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Z-Image from Alibaba's Tongyi team is a compact 6B text-to-image model that returns a photoreal frame in roughly a second. Prompts run up to 1,000 characters, in five aspect ratios, delivered as lossless PNG.

From $0.016/image

Workbench

Send a request

Quickstart

Examples use the selected endpoint’s public parameter definitions. Replace the API key and example media, then send the request from your server.

SDKs & integrations
POSThttps://api.spicyapi.ai/api/v1/jobs/createTask

API authentication

Keep the API key in the server environment variable SPICY_API_KEY. Use Bearer authentication and Content-Type: application/json for JSON requests.

Authorization: Bearer $SPICY_API_KEY
Z-Image · Text to Image · Sample output
Sample outputUse this example
# Generate the idempotency key once; reuse it when retrying after a lost response.
export SPICY_IDEMPOTENCY_KEY="${SPICY_IDEMPOTENCY_KEY:-$(uuidgen)}"
curl -X POST https://api.spicyapi.ai/api/v1/jobs/createTask \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPICY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $SPICY_IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "model": "alibaba/z-image-turbo/text-to-image",
  "input": {
    "prompt": "A ceramic teapot on a linen cloth, soft window light, muted palette",
    "aspect_ratio": "1:1",
    "output_format": "png",
    "enable_prompt_expansion": false
  }
}'

# Copy data.taskId from the response into TASK_ID, then poll the status.
TASK_ID="TASK_ID_FROM_RESPONSE"
curl "https://api.spicyapi.ai/api/v1/jobs/recordInfo?taskId=$TASK_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPICY_API_KEY"

Generated from this model’s input schema — the same one the API validates every request against.

Input parameters

Place these fields inside the request body’s input object. Names and types match the API. Do not assume a default when none is specified.

promptstringRequired

Up to 1,000 characters — a small budget on purpose. This endpoint comes back fast enough to treat wording as an experiment: change one thing per run instead of rewriting wholesale.

Default
Not specified
Constraints
minLength:1
maxLength:1000
seedintegerOptional

Integer from 0 to 2147483647 for the random start; leave it out and every run draws its own. With the same prompt, ratio and seed the result lands very close to the earlier image, so store the seed with any image you keep and change one clause at a time against it. It fixes the starting noise, not the output pixel for pixel. No effect on price.

Default
Not specified
Constraints
minimum:0
maximum:2147483647
output_formatstringOptional

`png` is the only value, and also the default. It is lossless, which makes it the safe handoff into further editing. The field keeps the request explicit; it changes neither the image nor the price.

Default
"png"
Allowed values
"png"
enable_prompt_expansionbooleanOptionalAffects price

Off by default, so the prompt is used as written. Switch it on to have the model rewrite a short prompt into a fuller description before generating, for better results. Requests with it on are billed at the prompt-expansion rate, which is higher than the standard rate; the estimate shown before you submit already reflects it.

Default
false
aspect_ratiostringOptional

Output shape — five values, square by default, from 16:9 landscape to 9:16 portrait. Each ratio maps to a fixed size near the native range, so quality stays even; generate at the ratio you will publish at.

Default
"1:1"
Allowed values
"1:1""4:3""3:4""16:9""9:16"

Track the task

HTTP 202 means the task was accepted, not completed. Save the returned taskId and query that task. Do not create another task while waiting for its result.

Accepted response
HTTP/1.1 202 Accepted
Location: /api/v1/jobs/recordInfo?taskId=job_01k3m8x9q2z4v7n5p6r8s0t1w3

{
  "code": 200,
  "msg": "success",
  "request_id": "req_example_create",
  "data": {
    "taskId": "job_01k3m8x9q2z4v7n5p6r8s0t1w3",
    "state": "queued",
    "estimatedCost": "0.750000"
  }
}

The accepted response includes the estimate so your app can show the same amount in task history and billing.

Read the job
curl --get "https://api.spicyapi.ai/api/v1/jobs/recordInfo" \
  --data-urlencode "taskId=$TASK_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPICY_API_KEY"

Start polling at about 2 seconds and gradually increase the interval. Stop at a terminal state. After a connection failure, query the original taskId. Retry creation only with the original idempotency key and body.

Or let the callback find you
import { verifyWebhook } from "@spicyapi/sdk";

// express.raw keeps the bytes we signed; express.json never matches.
app.post("/hooks/spicy", express.raw({ type: "application/json" }), (req, res) => {
  const { payload } = verifyWebhook({
    rawBody: req.body,
    timestamp: req.header("X-Webhook-Timestamp"),
    signature: req.header("X-Webhook-Signature"),
    payloadVersion: Number(req.header("X-Webhook-Payload-Version")),
    secret: process.env.SPICY_WEBHOOK_SECRET,
  });
  res.status(200).end();
  void handleFinishedTask(payload);
});

Pass callBackUrl when you create the task and the finished record is POSTed to you — no polling loop at all. Every delivery carries X-Webhook-Timestamp, X-Webhook-Signature and X-Webhook-Payload-Version. The signature is a base64 HMAC-SHA256 over taskId.timestamp.sha256(body), so it must be checked against the raw bytes: parsing the JSON and re-serialising it changes them and the check will fail. Failed deliveries are retried, so the same taskId can arrive twice — make the handler idempotent. Answer 2xx first and do the work afterwards; a slow handler is treated as a failed delivery.

Read the result

Consume output only when state is succeeded. On failure, use errorCode, errorMessage and request_id to investigate. Example costs and states do not represent an actual bill.

Completed response example
{
  "code": 200,
  "msg": "success",
  "request_id": "req_example_record",
  "data": {
    "taskId": "job_01k3m8x9q2z4v7n5p6r8s0t1w3",
    "model": "alibaba/z-image-turbo/text-to-image",
    "state": "succeeded",
    "output": {
      "assets": [
        {
          "key": "tasks/2026/08/28/job_01k3m8x9q2z4v7n5p6r8s0t1w3/3f7a1c9e5b2d48f0a6c1e3d5b7f9a1c3.png",
          "mime": "image/png",
          "url": "https://example.r2.cloudflarestorage.com/results/job_01k3m8x9q2z4v7n5p6r8s0t1w3/result.png?X-Amz-Signature=SIGNATURE_FROM_RESPONSE",
          "expiresAt": "2026-08-28T12:20:08.000Z"
        }
      ]
    },
    "cost": "0.750000",
    "settled": true,
    "createdAt": "2026-08-28T12:00:00Z",
    "completedAt": "2026-08-28T12:00:30Z"
  }
}

For each available asset, open or download assets[].url directly without an API Authorization header. The signed URL expires at expiresAt; poll the task again to refresh it while the asset remains within its retention period. A pending or unavailable asset has no URL. Treat signed URLs as private.

SDKs & integrations

Use SpicyAPI in your app, terminal, AI assistant or visual workflow. Choose a setup guide below.

Use it in ComfyUI

Install the SpicyAPI nodes from ComfyUI Manager or with the command below, then search for Z-Image · Text to Image on the canvas. The node has the same options as this page and shows its price before it runs.

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/spicyapi-ai/comfyui-spicyapi