Quickstart

Your first image in two minutes.

1. Get an API key

Sign in and you start with 100 free credits — no card. Create a key in the dashboard, or let the CLI do it through a browser-approved device code:

bash

npx @meterapp/car-image login

Keys belong in headers or your environment

A key is shown once when it is created and stored only as a hash. Never put it in a URL, a prompt, a tool result or a committed MCP config; use CAR_IMAGE_API_KEY and signed URLs for anything a browser can see.

2. Request an image

One request returns the bytes. make, model and year are validated against the vehicle catalog; view picks one of six camera angles.

bash

curl --fail-with-body \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CAR_IMAGE_API_KEY" \
  "https://carimage.dev/api/v1/images/car?make=porsche&model=911&year=2024&view=front-3-4&color=red" \
  --output porsche-911.png

The first request for a vehicle, color and angle nobody has asked for yet renders it (up to two minutes). Later requests reuse the saved image for the same single credit. Use unlimited-use signed URLs for cacheable CDN delivery in your app.

3. Read the response headers

Every image response tells you what it cost and where it came from:

Header	Example	Meaning
`X-Credits-Charged`	1	Always 1 for a delivered image.
`X-Credits-Remaining`	99	Your balance after this request.
`X-Image-Source`	cache	cache (CDN hit) or generated (cold render) — the price is identical.
`X-Image-Width / X-Image-Height`	1024	Delivered pixel dimensions.
`ETag`	"9f2a…c41d"	Send it back as If-None-Match to get a free 304.
`X-Request-Id`	req_01j…	Quote it when you report a problem.

1. Get an API key

2. Request an image

3. Read the response headers

4. Go further