openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Google image generation fails with HTTP 404: x-goog-api-key header auth not accepted by generateContent endpoint [1 participants]

openclaw2026-03-24 14:55:33

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openclaw/openclaw#53751•Fetched 2026-04-08 01:23:55

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montrellcruse

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montrellcruse

The bundled Google image generation provider (dist/extensions/google/image-generation-provider.js) sends the API key via the x-goog-api-key HTTP header. Google's generateContent endpoint for image generation models returns HTTP 404 when authenticated this way, but returns 200 when the same key is passed as a ?key= query parameter.

Root Cause

The image generation provider in pi-embedded-CbCYZxIb.js uses parseGeminiAuth() which returns { headers: { "x-goog-api-key": apiKey } }. The URL is built as:

${baseUrl}/models/${model}:generateContent

This works for regular chat completions but not for image generation models. The image generation endpoint requires the API key as a query parameter:

${baseUrl}/models/${model}:generateContent?key=${apiKey}

Code Example

${baseUrl}/models/${model}:generateContent

---

${baseUrl}/models/${model}:generateContent?key=${apiKey}

---

# This returns 404:
curl -H "x-goog-api-key: $KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-3-pro-image-preview:generateContent" \
  -d '{"contents":[{"role":"user","parts":[{"text":"blue circle"}]}],"generationConfig":{"responseModalities":["TEXT","IMAGE"]}}'

# This returns 200:
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-3-pro-image-preview:generateContent?key=$KEY" \
  -d '{"contents":[{"role":"user","parts":[{"text":"blue circle"}]}],"generationConfig":{"responseModalities":["TEXT","IMAGE"]}}'

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Bug Report

Environment

OpenClaw version: 2026.3.23-2
OS: macOS 26.3.1 (arm64)
Auth: GEMINI_API_KEY env var (API key from Google AI Studio)

Description

Steps to Reproduce

Configure GEMINI_API_KEY in env
Add google to plugins.allow
Set agents.defaults.imageGenerationModel.primary: "google/gemini-3-pro-image-preview"
Call image_generate tool

Expected

Image is generated successfully.

Actual

Google image generation failed (HTTP 404)

Root Cause Analysis

The image generation provider in pi-embedded-CbCYZxIb.js uses parseGeminiAuth() which returns { headers: { "x-goog-api-key": apiKey } }. The URL is built as:

${baseUrl}/models/${model}:generateContent

This works for regular chat completions but not for image generation models. The image generation endpoint requires the API key as a query parameter:

${baseUrl}/models/${model}:generateContent?key=${apiKey}

Verification

# This returns 404:
curl -H "x-goog-api-key: $KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-3-pro-image-preview:generateContent" \
  -d '{"contents":[{"role":"user","parts":[{"text":"blue circle"}]}],"generationConfig":{"responseModalities":["TEXT","IMAGE"]}}'

# This returns 200:
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-3-pro-image-preview:generateContent?key=$KEY" \
  -d '{"contents":[{"role":"user","parts":[{"text":"blue circle"}]}],"generationConfig":{"responseModalities":["TEXT","IMAGE"]}}'

Suggested Fix

In the Google image generation provider, append the API key as a query parameter instead of (or in addition to) the x-goog-api-key header when building the generateContent URL for image generation requests.

Notes

The previous nano-banana-pro skill (removed in 2026.3.22) used ?key= query param auth and worked correctly.
Regular Gemini chat completions work fine with header auth — this only affects image generation models.
Tested with gemini-3-pro-image-preview, gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview, gemini-2.5-flash-image, and nano-banana-pro-preview — all 404 with header auth, all 200 with query param auth.

extent analysis

Fix Plan

To fix the issue, modify the parseGeminiAuth() function in pi-embedded-CbCYZxIb.js to append the API key as a query parameter for image generation requests.

Update the parseGeminiAuth() function to include a conditional check for image generation requests:

function parseGeminiAuth(apiKey, isImageGeneration) {
  if (isImageGeneration) {
    return {
      urlParams: { key: apiKey }
    };
  } else {
    return {
      headers: { "x-goog-api-key": apiKey }
    };
  }
}

Modify the URL construction to include the query parameter for image generation requests:

const url = `${baseUrl}/models/${model}:generateContent`;
if (isImageGeneration) {
  url += `?key=${apiKey}`;
}

Alternatively, you can use the URL class to construct the URL with query parameters:

const url = new URL(`${baseUrl}/models/${model}:generateContent`);
if (isImageGeneration) {
  url.searchParams.set("key", apiKey);
}

Ensure that the isImageGeneration flag is set correctly when calling the parseGeminiAuth() function for image generation requests.

Verification

After applying the fix, verify that image generation requests return a 200 status code by running the following curl command:

curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-3-pro-image-preview:generateContent?key=$KEY" \
  -d '{"contents":[{"role":"user","parts":[{"text":"blue circle"}]}],"generationConfig":{"responseModalities":["TEXT","IMAGE"]}}'

Replace $KEY with the actual API key.

Extra Tips

Ensure that the API key is properly secured and not exposed in the code or logs.
Consider adding error handling for cases where the API key is invalid or missing.
If you're using a library or framework to construct the URL, check the documentation for any specific requirements or recommendations for handling query parameters.

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openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Google image generation fails with HTTP 404: x-goog-api-key header auth not accepted by generateContent endpoint [1 participants]

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openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Google image generation fails with HTTP 404: x-goog-api-key header auth not accepted by generateContent endpoint [1 participants]

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