> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.octen.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Image Search

<p style={{ fontSize: "0.8rem", opacity: 0.6 }}>For AI agents: <a href="https://docs.octen.ai/capabilities/image-search.md">docs.octen.ai/capabilities/image-search.md</a></p>

Text carries only part of the information. Some tasks need more than text, such as images: a visual reference, a design pattern, a product shot.

Octen Image Search searches the web for images from a text query or a reference image. With the design topic, each result also carries a structured style summary and a reusable HTML snippet.

For the full list of parameters, see the [Image Search API reference](/api-reference/image-search).

<Note>
  In invite-only beta. Email [support@octen.ai](mailto:support@octen.ai) to request access.
</Note>

## Why Octen Image Search

* **Visual references for models.** Give a model real images to describe, compare, or reason about.
* **Design assets and inspiration.** Find real UI references, with style summaries and snippets ready to reuse.
* **Search by image.** Start from a reference image to find visually similar or related results.

## How It Works

1. Send a text query or a reference image.
2. Octen searches images across the web and ranks them.
3. The response returns ranked image results; with the design topic, each result adds a style summary and a reusable HTML snippet.

## Scenarios

### Find the right image

Image lookup from a plain text query.

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST https://api.octen.ai/image-search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "inputs": [{ "type": "text", "data": "red sports car" }],
    "count": 5
  }'
```

### Search by reference image

Pass an image instead of text to find visually similar results.

```json theme={null}
{
  "inputs": [{ "type": "image", "url": "https://example.com/reference.jpg" }],
  "count": 5
}
```

### Design references

Set `topic` to `design` for UI references. Each result returns a reference image, a structured style `summary`, and a reusable `html_snippet`.

```json theme={null}
{
  "inputs": [{ "type": "text", "data": "pricing comparison table, dark theme, SaaS" }],
  "topic": "design",
  "count": 5,
  "html_snippet": { "enable": true, "max_tokens": 5000 }
}
```

### Focus sources and time

Restrict results by source domain or publish time.

```json theme={null}
{
  "inputs": [{ "type": "text", "data": "Mars rover photos" }],
  "include_domains": ["nasa.gov"],
  "time_range": "month"
}
```

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Try in Console" icon="play" href="https://octen.ai/platform/image-search">
    Run Image Search live in the Octen console.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Image Search API Reference" icon="code" href="/api-reference/image-search">
    Full request/response schema.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>