Generating images from the terminal in Claude Code

Why generate images where you already work

A developer keeps the terminal open all day. When you need an image, the usual path is to switch to a browser, sign in to some tool, wait, download a file, and drag it into the repo. It is a small tax, and you pay it every time.

Claude Code already reads and writes files in your project and runs commands for you. Give it one more ability, image generation, and the picture lands next to your code without a context switch.

Figgshield is the piece that adds that ability. It is an MCP server, so Claude Code talks to it through the same tool interface it uses for everything else.

Connect Figgshield to Claude Code

Claude Code manages MCP servers from the command line. You add Figgshield once and it stays available in every session afterward.

Run this from your project: claude mcp add --transport http figgshield https://api.figgshield.ai/mcp

The first call prompts you to sign in and authorize. After that, Claude Code can see the image and video tools. Check the connection any time with claude mcp list.

The same server works in Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop, and ChatGPT Developer Mode on a paid plan, so this setup is not specific to one editor.

Ask for your first image

You do not write an API request. You describe the picture in plain English and Claude Code chooses the tool and fills in the arguments.

Try something like: "Generate a 1024x1024 app icon, a flat friendly fox holding a wrench, soft green background, no text." Claude Code sends it to Figgshield and returns a link to the result.

The model doing the work is Nano Banana 2 from Google. If you want the file in your repo, say where: "save it to assets/icon.png."

Iterating is a follow-up message, not a new project. "Make the fox blue" or "crop tighter" continues from the last image.

Resolution and what a picture costs

Figgshield runs on credits, and one balance covers both images and video.

Pricing is at cost. Figgshield does not mark up the underlying models. The only money it makes is on credits people buy and never spend, so the rate you pay stays close to what the model costs to run. Current numbers are on the pricing page.

There is no free tier. The $5 Pro trial lasts seven days and includes 150 credits. Cancel before day 7 and you pay nothing more.

• An image at 1K or 2K costs 8 credits.
• The same image at 4K costs 16 credits.
• A five-second video clip costs 35 credits.

Generate images from a one-shot command

Because the tool lives inside Claude Code, anything you can do in a session you can also do without one. Claude Code has a non-interactive mode, so you can generate an image straight from a script.

For example: claude -p "generate a 2K placeholder hero for the landing page and save it to public/hero.png". That runs once, produces the file, and exits.

This is handy for seeding a demo, filling placeholder art during a build step, or generating variations in a loop over a list of prompts. The credits come out of the same balance as your interactive work.

Go from a still to a short clip

Every image you generate has an id. You can start a video from that id instead of describing the scene again, so the clip keeps the exact frame you already approved.

Video runs on Kling 3, with a faster Kling 3 Turbo tier for when speed matters more than the last bit of polish. A five-second clip is 35 credits.

Ask "turn that icon into a five-second loop with a slow zoom" and Claude Code passes the image id through. One note on storage: results sit on a private link for seven days and are then deleted, so pull anything you want to keep into the repo during the session.