The deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp
model accepts images alongside text, so you can ask the model to describe pictures, read text from screenshots, analyze charts, and more.
Supported image formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP. The format is detected from the actual file content, not from the file name or the declared MIME type.
Sending Images #
There are three ways to provide an image to the model. All of them use the standard OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions format, where content
is an array of blocks instead of a plain string. The same three methods are also available in the Responses API, where images are carried in input_image
content parts.
The base_url
for the examples below is https://api.deepseek.com
.
1. Base64-encoded image (inline)
Encode the image and embed it directly in the request as a data:
URL. This is the simplest option for local files. The encoded data counts toward the 48 MiB request body limit (see Limits).
import base64from openai import OpenAIclient = OpenAI(api_key="<DeepSeek API Key>", base_url="https://api.deepseek.com")with open("image.jpg", "rb") as f: b64 = base64.b64encode(f.read()).decode("utf-8")response = client.chat.completions.create( model="deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp", messages=[ { "role": "user", "content": [ {"type": "text", "text": "What is in this image?"}, { "type": "image_url", "image_url": {"url": f"data:image/jpeg;base64,{b64}"}, }, ], } ],)print(response.choices[0].message.content)
curl https://api.deepseek.com/chat/completions \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer <DeepSeek API Key>" \ -d '{ "model": "deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp", "messages": [ { "role": "user", "content": [ {"type": "text", "text": "What is in this image?"}, {"type": "image_url", "image_url": {"url": "data:image/jpeg;base64,<BASE64_DATA>"}} ] } ] }'
2. External image URL
Pass a publicly accessible http(s)
link and the model downloads the image for you. The URL must be at most 8192 characters, the image file may be at most 32 MiB, and the download must complete within 60 seconds. If your link is longer, use a base64 data URL or the Files API instead.
response = client.chat.completions.create( model="deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp", messages=[ { "role": "user", "content": [ {"type": "text", "text": "Describe this image."}, { "type": "image_url", "image_url": {"url": "https://example.com/image.jpg"}, }, ], } ],)print(response.choices[0].message.content)
3. Reference a file uploaded via the Files API
Upload an image once with the Files API, then reference its file_id
in your requests. This is the best option when you reuse the same image across multiple requests, or when the image pushes the request body over the 48 MiB inline limit. Unlike inline images, images referenced via Files API file_id
may be up to 64 MiB and are not subject to the 32 MiB per-image check.
Use a file
content block with the returned file_id
(which has the form file-api-...
):
response = client.chat.completions.create( model="deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp", messages=[ { "role": "user", "content": [ {"type": "text", "text": "What is in this image?"}, {"type": "file", "file_id": "file-api-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"}, ], } ],)print(response.choices[0].message.content)
Alternatively, a file
block can carry the image inline as base64 via file_data
instead of file_id
(the two are mutually exclusive):
{ "type": "file", "file_data": "data:image/jpeg;base64,<BASE64_DATA>", "filename": "image.jpg"}
Detail Level #
For image_url
inputs you can optionally set a detail
field to control how the image is processed:
| Value | Behavior |
|---|---|
low |
The image is downscaled to 512×512 before inference. Faster and cheaper when fine visual detail is not important. |
high |
Keeps the original image. (Provided for compatibility; equivalent to original .) |
original |
Keeps the original image. |
auto |
Automatic selection. Currently equivalent to original . |
{ "type": "image_url", "image_url": {"url": "https://example.com/image.jpg", "detail": "low"}}
When to Use the Files API #
Inline images (base64 or file_data
) count toward the request body size limit of 48 MiB. Consider the Files API when:
- A single request would exceed the body size limit.
- The image is larger than 32 MiB, which is only possible through the Files API.
- You reference the same image in multiple requests and want to avoid re-up it each time.
Token Usage #
Images are converted into tokens based on their dimensions, and these tokens are billed together with your text tokens.
Before inference, every image is automatically resized:
- Images with a total pixel count below roughly 384×384 are scaled up while preserving their aspect ratio.
- Larger images are scaled down while preserving their aspect ratio, so that the total pixel count after resizing is roughly that of an 800×800 image.
As a result, there is an upper bound of 384 tokens per image: for example, a 2000×2000 image and a 5000×5000 image consume the same number of tokens after resizing. When a request contains multiple images, each image is counted independently under the same rule — there is no separate calculation for multi-image requests.
To estimate the token cost of an image of a specific size, use the image token calculator on the Token & Token Usage page.
Limits #
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Supported formats | JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP |
| External URL length | 8192 characters |
| Request body size | 48 MiB |
| Max single image size (base64 / external URL) | 32 MiB |
Max single image size (Files API file_id ) |
64 MiB |
| Max images per request | 600 |
| Max total image size per request | 64 MiB without file_id images; up to 200 MiB including file_id images |
| Max image dimension | 8192 px per side; drops to 4096 px per side when a request contains 15 or more images |
For storage and upload quotas of files uploaded via the Files API, see Files API: Limits.
Restrictions #
- Images are supported in
user
messages only: images insystem
orassistant
messages return a400
error. - Only vision models (
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp
) accept images; other models return a400
error ("This model does not support image"). - User text containing the reserved image placeholder token is rejected with a
400
error.
Using Images with the Anthropic API #
In addition to the OpenAI-compatible endpoint above, you can send images through the Anthropic-compatible /messages
endpoint (base_url
= https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic
). For general setup, see Anthropic API.
The difference is the shape of the image content block. Instead of image_url
, Anthropic uses an image
block with a source
object whose type
is one of base64
, url
, or file
:
import anthropicclient = anthropic.Anthropic() # ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.deepseek.com/anthropicmessage = client.messages.create( model="deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp", max_tokens=1024, messages=[ { "role": "user", "content": [ {"type": "text", "text": "What is in this image?"}, { "type": "image", "source": { "type": "base64", "media_type": "image/jpeg", "data": "<BASE64_DATA>", }, }, ], } ],)print(message.content)
The three source
variants mirror the OpenAI methods above:
source.type |
Equivalent OpenAI method | Notes |
|---|---|---|
base64 |
Base64-encoded image | Requires a media_type field (image/jpeg , image/png , image/gif , or image/webp ). |
url |
External image URL | Max 8192 characters. |
file |
Files API file_id |
Requires the header anthropic-beta: files-api-2025-04-14 . |
Using Images with the Responses API #
The deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp
model also accepts images through the OpenAI-compatible Responses API. The same three input methods (base64 data URL, external http(s)
URL, Files API file_id
) and the same limits apply; only the content part shape differs — images are carried in input_image
parts, either in user
/ developer
messages or in the output of function_call_output
/ custom_tool_call_output
items:
response = client.responses.create( model="deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp", input=[ { "role": "user", "content": [ {"type": "input_text", "text": "What is in this image?"}, {"type": "input_image", "image_url": "https://example.com/image.jpg", "detail": "low"}, ], } ],)print(response.output_text)
The input_image
part supports a detail
field with the same semantics as above (low
/ high
/ original
/ auto
). detail
is ignored when the image is provided via file_id
, and image_url
and file_id
are mutually exclusive.
For field semantics, restrictions (images in system
/ assistant
messages are rejected with a 400
error), and tool-output images, see the Responses API guide.