BudgetPixel Stock Images API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  contact:
    email: support@budgetpixel.com
    name: BudgetPixel Support
  description: 'The BudgetPixel developer API for programmatic image, video, music and

    sound-effect generation.


    Generation is **asynchronous**: you create a job, then poll its status until it

    reaches a terminal state (`succeeded` / `failed`). You are charged in credits

    only on success — never for failures, timeouts, or content blocked before

    generation.


    **Authentication.** All requests require an API key sent as a bearer token:


    Authorization: Bearer bpx_live_xxx


    Create and manage keys from your BudgetPixel account dashboard. The developer

    API is available on **every paid plan**. On the **Free** plan, API keys can call

    the free library searches only: `GET /v1/stock/images`,

    `GET /v1/stock/sound-effects` and `GET /v1/stock/music`.


    **Pricing.** API usage is metered in credits at each model''s published price

    (see `GET /v1/models`), and your plan''s model discounts and active promotions

    apply to API charges exactly as they do on the web — `POST /v1/cost` quotes

    your discounted price. Pro and Ultra plans include a daily free-models

    allowance (a shared pool of free generations per day across qualified image

    models such as FLUX 2 Klein and Qwen-Image) that covers API

    requests too — the standard price applies once the day''s pool is used.

    Other promotional free daily generations remain web/app-only. Failed

    generations are never charged.


    **Rate limits.** Requests are limited per minute: **600 requests/min per API

    key** and **1200 requests/min per source IP** (defaults; subject to tuning).

    Every response carries `X-RateLimit-Limit`, `X-RateLimit-Remaining`, and

    `X-RateLimit-Reset` (seconds until the window resets). Exceeding a limit

    returns HTTP `429` with a `Retry-After` header — wait that long before

    retrying. Rejected requests still count against the window, so a tight retry

    loop keeps you limited; back off instead. Generation jobs additionally have a

    per-plan concurrency cap (the same one as the web workshop), independent of

    these request limits. `POST /v1/uploads` also has a dedicated **60 uploads/min

    per account** cap (it''s free/unmetered) on top of these limits. Every `429`

    this API returns carries `Retry-After`, including a full concurrency queue

    (a suggested wait) and the monthly spend limit (seconds until the month

    resets).


    **Output retention.** Generated files are kept for 24 hours after the job is

    created. Job status responses give the exact time as `expires_at`; after it,

    `expired` is `true` and no download URLs are returned.'
  title: BudgetPixel Stock Images API
  version: '2026-06-20'
servers:
- description: Production
  url: https://api.budgetpixel.com/v1
security:
- ApiKeyAuth: []
tags:
- description: Search the free stock image library — available on every plan, including Free
  name: Stock Images
paths:
  /stock/images:
    get:
      description: 'Search BudgetPixel''s free stock image library (the images at

        budgetpixel.com/images): AI-generated photos,

        illustrations, backgrounds, wallpapers and textures, each reviewed before it is

        listed. Search only — nothing is generated when a query comes up empty.


        **Plans.** Available on **every plan, including Free**. The stock searches

        (images, sound effects, music) are the only endpoints a Free plan''s API key can

        call.


        **Pricing.** **10 credits per search**, charged when the search succeeds,

        including a search that matches nothing. Invalid parameters are refused with a

        `400` and cost nothing. `POST /v1/cost` with `{"model": "stock-image-search"}`

        quotes the price (on paid plans).


        **Licence.** Every image is licensed

        CC BY 4.0. Wherever you use one,

        credit it — each result carries a ready-made credit line (`attribution.text`, or

        `attribution.html` for web pages) that meets the licence. Download the files

        rather than hotlinking the URLs from production apps.


        Search matches your words in each image''s title, tags, alt text, prompt and search

        keywords, best matches first. When a text query has few word matches, results

        found by meaning are added on the first page.


        Besides the standard `/v1` limits, searches are capped at **60 per minute per

        account**.'
      operationId: searchStockImages
      parameters:
      - description: What the image should show, e.g. `misty pine forest at sunrise`. Up to 200 characters. Omit to browse (combine with `category`).
        in: query
        name: query
        schema:
          maxLength: 200
          type: string
      - in: query
        name: category
        schema:
          enum:
          - nature
          - animals
          - food
          - travel
          - transportation
          - architecture
          - business
          - industry
          - technology
          - people
          - education
          - music
          - art
          - backgrounds
          - wallpapers
          - textures
          - abstract
          - holidays
          - science
          - health
          - sports
          type: string
      - in: query
        name: orientation
        schema:
          enum:
          - landscape
          - portrait
          - square
          type: string
      - description: Dominant colour.
        in: query
        name: color
        schema:
          enum:
          - red
          - orange
          - yellow
          - green
          - turquoise
          - blue
          - purple
          - pink
          - white
          - gray
          - black
          - brown
          type: string
      - description: '`photo` for photographs; `illustration` for everything else (illustration, 3D, painting, vector).'
        in: query
        name: type
        schema:
          enum:
          - photo
          - illustration
          type: string
      - description: '`true` returns cut-outs only: PNG files with a transparent background, for stickers, overlays and compositing. Leave it out for every image.'
        in: query
        name: transparent
        schema:
          type: boolean
      - description: '`popular` (default — with a query, best matches first), `newest`, or `top` (highest rated).'
        in: query
        name: sort
        schema:
          default: popular
          enum:
          - popular
          - newest
          - top
          type: string
      - in: query
        name: limit
        schema:
          default: 20
          maximum: 20
          minimum: 1
          type: integer
      - description: Results to skip. The next page is `offset + limit`; each page is a new search.
        in: query
        name: offset
        schema:
          default: 0
          maximum: 5000
          minimum: 0
          type: integer
      responses:
        '200':
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/StockImageList'
          description: Matching images.
        '400':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
        '402':
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
          description: Insufficient credits for a search (10 credits).
        '429':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/TooManyRequests'
      summary: Search free stock images
      tags:
      - Stock Images
components:
  schemas:
    QueueFull:
      description: '`429` body when your account already has as many jobs of this kind

        (image, video or audio) in flight as its concurrency cap allows. Submit

        the next job when one of your running jobs finishes.

        '
      properties:
        active_jobs:
          description: Jobs of this kind in flight right now.
          type: integer
        code:
          enum:
          - queue_full
          type: string
        error:
          description: Human-readable message.
          type: string
        queue_full:
          enum:
          - true
          type: boolean
        queue_limit:
          description: Your concurrency cap for this kind of job.
          type: integer
        retry_after_seconds:
          description: Same value as the `Retry-After` header.
          type: integer
      required:
      - error
      - code
      - queue_full
      - queue_limit
      - active_jobs
      - retry_after_seconds
      type: object
    StockImageList:
      properties:
        credits_charged:
          example: 10
          type: integer
        data:
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/StockImage'
          type: array
        has_more:
          description: More results exist past this page.
          type: boolean
        limit:
          type: integer
        object:
          enum:
          - list
          type: string
        offset:
          type: integer
        total:
          description: Total matching images.
          type: integer
      required:
      - object
      - data
      - total
      - limit
      - offset
      - has_more
      - credits_charged
      type: object
    Error:
      properties:
        error:
          properties:
            code:
              description: Stable machine-readable code.
              example: model_not_available
              type: string
            message:
              type: string
            type:
              description: Error category.
              example: invalid_request_error
              type: string
          required:
          - type
          - code
          - message
          type: object
      required:
      - error
      type: object
    StockImage:
      properties:
        ai_generated:
          example: true
          type: boolean
        alt_text:
          description: One-sentence description for screen readers.
          type: string
        attribution:
          description: The credit line the licence requires wherever the image is used.
          properties:
            html:
              description: The same credit as HTML links, for web pages.
              type: string
            required:
              example: true
              type: boolean
            text:
              example: “Mountain Goat On Rocky Ledge” by BudgetPixel AI (https://budgetpixel.com/images/mountain-goat-on-rocky-ledge-33643c7a) — CC BY 4.0
              type: string
          type: object
        category:
          type: string
        colors:
          description: Dominant colours.
          items:
            type: string
          type: array
        created_at:
          format: date-time
          type: string
        description:
          type: string
        downloads:
          type: integer
        height:
          description: Original height in pixels.
          type: integer
        id:
          format: uuid
          type: string
        license:
          properties:
            code:
              example: CC-BY-4.0
              type: string
            name:
              example: CC BY 4.0
              type: string
            url:
              example: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
              type: string
          type: object
        model:
          description: The model that generated the image.
          type: string
        orientation:
          enum:
          - landscape
          - portrait
          - square
          type: string
        page_url:
          description: The image's page on budgetpixel.com — the link its credit line points to.
          example: https://budgetpixel.com/images/mountain-goat-on-rocky-ledge-33643c7a
          type: string
        prompt:
          description: The prompt the image was generated from.
          type: string
        quality_score:
          description: Review score out of 10.
          type:
          - number
          - 'null'
        style:
          enum:
          - photo
          - illustration
          - 3d
          - painting
          - vector
          type: string
        tags:
          items:
            type: string
          type: array
        title:
          example: Mountain Goat On Rocky Ledge
          type: string
        transparent:
          description: 'A cut-out: its `original`, `large` and `small` files are PNG with a transparent background.'
          type: boolean
        urls:
          description: Direct file URLs. `large`/`small` are the long edge in pixels.
          properties:
            large:
              description: 1280 px JPG (PNG for a cut-out).
              type: string
            large_webp:
              description: 1280 px WebP.
              type: string
            original:
              description: JPG at the original size (PNG for a cut-out).
              type: string
            preview:
              description: 'Cut-outs only: a JPG of the picture on a plain backdrop.'
              type: string
            small:
              description: 640 px JPG (PNG for a cut-out).
              type: string
            small_webp:
              description: 640 px WebP.
              type: string
          type: object
        width:
          description: Original width in pixels.
          type: integer
      type: object
    ModerationBlocked:
      description: Returned (with HTTP 400) when the input content moderation gate blocks a generation request. The block is a property of the request's prompt or input media — reword the prompt or change the input and retry. Branch on `restriction_reason`, which is stable and machine-readable.
      properties:
        error:
          description: Human-readable explanation of the block.
          type: string
        restriction_reason:
          description: Stable machine-readable block reason.
          enum:
          - input_csam
          - input_explicit_adult
          - input_upload_nudity
          - input_celebrity_likeness
          - strict_model_nsfw
          type: string
      required:
      - error
      - restriction_reason
      type: object
  responses:
    TooManyRequests:
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            oneOf:
            - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
            - $ref: '#/components/schemas/QueueFull'
      description: 'A limit was reached. Every `429` carries `Retry-After` (seconds). The

        per-minute rate limit, the upload limit and the hourly API post cap answer

        with the `Error` envelope, code `rate_limited`. The monthly spend limit answers with

        code `monthly_spend_limit_reached`, and its `Retry-After` counts down to the

        start of next month (raising the limit in the console clears it sooner).

        A full concurrency queue answers with the flat `QueueFull` body (3D jobs:

        the `Error` envelope with code `queue_full`); its `Retry-After` is a

        suggested wait, because a slot frees as soon as one of your running jobs

        finishes.

        '
      headers:
        Retry-After:
          description: Seconds to wait before retrying.
          schema:
            minimum: 1
            type: integer
    Unauthorized:
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
      description: Missing or invalid API key.
    BadRequest:
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            oneOf:
            - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
            - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ModerationBlocked'
      description: The request was malformed, referenced an unavailable model, or was blocked by input content moderation (moderation blocks carry a `restriction_reason` — see ModerationBlocked).
  securitySchemes:
    ApiKeyAuth:
      bearerFormat: bpx_live_*
      description: 'API key as a bearer token: Authorization: Bearer bpx_live_xxx'
      scheme: bearer
      type: http