Quickstart

Generate your first image with Public Endpoints in under 5 minutes.

This quickstart walks you through generating an image using Runpod Public Endpoints. You’ll use the Flux Schnell model, which is optimized for fast generation.

Requirements

• A Runpod account with at least $1 in credits
• A Runpod API key

Step 1: Generate an image in the playground

The fastest way to test Public Endpoints is through the browser-based playground.

1. Go to the Flux Schnell endpoint in the Runpod console.
2. Under Input, enter a prompt: A golden retriever playing fetch on a sunny beach (or any other prompt you like).
3. Click Run.
4. Wait a few seconds for the image to generate. The result appears under Result.

You’ve just generated your first image. The playground shows the estimated cost (~$0.0025 for a 1024x1024 image).

Step 2: Generate an image with the API

Now let’s generate an image programmatically using the REST API.

cURL

1. Open a terminal on your local machine.
2. Copy the following command, replacing YOUR_API_KEY with your Runpod API key:

curl -X POST "https://api.runpod.ai/v2/black-forest-labs-flux-1-schnell/runsync" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "input": {
      "prompt": "A golden retriever playing fetch on a sunny beach",
      "width": 1024,
      "height": 1024
    }
  }'

3. Paste the command into your terminal and press Enter.
4. Wait for the response (this takes about 10-20 seconds).

Python

1. Create a new file called generate_image.py and paste the following code:

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.runpod.ai/v2/black-forest-labs-flux-1-schnell/runsync",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "input": {
            "prompt": "A golden retriever playing fetch on a sunny beach",
            "width": 1024,
            "height": 1024,
        }
    },
)

result = response.json()
print(result["output"]["image_url"])

2. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your Runpod API key.
3. Open a terminal, navigate to the directory containing the file, and run:

python generate_image.py

4. Wait for the script to print the image URL (this takes about 10-20 seconds).

Response

Both methods return a JSON response with your generated image:

{
  "status": "COMPLETED",
  "output": {
    "image_url": "https://image.runpod.ai/...",
    "cost": 0.02097152
  }
}

Open the image_url in your browser to view the generated image.

Image URLs expire after 7 days. Download images immediately if you need to keep them.

Next steps

• Make API requests: Learn about async requests, SDKs, and best practices.
• Model reference: Explore all available models and their parameters.
• Connect AI coding tools: Use Public Endpoints with Cursor, Cline, and OpenCode.
• Build a text-to-video pipeline: Chain multiple endpoints to generate videos from text prompts.