Image generation
Image generation as an agent capability — inline images in any assistant's reply, the Generate image tool, the dedicated image agent type, and what they cost.
3 min read
Any assistant in Tale can generate images. Ask it to create, draw, or design something and it produces the image inline, the way an attachment renders in the reply — there's no separate mode to switch into first. This works whenever the workspace has an image-generation model configured; this page covers the wiring.
The mechanics depend on the underlying provider — quality, cost, and speed vary widely. Tale's job is to expose the capability to the agent and the user; the provider's job is to make the image.
Asking any assistant for an image
Every assistant carries an image tool it reaches for when you ask it to create a picture, logo, or illustration. The assistant calls the tool, the image renders inline, and its text wraps around the result the way it would around an uploaded attachment. Because the tool ships with every assistant, the Auto assistant handles an image request too — you don't have to pick a specialised agent first.
The image comes from the workspace's image-generation model — the one an admin set up under Providers and tagged Image generation. There's nothing to configure per agent. When the workspace has no such model, the assistant tells you image generation is unavailable instead of guessing, so an admin knows to add one.
The dedicated image surfaces
Two heavier shapes exist beyond the inline tool. On the agent editor, the tool itself is Generate image under the Tools tab's Images category — untick it for an agent that should never produce pictures. And an agent's type (on the General tab) can be set to Image generation, which routes every message straight to an image model — the shape behind the catalog's Image Creator agent, which generates and edits images from text prompts. Reach for the dedicated type when the agent's whole job is imagery; leave the inline tool for everyone else.
How it surfaces
When the agent generates an image, the reply renders it inline next to the agent's text. Hovering shows a small Image preview chip; clicking opens the full-size preview with Previous image and Next image controls if the reply produced more than one. The image is stored in the chat's object store alongside attachments and inherits the chat's retention rules.
Cost and budget
Image models cost more per call than text models — sometimes ten times more. The org's Policies and limits can cap image cost per user, per team, or per agent; hitting the cap surfaces as a toast and the image fails to render. Cost is visible in Usage analytics under the same Top Models table as the text models.
Where this fits
Image generation rides on one thing — a model tagged Image generation in the workspace — and from there every assistant can produce a picture inline, the Auto assistant included. The drift candidate here is provider and model names; pair this page with the running models list in Providers rather than memorising specific model strings.