catalogue / tools / Images / Image Metadata API

Image Metadata API

Reads an image's EXIF/ICC/IPTC/XMP metadata and can return a copy with all metadata stripped.

Endpoint
POST /v1/image-metadata
Price
$0.003 per call
Family
Images

01When to use it

  • Reading and stripping image metadata safely needs a real decoder and a hardened fetch: an agent that pulls the URL itself walks past every SSRF control, and a strip must be byte-reproducible, which an ad-hoc re-encode is not.

When not to use it

  • The input is over 25 MB (26,214,400 bytes): image-metadata answers too_large (413).
  • The destination needs more than 30 s to answer: the call ends with upstream_timeout (424).
  • The destination is on a private or local network: the network guard refuses it with blocked_target (403).

02Parameters

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
urlstringyesAbsolute http(s) URL of the image to inspect, up to 2048 characters; redirects are followed and the format is detected from the bytes.
stripbooleannoWhen true, also return a same-format copy re-encoded with every metadata block removed (lossy sources at quality 80); allowed for JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF and GIF. Default: false.

03Limits

LimitValue
Size cap25 MB (26,214,400 bytes)
Timeout30 s

04Example

The published example of image-metadata, verbatim: the request body and the response it returns.

Request
POST /v1/image-metadata
content-type: application/json
payment-signature: <base64 x402 payload>

{
  "url": "https://grist.tools/samples/images/metadata-exif.jpg",
  "strip": true
}
Response
200 OK
payment-response: <base64 settlement receipt>

{
  "source_url": "https://grist.tools/samples/images/metadata-exif.jpg",
  "format": "jpeg",
  "width": 32,
  "height": 24,
  "channels": 3,
  "space": "srgb",
  "depth": "uchar",
  "has_alpha": false,
  "has_profile": true,
  "orientation": 6,
  "density": 72,
  "is_progressive": false,
  "metadata": {
    "exif_bytes": 186,
    "icc_bytes": 480,
    "iptc_bytes": null,
    "xmp_bytes": null
  },
  "bytes": 1024,
  "stripped": {
    "format": "jpeg",
    "bytes": 333,
    "image_base64": "/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsj..."
  }
}

Sample file: images/metadata-exif.jpg. 32x24 two-tone JPEG carrying an EXIF block (orientation 6, 72 dpi) and an embedded sRGB ICC profile, built with sharp from raw pixels.

In the sample itself, the segments before the first scan run APP1, APP2, DQT, DQT, SOF0, DHT, DHT, DHT, DHT and SOS, and the baseline frame header declares 32 by 24 pixels, 8-bit precision and 3 components.

Response fieldTypeIn the example
source_urlstring"https://grist.tools/samples/images/metadata-exif.jpg"
formatstring"jpeg"
widthnumber32
heightnumber24
channelsnumber3
spacestring"srgb"
depthstring"uchar"
has_alphabooleanfalse
has_profilebooleantrue
orientationnumber6
densitynumber72
is_progressivebooleanfalse
metadataobjectan object with exif_bytes, icc_bytes, iptc_bytes and xmp_bytes
bytesnumber1024
strippedobjectan object with format, bytes and image_base64

05Call it from code

JavaScript
// image-metadata: $0.003 per call, paid in USD Coin on eip155:8453 via x402
// Install: npm install @x402/fetch@2 @x402/evm@2 viem@2
// Save as client.mjs (ES module, Node 18+), export EVM_PRIVATE_KEY with the paying wallet's key in your shell, then run: node client.mjs
// The wrapper reads the 402 (payment-required), signs and retries with payment-signature.
import { wrapFetchWithPayment, x402Client, decodePaymentResponseHeader } from '@x402/fetch'
import { ExactEvmScheme } from '@x402/evm/exact/client'
import { privateKeyToAccount } from 'viem/accounts'

const account = privateKeyToAccount(process.env.EVM_PRIVATE_KEY)
const client = new x402Client().register('eip155:8453', new ExactEvmScheme(account))
const fetchWithPayment = wrapFetchWithPayment(fetch, client)

const body = {
  "url": "https://grist.tools/samples/images/metadata-exif.jpg",
  "strip": true
}

const res = await fetchWithPayment('https://grist.tools/v1/image-metadata', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify(body),
})
console.log(res.status, await res.json())
const settle = res.headers.get('payment-response')
if (settle) console.log(decodePaymentResponseHeader(settle).transaction)
Python
# image-metadata: $0.003 per call, paid in USD Coin on eip155:8453 via x402
# Install: pip install "x402[requests,evm]>=2.24,<3"
# The session reads the 402 (payment-required), signs and retries with payment-signature.
import os
from eth_account import Account
from x402 import x402ClientSync
from x402.http import decode_payment_response_header
from x402.http.clients.requests import x402_requests
from x402.mechanisms.evm.exact import register_exact_evm_client
from x402.mechanisms.evm.signers import EthAccountSigner

account = Account.from_key(os.environ["EVM_PRIVATE_KEY"])
client = x402ClientSync()
register_exact_evm_client(client, EthAccountSigner(account), networks="eip155:8453")
session = x402_requests(client)

payload = {
    "url": "https://grist.tools/samples/images/metadata-exif.jpg",
    "strip": True
}

res = session.post("https://grist.tools/v1/image-metadata", json=payload)
print(res.status_code, res.json())
settle = res.headers.get("payment-response")
if settle:
    print(decode_payment_response_header(settle).transaction)
curl
# image-metadata: $0.003 per call, paid in USD Coin on eip155:8453 via x402
# 1. Unpaid call: HTTP 402, the requirements in the payment-required header (base64 JSON) and in the body.
curl -i -X POST 'https://grist.tools/v1/image-metadata' -H 'content-type: application/json' -d '{"url":"https://grist.tools/samples/images/metadata-exif.jpg","strip":true}'

# 2. Same call with the signed payment (an EIP-3009 authorization, EIP-712 signed: it cannot be
#    typed by hand). x-payment is accepted as the v1 alternative. HTTP 200 carries payment-response.
curl -i -X POST 'https://grist.tools/v1/image-metadata' -H 'content-type: application/json' -H 'payment-signature: <base64 x402 payload>' -d '{"url":"https://grist.tools/samples/images/metadata-exif.jpg","strip":true}'

06Errors

CodeHTTPFor this service
invalid_input400The body does not match the schema; its fields are url and strip.
blocked_target403
unreachable_target424
upstream_timeout424
unsupported_content_type415
too_large413
unprocessable422
internal500

Input that is rejected before the tool runs (malformed JSON, schema mismatch, body over the size limit) is never charged.

When each code is raised, and what it means for payment: /docs/image-metadata.

07Questions

How much does a image-metadata call cost?
$0.003 per call, paid in USDC on Base via x402, with no account and no API key.
What does image-metadata return?
A JSON object with 15 top-level fields: source_url, format, width, height, channels, space, depth, has_alpha, has_profile, orientation, density, is_progressive, metadata, bytes and stripped. The example on this page is a real call over images/metadata-exif.jpg.
What happens when a image-metadata call fails?
The tool answers with a typed JSON error from the errors table. Payment is settled only after the tool has produced its result; a call that fails inside the tool is never settled. A 503 upstream_unavailable can follow a settled call; the x402 payments guide covers it, 429, 402 and an uncertain 500.