OATDA Vision Analysis

Analyze images using vision-capable AI models through OATDA's unified API endpoint.

When to Use

Use this skill when the user wants to:

• Analyze or describe an image via OATDA
• Extract text (OCR) from an image using a vision model
• Understand diagrams, charts, or screenshots
• Get AI-powered image descriptions from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google

Prerequisites

The user needs an OATDA API key. Check in this order:

1. $OATDA_API_KEY environment variable
2. ~/.oatda/credentials.json config file

If neither exists, tell the user:

You need an OATDA API key. Get one at https://oatda.com, then set it:
export OATDA_API_KEY=your_key_here

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Resolve the API key

# Check env var first; if empty, auto-load from credentials file
if [[ -z "$OATDA_API_KEY" ]]; then
  export OATDA_API_KEY=$(cat ~/.oatda/credentials.json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.profiles[.defaultProfile].apiKey' 2>/dev/null)
fi

# Verify key exists (show first 8 chars only)
echo "${OATDA_API_KEY:0:8}"

If the output is empty or null, stop and ask the user to configure their API key.

IMPORTANT:

• Never print the full API key. Only show the first 8 characters for verification.
• The key resolution script and subsequent curl commands must run in the same shell session. Each separate bash/terminal invocation starts with an isolated environment where previously exported variables are lost. Either run all commands in one session, or chain them (e.g., export OATDA_API_KEY=... && curl ...).

2. Determine the model

Map common aliases to provider/model format:

User says	Provider	Model
gpt-4o (default)	openai	gpt-4o
gpt-4o-mini	openai	gpt-4o-mini
claude, sonnet	anthropic	claude-3-5-sonnet
gemini	google	gemini-2.0-flash
gemini-1.5	google	gemini-1.5-pro

Default: openai / gpt-4o if no model specified.

3. Validate the image URL

• Only accept https:// URLs or data:image/ base64 data URIs
• Reject http:// URLs, local file paths, and internal IPs (localhost, 127.0.0.1, 169.254.x.x)
• If the user provides a local file, suggest they convert it to base64 first

4. Make the API call

The vision endpoint uses a contents array (NOT a simple prompt string):

curl -s -X POST "https://oatda.com/api/v1/llm/image" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OATDA_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "provider": "<PROVIDER>",
    "model": "<MODEL>",
    "contents": [
      {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "<ANALYSIS_PROMPT>"
      },
      {
        "type": "image",
        "image": {
          "url": "<IMAGE_URL>",
          "detail": "auto"
        }
      }
    ]
  }'

Replace <PROVIDER>, <MODEL>, <ANALYSIS_PROMPT>, and <IMAGE_URL> with actual values.

CRITICAL: This endpoint is /api/v1/llm/image (NOT /api/v1/llm/vision). The request body uses contents array, NOT a prompt + imageUrl structure.

Optional parameters (add to body):

• temperature: 0-2, default 0.7
• maxTokens: Max response tokens

Image detail levels (in the image.detail field):

• "auto" — Let the model decide (default)
• "low" — Faster, cheaper, less detail
• "high" — More detail, higher cost

5. Parse the response

{
  "success": true,
  "provider": "openai",
  "model": "gpt-4o",
  "response": "The image shows a sunset over...",
  "usage": {
    "promptTokens": 800,
    "completionTokens": 200,
    "totalTokens": 1000
  },
  "costs": {
    "inputCost": 0.004,
    "outputCost": 0.006,
    "totalCost": 0.01,
    "currency": "USD"
  }
}

Present the response field to the user. Optionally mention token usage and cost.

6. Handle errors

HTTP Status	Meaning	Action
401	Invalid API key	Tell user to check their key
400	Bad request	Check image URL is valid HTTPS, model supports vision
429	Rate limited	Wait 5 seconds and retry once

Full Example

User asks: "Describe this image: https://example.com/photo.jpg"

curl -s -X POST "https://oatda.com/api/v1/llm/image" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OATDA_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "model": "gpt-4o",
    "contents": [
      {"type": "text", "text": "Describe this image in detail"},
      {"type": "image", "image": {"url": "https://example.com/photo.jpg", "detail": "auto"}}
    ]
  }'

Tips

• The endpoint is /api/v1/llm/image — do NOT confuse with /api/v1/llm/generate-image (that's for generation)
• The body uses contents array format, NOT a simple prompt string
• Only HTTPS image URLs are accepted — no HTTP, no local file paths
• Image tokens are included in the prompt token count and affect cost
• For OCR tasks, use "detail": "high" for better text recognition
• NEVER expose the full API key in output
• Related skills: /oatda:oatda-generate-image for creating images, /oatda:oatda-list-models for available vision models