feat(text chat): expose image input via repeatable --image (multimodal M3, multi-image)

README.md

@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ mmx text chat --model MiniMax-M3 --message "Hello" --stream
 mmx text chat --system "You are a coding assistant" --message "Fizzbuzz in Go"
 mmx text chat --message "user:Hi" --message "assistant:Hey!" --message "How are you?"
 cat messages.json | mmx text chat --messages-file - --output json
+mmx text chat --image photo.jpg --message "What breed is this dog?"
+mmx text chat --image before.png --image after.png --message "What changed?"
 ```
 
 ### `mmx image`

README_CN.md

@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ mmx text chat --model MiniMax-M3 --message "你好" --stream
 mmx text chat --system "你是编程助手" --message "用 Go 写 Fizzbuzz"
 mmx text chat --message "user:你好" --message "assistant:嗨！" --message "你叫什么名字？"
 cat messages.json | mmx text chat --messages-file - --output json
+mmx text chat --image photo.jpg --message "这是什么品种的狗？"
+mmx text chat --image before.png --image after.png --message "这两张图有什么不同？"
 ```
 
 ### `mmx image`

skill/SKILL.md

@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ mmx text chat --message <text> [flags]
 | `--message <text>` | string, **required**, repeatable | Message text. Prefix with `role:` to set role (e.g. `"system:You are helpful"`, `"user:Hello"`) |
 | `--messages-file <path>` | string | JSON file with messages array. Use `-` for stdin |
 | `--system <text>` | string | System prompt |
+| `--image <path-or-url>` | string, repeatable | Image to send with the message (auto base64-encoded). Forces `MiniMax-M3` unless `--model` is set |
 | `--model <model>` | string | Model ID (default: `MiniMax-M3`) |
 | `--max-tokens <n>` | number | Max tokens (default: 4096) |
 | `--temperature <n>` | number | Sampling temperature (0.0, 1.0] |
@@ -76,8 +77,17 @@ mmx text chat \
 
 # From file
 cat conversation.json | mmx text chat --messages-file - --output json
+
+# With images (M3 is multimodal; --image is repeatable)
+mmx text chat --image photo.jpg --message "What breed is this dog?" --quiet
+mmx text chat --image before.png --image after.png \
+  --message "List every visual difference between these two." --quiet
 ```
 
+`text chat` posts to the Anthropic-compatible `/messages` endpoint, so hand-written
+`--messages-file` image blocks must use `{"type":"image","source":{"type":"base64",...}}`.
+The OpenAI `image_url` shape is rejected. `--image` emits the correct shape for you.
+
 **stdout**: response text (text mode) or full response object (json mode).
 
 ---

src/commands/text/chat.ts

@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ import type {
 import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
 import { isInteractive } from '../../utils/env';
 import { promptText, failIfMissing } from '../../utils/prompt';
+import { toImageBlock } from '../../utils/image';
+
+// MiniMax Anthropic API contract (platform.minimax.io/docs/api-reference/text-anthropic-api):
+// per-image cap, supported formats, and the whole-request-body cap.
+const CHAT_IMAGE_MAX_BYTES = 10 * 1024 * 1024;
+const CHAT_IMAGE_ALLOWED_TYPES = ['image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/gif', 'image/webp'];
+const CHAT_MAX_REQUEST_BYTES = 64 * 1024 * 1024;
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Thinking indicator — dynamic spinner + color-cycling label
@@ -146,6 +153,27 @@ function parseMessages(flags: GlobalFlags): ParsedMessages {
   return { system, messages };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Attach image blocks to the last user message, promoting its content from a
+ * bare string to a block array. Images land after the text so the model reads
+ * the instruction first.
+ */
+function attachImages(messages: ChatMessage[], images: ContentBlock[]): void {
+  let idx = messages.length - 1;
+  while (idx >= 0 && messages[idx]!.role !== 'user') idx--;
+
+  if (idx < 0) {
+    messages.push({ role: 'user', content: images });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const target = messages[idx]!;
+  const content = typeof target.content === 'string'
+    ? (target.content ? [{ type: 'text' as const, text: target.content }] : [])
+    : target.content;
+  target.content = [...content, ...images];
+}
+
 function extractText(content: ContentBlock[]): string {
   return content
     .filter((b): b is Extract<ContentBlock, { type: 'text' }> => b.type === 'text')
@@ -163,6 +191,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
     { flag: '--message <text>',        description: 'Message text (repeatable, prefix role: to set role)', required: true, type: 'array' },
     { flag: '--messages-file <path>',  description: 'JSON file with messages array (use - for stdin)' },
     { flag: '--system <text>',         description: 'System prompt' },
+    { flag: '--image <path-or-url>',   description: 'Image to send with the message (repeatable, base64 encoded automatically)', type: 'array' },
     { flag: '--max-tokens <n>',        description: 'Maximum tokens to generate (default: 4096)', type: 'number' },
     { flag: '--temperature <n>',       description: 'Sampling temperature (0.0, 1.0]', type: 'number' },
     { flag: '--top-p <n>',             description: 'Nucleus sampling threshold', type: 'number' },
@@ -173,14 +202,17 @@ export default defineCommand({
     'mmx text chat --message "What is MiniMax?"',
     'mmx text chat --model MiniMax-M3 --system "You are a coding assistant." --message "Write fizzbuzz in Python"',
     'mmx text chat --message "Hello" --message "assistant:Hi!" --message "How are you?"',
+    'mmx text chat --image photo.jpg --message "What breed is this dog?"',
+    'mmx text chat --image before.png --image after.png --message "List every visual difference."',
     'cat conversation.json | mmx text chat --messages-file - --stream',
     'mmx text chat --message "Hello" --output json',
   ],
   async run(config: Config, flags: GlobalFlags) {
     const { system, messages: parsedMessages } = parseMessages(flags);
     let messages = parsedMessages;
+    const imageInputs = (flags.image as string[] | undefined) ?? [];
 
-    if (messages.length === 0) {
+    if (messages.length === 0 && imageInputs.length === 0) {
       if (isInteractive({ nonInteractive: config.nonInteractive })) {
         const hint = await promptText({
           message: 'Enter your message:',
@@ -195,8 +227,36 @@ export default defineCommand({
       }
     }
 
+    if (imageInputs.length > 0) {
+      const images: ContentBlock[] = [];
+      // Track the running request-body size so a run bails as soon as it's
+      // clear the request would exceed the cap, not after every image is
+      // fetched and encoded.
+      let requestBytes = Buffer.byteLength(JSON.stringify(messages), 'utf-8')
+        + Buffer.byteLength(system ?? '', 'utf-8');
+
+      for (const input of imageInputs) {
+        const block = await toImageBlock(input, {
+          maxBytes: CHAT_IMAGE_MAX_BYTES,
+          allowedMediaTypes: CHAT_IMAGE_ALLOWED_TYPES,
+        });
+        requestBytes += block.source.data.length;
+        if (requestBytes > CHAT_MAX_REQUEST_BYTES) {
+          throw new CLIError(
+            `Request body exceeds the ${CHAT_MAX_REQUEST_BYTES / 1024 / 1024} MB limit once this image is attached.`,
+            ExitCode.USAGE,
+            'Send fewer or smaller --image inputs.',
+          );
+        }
+        images.push(block);
+      }
+
+      attachImages(messages, images);
+    }
+
+    // Images require a multimodal model, so they override a text-only config default.
     const model = (flags.model as string)
-      || config.defaultTextModel
+      || (imageInputs.length > 0 ? 'MiniMax-M3' : config.defaultTextModel)
       || 'MiniMax-M3';
     const format = detectOutputFormat(config.output);
     const shouldStream = flags.stream === true || (

src/types/api.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ export type ContentBlock =
   | { type: 'text'; text: string }
   | { type: 'thinking'; thinking: string }
   | { type: 'tool_use'; id: string; name: string; input: Record<string, unknown> }
-  | { type: 'tool_result'; tool_use_id: string; content: string };
+  | { type: 'tool_result'; tool_use_id: string; content: string }
+  | { type: 'image'; source: { type: 'base64'; media_type: string; data: string } };
 
 export interface ChatMessage {
   role: 'user' | 'assistant';

src/utils/image.ts

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@ import { readFileSync, existsSync, statSync } from 'fs';
 import { extname } from 'path';
 import { CLIError } from '../errors/base';
 import { ExitCode } from '../errors/codes';
+import type { ContentBlock } from '../types/api';
+import { dataUriDecodedSize } from './media';
+
+type ImageBlock = Extract<ContentBlock, { type: 'image' }>;
 
 export const IMAGE_MIME_TYPES: Record<string, string> = {
   '.jpg': 'image/jpeg',
@@ -12,7 +16,13 @@ export const IMAGE_MIME_TYPES: Record<string, string> = {
   '.heif': 'image/heif',
 };
 
-export function localFileToDataUri(filePath: string, maxBytes?: number): string {
+/** Per-image and format constraints for a specific caller (e.g. chat's Anthropic-API contract). */
+export interface ImageValidationOptions {
+  maxBytes: number;
+  allowedMediaTypes: readonly string[];
+}
+
+export function localFileToDataUri(filePath: string, maxBytes?: number, mimeOverride?: string): string {
   if (maxBytes !== undefined) {
     const size = statSync(filePath).size;
     if (size > maxBytes) {
@@ -24,7 +34,7 @@ export function localFileToDataUri(filePath: string, maxBytes?: number): string
     }
   }
   const ext = extname(filePath).toLowerCase();
-  const mime = IMAGE_MIME_TYPES[ext] || 'image/jpeg';
+  const mime = mimeOverride || IMAGE_MIME_TYPES[ext] || 'image/jpeg';
   const data = readFileSync(filePath);
   return `data:${mime};base64,${data.toString('base64')}`;
 }
@@ -37,18 +47,56 @@ export function resolveImageInput(input: string, maxBytes?: number): string {
 
 const MAX_IMAGE_SIZE_BYTES = 50 * 1024 * 1024;
 
-export async function toDataUri(image: string): Promise<string> {
-  if (image.startsWith('data:')) return image;
+export async function toDataUri(image: string, opts?: ImageValidationOptions): Promise<string> {
+  if (image.startsWith('data:')) {
+    if (opts) {
+      const mime = /^data:([^;,]+)[;,]/.exec(image)?.[1];
+      if (!mime || !opts.allowedMediaTypes.includes(mime)) {
+        throw new CLIError(
+          `Unsupported image type "${mime ?? 'unknown'}". Supported: ${opts.allowedMediaTypes.join(', ')}`,
+          ExitCode.USAGE,
+        );
+      }
+      const size = dataUriDecodedSize(image);
+      if (size !== undefined && size > opts.maxBytes) {
+        throw new CLIError(
+          `Image too large (${(size / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(1)} MB). Maximum is ${(opts.maxBytes / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(0)} MB.`,
+          ExitCode.USAGE,
+        );
+      }
+    }
+    return image;
+  }
 
   if (image.startsWith('http://') || image.startsWith('https://')) {
     const res = await fetch(image);
     if (!res.ok) throw new CLIError(`Failed to download image: HTTP ${res.status}`, ExitCode.GENERAL);
     const contentType = res.headers.get('content-type') || 'image/jpeg';
     const mime = contentType.split(';')[0]!.trim();
+    const maxBytes = opts?.maxBytes ?? MAX_IMAGE_SIZE_BYTES;
+
+    if (opts) {
+      if (!opts.allowedMediaTypes.includes(mime)) {
+        throw new CLIError(
+          `Unsupported image type "${mime}". Supported: ${opts.allowedMediaTypes.join(', ')}`,
+          ExitCode.USAGE,
+        );
+      }
+      // content-length can lie or be absent, but checking it first avoids
+      // buffering an oversized body just to reject it a moment later.
+      const contentLength = Number(res.headers.get('content-length'));
+      if (contentLength > maxBytes) {
+        throw new CLIError(
+          `Image too large (${(contentLength / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(1)} MB). Maximum is ${(maxBytes / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(0)} MB.`,
+          ExitCode.USAGE,
+        );
+      }
+    }
+
     const buf = await res.arrayBuffer();
-    if (buf.byteLength > MAX_IMAGE_SIZE_BYTES) {
+    if (buf.byteLength > maxBytes) {
       throw new CLIError(
-        `Image too large (${(buf.byteLength / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(1)} MB). Maximum is 50 MB.`,
+        `Image too large (${(buf.byteLength / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(1)} MB). Maximum is ${(maxBytes / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(0)} MB.`,
         ExitCode.USAGE,
       );
     }
@@ -57,6 +105,41 @@ export async function toDataUri(image: string): Promise<string> {
 
   if (!existsSync(image)) throw new CLIError(`File not found: ${image}`, ExitCode.USAGE);
   const ext = extname(image).toLowerCase();
-  if (!IMAGE_MIME_TYPES[ext]) throw new CLIError(`Unsupported image format "${ext}". Supported: jpg, jpeg, png, webp`, ExitCode.USAGE);
+  const mime = opts
+    ? (IMAGE_MIME_TYPES[ext] ?? (ext === '.gif' ? 'image/gif' : undefined))
+    : IMAGE_MIME_TYPES[ext];
+  if (!mime || (opts && !opts.allowedMediaTypes.includes(mime))) {
+    throw new CLIError(
+      `Unsupported image format "${ext}". Supported: ${opts ? opts.allowedMediaTypes.join(', ') : 'jpg, jpeg, png, webp'}`,
+      ExitCode.USAGE,
+    );
+  }
+  if (opts) {
+    const size = statSync(image).size;
+    if (size > opts.maxBytes) {
+      throw new CLIError(
+        `Image too large (${(size / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(1)} MB). Maximum is ${(opts.maxBytes / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(0)} MB.`,
+        ExitCode.USAGE,
+      );
+    }
+    return localFileToDataUri(image, undefined, mime);
+  }
   return localFileToDataUri(image);
 }
+
+/**
+ * Convert a path / URL / data URI into an Anthropic-shaped image content block.
+ * The Messages API rejects the OpenAI `image_url` shape, so callers targeting
+ * `/anthropic/v1/messages` must use this instead of a raw data URI.
+ */
+export async function toImageBlock(image: string, opts?: ImageValidationOptions): Promise<ImageBlock> {
+  const uri = await toDataUri(image, opts);
+  const match = /^data:([^;,]+);base64,(.*)$/s.exec(uri);
+  if (!match) {
+    throw new CLIError(
+      `Unsupported image source "${image}": expected a base64 data URI, file path, or http(s) URL.`,
+      ExitCode.USAGE,
+    );
+  }
+  return { type: 'image', source: { type: 'base64', media_type: match[1]!, data: match[2]! } };
+}