curl -X POST 'https://api.openai.com/v1/images/variations' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \
  -F 'image=@sample.bin'

# POST /images/variations (OpenAI API)
Base URL: https://api.openai.com/v1
Auth: Authorization; OpenAI API key; required.
Status: Deprecated.
Request formats: multipart/form-data.
Last verified: 2026-10-20

> Create image variation

## Critical Gotchas
* The Responses API is the primary interface for new text and tool workflows; Chat Completions remains a separate compatibility API.
* Audio transcription uploads use multipart form data rather than a JSON request body.

## cURL
curl -X POST 'https://api.openai.com/v1/images/variations' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \
  -F 'image=@sample.bin'

## Parameters
| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| image | body | string | Yes | The image to use as the basis for the variation(s). Must be a valid PNG file,... |
| model | body | string | No | The legacy model used by the retired image variations endpoint. This endpoint... |
| n | body | integer | No | The number of images to generate. Must be between 1 and 10. |
| response_format | body | string | No | The format in which the generated images are returned. Must be one of `url` o... |
| size | body | string | No | The size of the generated images. Must be one of `256x256`, `512x512`, or `10... |
| user | body | string | No | A unique identifier representing your end-user, which can help OpenAI to moni... |

## Response example
{"safety_identifier":"string","created":0}

---
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POST

POST /images/variations — OpenAI API

Deprecated

OpenAI API key (required); https://api.openai.com/v1

OpenAI API

Create image variation

Base URL: https://api.openai.com/v1
Auth: Authorization: Bearer <OPENAI_API_KEY>
Last verified: 2026-10-20 · upstream hash matched

Actions Try in browser→

Agents: curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" this URL
→ 333 tokens · Vary: Accept

Critical gotchas

The Responses API is the primary interface for new text and tool workflows; Chat Completions remains a separate compatibility API.

Audio transcription uploads use multipart form data rather than a JSON request body.

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.openai.com/v1/images/variations' \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \  -F '[email protected]'

Parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Description
image	body	string	Yes	The image to use as the basis for the variation(s). Must be a valid PNG file, less than 4MB, and square.
model	body	string	No	The legacy model used by the retired image variations endpoint. This endpoint no longer accepts requests.
n	body	integer	No	The number of images to generate. Must be between 1 and 10.
response_format	body	string	No	The format in which the generated images are returned. Must be one of `url` or `b64_json`. URLs are only valid for 60 minutes after the image has been generated.
size	body	string	No	The size of the generated images. Must be one of `256x256`, `512x512`, or `1024x1024`.
user	body	string	No	A unique identifier representing your end-user, which can help OpenAI to monitor and detect abuse. [Learn more](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/safety-best-practices#implement-safety-identifiers).

Response 200 OK

{
  "safety_identifier": "string",
  "created": 0,
  "data": [
    {
      "b64_json": "string",
      "url": "https://example.com",
      "revised_prompt": "string"
    }
  ],
  "background": "transparent",
  "output_format": "png",
  "size": "string",
  "quality": "low",
  "usage": {
    "input_tokens": 0,
    "total_tokens": 0,
    "output_tokens": 0,
    "output_tokens_details": {
      "image_tokens": 0,
      "text_tokens": 0
    },
    "input_tokens_details": {
      "text_tokens": 0,
      "image_tokens": 0
    }
  }
}

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