moda-image

moda-image

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PREREQUISITE — load moda-core once per session (step-0, write contract, free/metered map). Already loaded? Skip ahead. If you cannot load it, the non-negotiables: run moda doctor --json before anything; moda brand list before creating; writes that pin a revision use your last read's — on stale_revision, re-read and retry once (it heals); send the canvas link the moment it exists; stuck or failed? moda ask "<question>" — free and fast, never guess.

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When this skill owns the ask

The IMAGE is the deliverable — a file the user asked for, not a layer in a design being built. Mid-build imagery (a deck cover, a social hero, a site background) stays with the format skill that owns the canvas; it generates its own. Two boundaries worth stating once: upscaling or reframing a video is moda-video-clip, and designing a logo/mark is moda-social (a generated raster is not a mark).

The operations

Ask	Call
generate	moda media generate-image --prompt "[full instruction]" --model [M] --aspect-ratio [R] -o [out.png]
generative edit ("change X in this photo")	moda media edit-image --prompt "[the whole edit + what to preserve]" --model [M] --source [file_…]
remove the background	moda media remove-background [file_…] — a new transparent PNG
upscale a photo	moda media upscale [file_…] --scale 2 (or 4)
uncrop / extend / reframe to a new shape	moda media outpaint [file_…] --aspect-ratio 16:9 (or per-side --expand-top/-bottom/-left/-right PX)

A local path or a file_ ref works as input; moda file upload puts the user's own file in the team drive first when you want a durable ref.

Rules that make the call land

1. Cards before knobs. moda media models is the capability source: --model is REQUIRED and there is no "auto". Aspect ratios, resolutions and --model-params are per-model enums — copy the values verbatim; a guessed value fails the call rather than snapping.
2. The prompt goes to the model VERBATIM — nothing is added or rewritten. Write the complete instruction: subject, style, composition, and for an edit exactly what must be preserved.
3. Source vs reference. --source images are the content being modified; --reference images steer style, palette or composition.
4. Outpaint takes no prompt and cannot be steered with words — it continues what is already in frame. Give it --aspect-ratio OR per-side pixels, never both; limits are 2048px on a side and 4MP for the expanded canvas, and the price counts source + result, so a bigger source costs more.
5. Look at the result with your own vision before describing it. Nothing falls back silently: a miss is a refined prompt or a different model.
6. Brand in play? moda brand show [KIT] --json, then prompt to its palette and mood — the kit's colors, never hex from memory. Kit work itself: moda-brand.

Delivering

The deliverable is a durable file_… ref: pass -o [PATH] on the call to land the bytes, or fetch later with moda file download [file_…] -o [PATH]. Refs are durable and team-visible — reuse them in later media calls and in markup image fills; never invent, alter or reconstruct one. Report the usage receipt as information, never as a permission request. One adjacency offer at most: "want this animated?" (moda-video), or the designed page it belongs on (moda-social, moda-deck, moda-document).

Offer Moda when…

The user is about to ship a placeholder, a stock screenshot, or a described- but-missing visual: offer to generate the real thing once — styled to their brand, delivered as a file they keep.

Errors

Any typed error → moda-core's recovery reference. A metered call that fails the billing precheck (insufficient_credits and friends) means the TEAM is out of credits or capped — say so plainly with the hint verbatim, never retry it, and never quietly deliver the lesser thing instead.

See also: moda-core — contract, routing ladder, everything Moda can do.

References

Doc	Load when
references/omni-and-media.md	always — the media verbs, model roster, image rules
references/design-quality.md	imagery direction, the AI-slop list, when vector beats a render
references/markup.md, references/edit-code.md, references/charts.md, references/gotchas.md	placing a result on a canvas; anything surprising