Ideogram Platform Help

Ideogram (ideogram.ai) is an AI image-generation platform whose differentiator is legible text inside the image
— the failure that made earlier image models useless for wordmarks, posters, packaging and merch art; its own API overview
names the target uses as "logos, branding, POD, or design layouts." Why it matters here: 40+ budget logo skills
answer "can I script this at volume?" with "use an image-generation service with a documented API" — Ideogram is that
service: 30 REST endpoints, a published OpenAPI 3.1 spec, Ed25519-signed webhooks, an official MCP server and
$40 self-serve custom model training, no sales call, about $3 per 100 concepts. But it is not a logo maker — no
brand kit, no mockups, no trademark screening, and no vector export of any kind.

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first. Ask only what you can't infer:

1. What are you trying to do? (A) generate images — logos/wordmarks, ad creative, posters, POD art; (B) build
   a pipeline — API, webhooks, async, custom model training; (C) MCP — drive it from Claude Code / Cursor;
   (D) formats — vector, SVG, print, transparency; (E) billing — plans, credits, API cost, refunds;
   (F) rights — commercial use, ownership, trademark.
2. Web app or API? Separate accounts with separate wallets — this changes almost every billing answer. MCP spends
   the subscription; REST spends the API balance.
3. Does the exact text matter? (a brand name, a price, a headline) — decides Magic Prompt and model version.
4. Where does the output end up? Screen-only, or print / embroidery / favicon / a trademark filing? The second group needs a vector stage Ideogram cannot provide. Skip-ahead: need the name → /sales-namelix; choosing a logo tool market-wide → /sales-idea-validation.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

When routing, give the exact command: "This is a {domain} question — run: /sales-namelix {original question}". Otherwise
answer Ideogram-specific questions using Step 3.

Step 3 — Ideogram platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full reference — the capability table with automation tags; the
v4-vs-v3 control cliff; Magic Prompt; enable_copyright_detection; API per-image pricing vs the unverifiable
subscription tiers; output rights; the data model (ephemeral URLs, is_image_safe, CustomModel); three working recipes
(bulk concept sweep, verified webhook, brand-model training); and integration patterns. Read
references/ideogram-api-reference.md for the endpoint inventory, schemas, enums, error codes, the Ed25519
verification snippet, MCP setup, and the Developer API Agreement clauses.

Answer using only the relevant section — don't dump the full reference.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

• Say up front that Ideogram cannot export SVG or vector — on any surface — whenever formats, print or trademarks come
  up. Its own FAQ is explicit: "SVG downloads are not currently supported in Ideogram." Downloads are JPEG, PNG and
  WebP; there is no vector endpoint, plan tier or upsell — don't hedge this into "check your plan." Then give the two real
  paths: Layerize Text (/v1/ideogram-v3/layerize-text, $0.09) returns a text-erased base image plus each text
  block's content, position, font and styling so the type can be re-set in a vector editor, or vectorise the raster
  and clean up the curves by hand — say plainly that both are a second stage with real effort in it, to be budgeted
  before promising a print-ready or filing-ready mark.
• Pick the model version by the parameters the job needs, and warn when "newest" is the wrong default.
  /v1/ideogram-v4/generate accepts only five fields — text_prompt, json_prompt, resolution, rendering_speed,
  enable_copyright_detection. num_images, seed, negative_prompt, aspect_ratio, style_type, style_codes,
  color_palette, style_reference_images, character_reference_images and custom_model_uri exist only on
  /v1/ideogram-v3/generate. So any request for multiple variants, a reproducible seed, a locked brand palette, a
  style reference sheet or a trained custom model must use v3 — recommend it explicitly rather than letting the user
  hit a 400. Also flag that v4's rendering_speed=FLASH currently returns a 400 ("coming soon"). When the exact text
  matters, turn Magic Prompt off and quote the string — v4 text_prompt enables it automatically and it will rewrite a
  brand name (only json_prompt disables it there; v3 has magic_prompt=OFF) — and describe typefaces by category
  because naming a font like Futura generally doesn't work.
• Correct the "commercial use needs Pro" claim whenever rights come up, and separate licence from trademark. ToS §2.1:
  "We do not claim any ownership rights in your User Input or User Output, and we do not restrict your ability to use User
  Output for your own purposes (including for commercial purposes)" — plus an assignment of any rights Ideogram acquires.
  This is uniform across tiers; third-party sites claiming Pro-gated commercial rights are wrong. What the Free tier
  actually costs is privacy — generations are public by default, so warn anyone developing an unreleased brand on Free.
  Then split the question: a licence to use is not a registered mark, so require reverse-image search plus
  USPTO/EUIPO clearance before spending, and note US practice generally denies copyright registration to purely
  AI-generated work. Recommend enable_copyright_detection=true (Hive likeness + logo checks) on anything commercial — it
  is off unless explicitly enabled.
• Quote API prices freely; flag every subscription number as unverified. Published per-image: 4.0 Turbo $0.03 /
  Default $0.06 / Quality $0.10, Describe $0.01, Upscale $0.06, Layerize $0.09, custom model training $40.
  Subscription tiers are different — ideogram.ai/pricing blocks non-browser clients (403) and Ideogram's own docs
  refuse to publish tables ("do not rely on static tables in docs for purchase decisions") — so say the numbers are
  third-party and disputed and send the user to their own account before they commit. Always name the split: API =
  separate account, per-image dollars, auto top-up ($10/$40 default), non-refundable, no subscription required; MCP and
  the web app = subscription priority credits that expire at the billing date with no rollover — so point interactive
  users at MCP (claude mcp add ideogram --transport http https://mcp.ideogram.ai/mcp) and batches at REST.
• For any pipeline, state the four operational facts that break naive clients. (1) Image URLs expire — "if you want
  to keep the image, you must download it" — so download in the same unit of work and never store an Ideogram URL as an
  asset. (2) The rate limit is 10 inflight requests (concurrency, not RPM) with no Retry-After or X-RateLimit-*
  header documented — size a worker pool at 10, back off on 429. (3) Two rejection paths: 422 means the prompt was
  refused pre-generation, a 200 with is_image_safe: false and an empty url means the image was refused after.
  (4) Auth is the Api-Key header and bodies are multipart/form-data, not JSON — and never invent an endpoint:
  the surface is the OpenAPI spec at developer.ideogram.ai/openapi.json.

If you discover a gotcha or tip not in references/learnings.md, append it there with today's date.

Gotchas

Best-effort from research (2026-07) — API prices and the endpoint surface came from Ideogram's own published spec, but
subscription tiers could not be verified at source: the live pricing page blocks fetchers and the docs decline to publish tables. Verify plans in-account before paying.

• No SVG or vector export exists, on any plan or endpoint (FAQ: "SVG downloads are not currently supported").
• v4 has the thinnest control surface of any model version. num_images, seed, negative_prompt, aspect_ratio,
  style_type, style_codes, color_palette, style/character references and custom_model_uri are v3-only.
  Reproducibility and brand consistency require /v1/ideogram-v3/generate; v4 FLASH returns a 400. And Magic Prompt is
  on by default on v4 and rewrites brand names — only json_prompt disables it there, v3 has magic_prompt=OFF.
• Two wallets, two credit systems. API = separate account, per-image dollars, charged on first key creation, auto
  top-up ($10/$40 default), non-cancellable and non-refundable, all keys share one plan. Web app + MCP = subscription
  priority credits that expire every billing cycle with no rollover — the most-complained-about behaviour; free credits
  have also been cut over time (~25/day → ~10/week) with little notice. Subscription payments are non-refundable with no
  credit for partial periods; billing errors go to support@ideogram.ai, and cancelling under 5 days before renewal is
  a common surprise-charge cause.
• Free-tier generations are public by default — private generation is a paid feature, so don't develop an unreleased
  brand on Free. But commercial rights are NOT tier-gated (ToS §2.1), despite widespread third-party claims that Pro is
  required — and a licence is still not a trademark, so clear the mark (reverse-image + USPTO/EUIPO); purely AI-generated
  work generally can't be copyright-registered in the US. enable_copyright_detection is off by default.
• The Developer API Agreement bars building a competitor — outputs may not be used "to develop any product, service, or
  technology that competes with the Company" — and requires attribution that output "was created by the Ideogram AI
  Model." It does not train on API inputs/outputs except policy-flagged content.
• Pipeline traps: image URLs expire; webhook targets must be public HTTPS (loopback and private hosts rejected, so no
  localhost testing); a failed polled generation carries no error detail; signatures verify over sha256_hex(raw body), so re-serializing the JSON breaks them.

Related skills

• /sales-idea-validation — The market-wide naming/branding landscape, whether an AI mark is defensible, and the 40+
  logo-tool cluster Ideogram is the scriptable alternative to
• /sales-namelix — Generate the business name first; /sales-print-on-demand for putting designs on merch
• /sales-canva — The wider social and marketing creative once a mark exists; /sales-looka and /sales-brandcrowd are
  the done-for-you logo peers when a brand kit matters more than an API
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code

Examples

Example 1: "I made my logo in Ideogram — how do I get the SVG for my print shop?"

User says: "My printer wants a vector file. Where's the SVG download in Ideogram? Do I need to upgrade?"
Skill does: Answers the upgrade question plainly — no plan unlocks vector, because Ideogram has no SVG export at
all (its own FAQ says so); downloads are JPEG/PNG/WebP. Then the two real routes: Layerize Text, which returns a
text-erased base image plus each text block's content, position, font and styling so the type can be re-set in a vector
editor, or vectorising the raster and cleaning the curves by hand — both a genuine second stage, not a button.
Result: The user stops hunting for a nonexistent export, doesn't waste money upgrading, and plans the vector stage.

Example 2: "How do I batch-generate 4 on-brand logo variants a day via the API?" (developer/automation)

User says: "I want a cron job that generates 4 wordmark variants in our brand colours with a fixed seed so I can
reproduce them. What endpoint do I hit?"
Skill does: Steers to /v1/ideogram-v3/generate, not v4, and says why: num_images, seed, color_palette,
style_reference_images and magic_prompt=OFF don't exist on the v4 endpoint, which takes only text/json prompt,
resolution, rendering speed and copyright detection. Gives the working call — Api-Key header,
multipart/form-data (not JSON), magic_prompt=OFF so the brand name survives — then the operational facts:
download inside the same request because image URLs expire, cap concurrency at 10 inflight requests with backoff
on 429, and treat a 200 with is_image_safe: false plus an empty url as a rejection distinct from a 422.
Result: A working scheduled job on the right endpoint that survives rate limits and doesn't store dead URLs.

Example 3: "Do I need the Pro plan before I can use my Ideogram logo on products I sell?"

User says: "A review said full commercial rights need Ideogram Pro. I'm on the free tier — can I sell merch with it?"
Skill does: Corrects the claim — commercial rights are not tier-gated; ToS §2.1 says Ideogram claims no ownership,
doesn't restrict commercial use, and assigns any rights it acquires to the user, with no tier condition. Flags what Free
does cost: generations are public by default, so an unreleased brand is exposed — that, not licensing, is the reason
to upgrade. Marks the tier prices as unverified and sends them to their own account. Then separates licence from
trademark: USPTO/EUIPO plus reverse-image clearance before spending, and enable_copyright_detection=true.
Result: The user stops paying for rights they already had, and upgrades for privacy instead — with clearance queued.

Troubleshooting

"The API rejected my request with a 400 and the parameter is right there in the docs"

Symptom: num_images, seed, negative_prompt, style_reference_images or custom_model_uri produce a 400 against /v1/ideogram-v4/generate.
Cause: Those parameters do not exist on the v4 endpoint, which accepts only text_prompt, json_prompt,
resolution, rendering_speed and enable_copyright_detection. The wide control surface is on /v1/ideogram-v3/generate.
Separately, v4's rendering_speed=FLASH is documented as "coming soon" and returns a 400.
Solution: Move the call to /v1/ideogram-v3/generate (the field is prompt there, not text_prompt), and keep v4 only
for single best-quality typographic renders from one prompt. Confirm any parameter against
developer.ideogram.ai/openapi.json — it is the authoritative surface, per-version.

"My webhook handler rejects every Ideogram delivery as an invalid signature"

Symptom: Ed25519 verification fails on every async generation callback, so deliveries are dropped and retried.
Cause: Almost always the body was parsed and re-serialized before hashing. The signed message is
generation_id \n user_id \n timestamp \n sha256_hex(raw_request_body) — the hash must be over the raw bytes exactly as
received. Secondary causes: base64url padding stripped from the JWK x field, or a rotated signing key still cached.
Solution: Read the raw body (await request.body() / request.get_data() / request.body / express.raw()), hash
those bytes, and verify against every key from https://api.ideogram.ai/v1/.well-known/jwks.json, re-fetching on failure
to pick up rotation. Make the handler idempotent on generation_id, return 2xx to stop retries, and — because delivery
isn't guaranteed — reconcile by polling GET /v1/generations/{generation_id} for anything still pending.

"My credits vanished at renewal / I was charged after cancelling"

Symptom: A month's unused priority credits are gone at the billing date, or a charge lands after cancelling.
Cause: Subscription priority credits expire each billing cycle with no rollover — the platform's
most-complained-about behaviour, and the free allowance has itself been cut over time (~25/day → ~10/week). Charges after
cancelling usually mean a subscription on a different account, or cancelling under 5 days before renewal.
Solution: Set the expectation that credits are use-it-or-lose-it, so plan generation in bursts inside the cycle rather
than saving up — and if the workload is a scheduled batch, note the API's per-image billing doesn't expire at all and
is the better wallet. Payments are non-refundable with no credit for partial periods, so the only real lever is a genuine
billing error: email support@ideogram.ai from the registered address with the charge date, amount and invoice number,
after checking for a subscription on a second account.

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