset landscape 1200x600 png -->
<!-- Becomes: <img src="https://img.inliner.ai/acme/hero-banner-sunset-landscape_1200x600.png" ...> -->

<img data-inliner="product shot on white background" width="800" height="600">
<!-- Gets an Inliner src URL added -->

With --embed, downloads all img.inliner.ai images and replaces URLs with data: URIs.

projects

List your Inliner projects.

inliner-ai projects
inliner-ai proj --json

create-project

Create a new project (reserves the namespace for your account).

# Create a project with required name
inliner-ai create-project my-project --name "My Project"

# Create with description and set as default
inliner-ai create-project marketing --name "Marketing Team" --description "Marketing assets" --default

# JSON output
inliner-ai create-project dev --name "Development" --json

Options: | Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | --name <name> | Display name (required) | | --description <desc> | Description (optional) | | --default | Set as default project (optional) | | --json | Output raw JSON |

images

List generated images.

inliner-ai images
inliner-ai img -p myproject --limit 20
inliner-ai img --search "hero" --json

usage

Show credit usage for your account.

inliner-ai usage
inliner-ai u --json

Smart Output

The CLI adapts its output based on context:

| Context | Behavior | |---------|----------| | Interactive terminal (TTY) | Prints the image URL | | Piped (\| ... or > file) | Outputs raw image bytes | | --output file.png | Saves to file, prints URL to stderr |

This means standard Unix patterns work naturally:

# Save to file via redirect
inliner-ai generate "hero" -p site > hero.png

# Pipe through ImageMagick
inliner-ai generate "logo" -p brand --size 400x400 | convert - -resize 200x200 logo-small.png

# Chain edit operations
inliner-ai edit photo.png "remove background" -p proj | inliner-ai edit - "add gradient bg" -p proj > final.png

Project Selection

The CLI automatically selects a project in this order:

1. --project flag (explicit)
2. INLINER_DEFAULT_PROJECT environment variable
3. Default project (project marked as default in your account)
4. First project (fallback if no default is set)

When auto-detecting, the CLI prints which project was used to stderr:

Using default project: mysite

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | INLINER_API_KEY | API key (required) | | INLINER_DEFAULT_PROJECT | Default project namespace (if --project omitted) | | INLINER_API_URL | API base URL (default: https://api.inliner.ai) | | INLINER_IMG_URL | Image CDN URL (default: https://img.inliner.ai) |

Links

• Inliner.ai
• Tutorials
• @inliner/mcp-server — MCP server for AI coding agents