# Using imagen

## Subcommands

```
imagen generate <prompt> [flags]    generate one image
imagen backends                     list configured + registered backends
imagen config init                  print a sample imagen.yaml on stdout
imagen config validate              parse + validate the active config
imagen config path                  print the resolved config path
imagen serve [--addr :8080]         (stub) start the HTTP server
imagen version                      print version
```

## `generate` flags

| Flag           | Default                      | Notes                                                       |
| -------------- | ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--backend`    | `default_backend` from config | Instance name from `imagen.yaml`                           |
| `--size`       | `1024x1024`                  | `WxH`                                                       |
| `--seed`       | `0` (= backend default)      |                                                             |
| `--steps`      | `0` (= backend default)      |                                                             |
| `--style`      | empty                        | One of `imagen config init`'s style names                  |
| `--negative`   | empty                        | Negative prompt (ignored by some adapters)                  |
| `--output`     | empty (= use naming template) | Explicit path                                              |
| `--no-sidecar` | `false`                      | Skip the JSON sidecar even if config enables it             |
| `--config`     | `~/.config/imagen.yaml`      | Override config path                                        |

## Examples

```sh
# Quick smoke test — mock backend ships in-tree
imagen generate "test" --backend mock --output /tmp/x.png

# Real generation, FLUX-schnell on mRock via ComfyUI
imagen generate "a wide editorial blog header about RAG systems" \
  --backend flux-schnell-local \
  --style blog-header \
  --size 1536x768

# Explicit seed for reproducibility
imagen generate "a cat in a fishbowl" --backend mock --seed 42 --output /tmp/cat.png
```

## Config

A complete sample is in `imagen config init`. Adapters get only their own
sub-block — see [`../CLAUDE.md`](../CLAUDE.md) for the contract.

## Naming template

`output.naming` placeholders:

| Placeholder | Replaced with                            |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| `{date}`    | `2026-05-08`                             |
| `{time}`    | `143015` (no separators)                 |
| `{slug}`    | lowercased ASCII prompt, ≤ 40 chars      |
| `{seed}`    | seed actually used                       |
| `{backend}` | backend instance name                    |
| `{ext}`     | file extension matching `Result.MimeType` |

Unknown placeholders are left literal.

## Credentials

API-backed adapters read tokens from env vars referenced by the config
(`api_token_env`, `api_key_env`). Never put a token in `imagen.yaml`.

```sh
export REPLICATE_API_TOKEN=...
imagen generate "a cat" --backend flux-dev-replicate
```