name: fal-generate
description: Generate images and videos using fal.ai AI models with queue support. Use when the user requests "Generate image", "Create video", "Make a picture of...", "Text to image", "Image to video", "Search models", or similar generation tasks.
metadata:
author: fal-ai
version: "3.0.0"

fal.ai Generate

Generate images and videos using state-of-the-art AI models on fal.ai.

Scripts

Queue System (Default)

All requests use the queue system by default for reliability:

User Request → Queue Submit → Poll Status → Get Result
                   ↓
              request_id

Benefits:
- Long-running tasks (video) won't timeout
- Can check status anytime
- Can cancel queued requests
- Results retrievable even if connection drops

Generate Content

bash /mnt/skills/user/fal-generate/scripts/generate.sh [options]

Basic Usage (Queue Mode)

# Image - submits to queue, waits for completion
bash generate.sh --prompt "A serene mountain landscape" --model "fal-ai/nano-banana-pro"

# Video - same, but takes longer
bash generate.sh --prompt "Ocean waves crashing" --model "fal-ai/veo3.1"

# Image-to-Video
bash generate.sh \
  --prompt "Camera slowly zooms in" \
  --model "fal-ai/kling-video/v2.6/pro/image-to-video" \
  --image-url "https://example.com/image.jpg"

Async Mode (Return Immediately)

For long video jobs, use --async to get request_id immediately:

# Submit and return immediately
bash generate.sh --prompt "Epic battle scene" --model "fal-ai/veo3.1" --async

# Output:
# Request ID: abc123-def456
# Request submitted. Use these commands to check:
#   Status: ./generate.sh --status "abc123-def456" --model "fal-ai/veo3.1"
#   Result: ./generate.sh --result "abc123-def456" --model "fal-ai/veo3.1"

Queue Operations

# Check status
bash generate.sh --status "request_id" --model "fal-ai/veo3.1"
# → IN_QUEUE (position: 3) | IN_PROGRESS | COMPLETED

# Get result (when COMPLETED)
bash generate.sh --result "request_id" --model "fal-ai/veo3.1"

# Cancel (only if still queued)
bash generate.sh --cancel "request_id" --model "fal-ai/veo3.1"

Show Logs During Generation

bash generate.sh --prompt "A sunset" --model "fal-ai/flux/dev" --logs
# Status: IN_QUEUE (position: 2)
# Status: IN_PROGRESS
#   > Loading model...
#   > Generating image...
# Status: COMPLETED

File Upload

Option 1: Auto-upload with --file

# Local file is automatically uploaded to fal CDN
bash generate.sh \
  --file "/path/to/photo.jpg" \
  --model "fal-ai/kling-video/v2.6/pro/image-to-video" \
  --prompt "Camera zooms in slowly"

Option 2: Manual upload with upload.sh

# Upload first
URL=$(bash upload.sh --file "/path/to/photo.jpg")
# → https://v3.fal.media/files/xxx/photo.jpg

# Then generate
bash generate.sh --image-url "$URL" --model "..." --prompt "..."

Option 3: Use existing URL

# Any public URL works
bash generate.sh --image-url "https://example.com/image.jpg" ...

Supported file types:
- Images: jpg, jpeg, png, gif, webp
- Videos: mp4, mov, webm
- Audio: mp3, wav, flac

Upload flow (two-step):

1. POST rest.alpha.fal.ai/storage/auth/token?storage_type=fal-cdn-v3
   → {"token": "...", "base_url": "https://v3b.fal.media"}

2. POST {base_url}/files/upload
   Authorization: Bearer {token}
   → {"access_url": "https://v3b.fal.media/files/..."}

Max file size: 100MB (simple upload)

Arguments Reference

Mode Options:
| Argument | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| (default) | Queue mode - submit and poll until complete |
| --async | Submit to queue, return request_id immediately |
| --sync | Synchronous (not recommended for video) |
| --logs | Show generation logs while polling |

Queue Operations:
| Argument | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| --status ID | Check status of a queued request |
| --result ID | Get result of a completed request |
| --cancel ID | Cancel a queued request |

Advanced:
| Argument | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| --poll-interval | Seconds between status checks | 2 |
| --timeout | Max seconds to wait | 600 |
| --lifecycle N | Object expiration in seconds | - |
| --schema [MODEL] | Get OpenAPI schema | - |

Recommended Models

Text-to-Image

Text-to-Video

Image-to-Video

Search Models

# Search by keyword
bash search-models.sh --query "flux"

# Filter by category
bash search-models.sh --category "text-to-video"

Categories: text-to-image, image-to-image, text-to-video, image-to-video, text-to-speech, speech-to-text

Get Model Schema (OpenAPI)

IMPORTANT: Fetch schema to see exact parameters for any model.

# Get schema
bash get-schema.sh --model "fal-ai/nano-banana-pro"

# Show only input parameters
bash get-schema.sh --model "fal-ai/kling-video/v2.6/pro/image-to-video" --input

# Quick schema via generate.sh
bash generate.sh --schema "fal-ai/veo3.1"

API Endpoint:

https://fal.ai/api/openapi/queue/openapi.json?endpoint_id={model-id}

Output

Queue Submit Response:

{
  "request_id": "abc123-def456",
  "status": "IN_QUEUE",
  "response_url": "https://queue.fal.run/.../requests/abc123-def456",
  "status_url": "https://queue.fal.run/.../requests/abc123-def456/status",
  "cancel_url": "https://queue.fal.run/.../requests/abc123-def456/cancel"
}

Final Result:

{
  "images": [{ "url": "https://v3.fal.media/files/...", "width": 1024, "height": 768 }]
}

Present Results to User

Images:

![Generated Image](https://v3.fal.media/files/...)
• 1024×768 | Generated in 2.2s

Videos:

[Click to view video](https://v3.fal.media/files/.../video.mp4)
• Duration: 5s | Generated in 45s

Async Submission:

Request submitted to queue.
• Request ID: abc123-def456
• Model: fal-ai/veo3
• Check status: --status "abc123-def456"

Object Lifecycle (Optional)

Control how long generated files remain accessible:

# Files expire after 1 hour (3600 seconds)
bash generate.sh --prompt "..." --lifecycle 3600

# Files expire after 24 hours
bash generate.sh --prompt "..." --lifecycle 86400

Troubleshooting

Timeout Error

Error: Timeout after 600s
Request ID: abc123-def456

Solution: Use --status and --result to check manually, or increase --timeout.

API Key Error

Error: FAL_KEY not set

Solution: Run ./generate.sh --add-fal-key or export FAL_KEY=your_key.

Network Error (claude.ai)

Go to claude.ai/settings/capabilities and add *.fal.ai to allowed domains.