Nano Banana CLI Tool — Generate and edit images with the power of Google Gemini models directly from your terminal.

nb-cli is a lightweight command-line interface for the Nano Banana (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) model. It allows you to create high-quality images from text prompts and perform sophisticated image editing by providing natural language instructions alongside an existing image.

Use .jpg output filenames when you pass -o. If you omit the extension, nb-cli will save using the model's native output format automatically.

• Node.js (v18+)
• Google Gemini API Key

Using NPM (Global):

npm install -g @crapthings/nb-cli

Using NPX (No installation):

npx @crapthings/nb-cli generate "A futuristic banana"

From Source:

git clone https://github.com/crapthings/nb-cli.git
cd nb-cli
npm install
npm link # To use 'nb' command locally

To use this CLI, you need a Google Gemini API Key.

• Get one for free at: Google AI Studio

Set the key in your shell environment:

export GEMINI_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

Create a brand new image from a text prompt.

nb generate "A cyberpunk cat sitting on a neon-lit skyscraper" -o cyber-cat.jpg -s 1k -a 16:9

Generate a 1:1 minimalist icon for a given prompt. This command automatically adds icon-specific keywords to your prompt.

nb icon "a playful banana" -o banana-icon.jpg

Modify an existing image by describing the changes you want.

nb edit cyber-cat.jpg "Make the cat wearing sunglasses and drinking a soda" -o edit.jpg -a 1:1

When you're building a website or web app with tools like Codex or Claude Code, nb-cli is a fast way to generate hero images, landing page artwork, blog thumbnails, feature illustrations, and other visual assets without leaving the terminal.

Example workflow:

nb generate "A clean SaaS dashboard hero image with floating analytics cards, soft daylight, modern editorial composition" -o hero.jpg -s 2k -a 16:9

You can then drop the generated image straight into your repo while your coding agent continues implementing the page.

If you use Codex skills, you can install the bundled nb-cli skill from this repo with:

npx skills add https://github.com/crapthings/nb-cli --skill nb-cli

This installs the nb-cli skill so your agent can use the CLI with the repo's prompt guidance and image-generation references.

After installation, trigger it with requests such as:

• Use $nb-cli to generate a 16:9 SaaS hero image with soft daylight and editorial composition
• Use $nb-cli to create a minimalist coffee cup icon for my app
• Use $nb-cli to edit hero.jpg and change only the background to a warm sunset gradient
• Use $nb-cli to generate a product mockup for a matte black bottle, centered three-quarter angle, soft studio light

Shout-out to grokfilm.app. The still-image technique references in the bundled skill were inspired by the film and photography technique vocabulary collected there.

Ordered by the leading dimension (width) from largest to smallest:

• Horizontal: 21:9, 16:9, 8:1, 5:4, 4:3, 4:1, 3:2
• Square: 1:1
• Vertical: 9:16, 4:5, 3:4, 2:3, 1:4, 1:8

• Use .jpg for output files, including with -o.
• PNG, WEBP, and other output formats are not supported in this CLI.
• If you leave the extension off, nb-cli will append the model's actual output format.

• bin/nb.js: Entry point for the CLI tool.
• src/api.js: Interactions with the Google Gemini (Nano Banana) API.
• src/commands.js: Command handlers for generate and edit.
• test/: Unit tests using mocha and chai.
• AGENTS.md: Technical overview and project requirements.

This project follows the StandardJS coding style.

• No semicolons.
• 2-space indentation.
• High-quality, idiomatic JavaScript.

The project uses mocha and chai for unit testing.

npm test

npm run lint

Licensed under the MIT License.