Metadata

name: image-fetch-toolkit
description: Search and fetch images from the internet for any purpose - paper figures, news photos, stock images, product photos, scientific illustrations, social media images, and more. Use this skill whenever the user needs to find, retrieve, or curate images from online sources, whether for academic papers, blog posts, presentations, marketing materials, or content creation. Also covers academic figure composition (multi-panel abc labeling), scientific illustration generation, and image search API integration.

Image Fetch Toolkit

A comprehensive guide for AI agents to search, retrieve, and curate images from various online sources. Covers free stock photos, academic figures, news images, product photos, scientific illustrations, and more.

Quick Start

Before fetching images, check which tools/APIs are available in the current environment:

Tavily - Web search + URL extraction (recommended, often pre-configured)
Unsplash API - 3M+ free high-quality photos
Pexels API - Free stock photos + videos
Pixabay API - 2M+ free images, illustrations, vectors
Flickr API - Photographer community images
Google Custom Search API - General image search
Bing Image Search API - Microsoft's image search

1. Free Stock Photo APIs

Unsplash API

Base URL: https://api.unsplash.com
Auth: Bearer token in header Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_KEY>
Get key: https://unsplash.com/developers
Rate limit: 50 requests/hour (free tier)

# Search photos
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY" \
  "https://api.unsplash.com/search/photos?query=renewable+energy&per_page=10&orientation=landscape"

# Get a random photo
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY" \
  "https://api.unsplash.com/photos/random?query=technology&orientation=squarish"

# Download tracked photo (respects photographer attribution)
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY" \
  -L "https://api.unsplash.com/photos/<PHOTO_ID>/download"

Response fields: results[].urls.raw, results[].urls.full, results[].urls.regular, results[].urls.small, results[].user.name, results[].links.html

Pexels API

Base URL: https://api.pexels.com/v1
Auth: Header Authorization: <API_KEY>
Get key: https://www.pexels.com/api/
Rate limit: 200 requests/hour

# Search photos
curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/search?query=nature&per_page=10&orientation=landscape"

# Curated photos
curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/curated?per_page=15"

# Get photo by ID
curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/photos/<PHOTO_ID>"

Pixabay API

Base URL: https://pixabay.com/api
Auth: Query param key=<API_KEY>
Get key: https://pixabay.com/api/docs/
Rate limit: 100 requests/min

# Search images
curl "https://pixabay.com/api/?key=$PIXABAY_API_KEY&q=mountain+landscape&image_type=photo&per_page=10&safesearch=true"

# Search vectors/illustrations
curl "https://pixabay.com/api/?key=$PIXABAY_API_KEY&q=robot&image_type=vector&per_page=10"

# Search videos
curl "https://pixabay.com/api/videos/?key=$PIXABAY_API_KEY&q=ocean&per_page=5"

Categories: backgrounds, fashion, nature, science, education, feelings, health, people, religion, places, animals, industry, computer, food, sports, transportation, travel, buildings, business, music

Flickr API

Base URL: https://api.flickr.com/services/rest
Auth: API key query param
Get key: https://www.flickr.com/services/apps/
Note: Check license! Use license=1,2,4,5,9 for CC-compatible

# Search photos (CC license only)
curl "https://api.flickr.com/services/rest/?method=flickr.photos.search&api_key=$FLICKR_API_KEY&text=sunset&license=1,2,4,5,9&per_page=10&format=json&nojsoncallback=1"

# Get photo URL: https://farm{farm}.staticflickr.com/{server}/{id}_{secret}.jpg

2. Search Engine Image APIs

Google Custom Search API (Image Search)

Base URL: https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1
Auth: API key + CX (search engine ID)
Get key: https://developers.google.com/custom-search
Note: Enable "Image Search" in your Custom Search Engine settings

# Search images
curl "https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1?key=$GOOGLE_API_KEY&cx=$GOOGLE_CX&searchType=image&q=AI+conference+2024&num=10&imgSize=large"

Bing Image Search API

Base URL: https://api.bing.microsoft.com/v7.0/images/search
Auth: Header Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: <KEY>
Get key: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/apis/bing-image-search-api
Rate limit: 1000 transactions/month (free)

curl -H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: $BING_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.bing.microsoft.com/v7.0/images/search?q=cute+cats&count=10&imageType=Photo&size=Large"

Tavily Extract (for webpage images)

# Extract content + images from a URL
node ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/tavily-search/scripts/extract.mjs "https://example.com/article" --include-images true

3. Academic & Scientific Image Sources

Paper Search MCP (MCP Server)

Repo: https://github.com/openags/paper-search-mcp
Features: Search Semantic Scholar, arXiv, CORE, Zenodo, Google Scholar, IEEE, ACM
Install:

npx skills add openags/paper-search-mcp
# or with uv:
uv tool install paper-search-mcp

Usage: Search papers → extract figure URLs from paper pages

# Search papers
curl "https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/search?query=protein+folding&limit=10&fields=title,url,openAccessPdf"

Semantic Scholar API (Free)

# Search papers with figure references
curl "https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/search?query=transformer+architecture&limit=5&fields=title,url,openAccessPdf,figures"

arXiv API (Free, no key needed)

# Search papers
curl "http://export.arxiv.org/api/query?search_query=all:electron+microscopy&start=0&max_results=5"

PubMed Central (Free, no key needed)

# Search PMC for figures
curl "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/utils/oa/oa.fcgi?id=PMC1234567"  # get full text XML with figures

Scientific Illustration Tools

FigureLabs: https://www.figurelabs.ai - AI-powered scientific figure generation
BioRender: https://biorender.com - Professional biological diagrams
Illustrae: AI scientific illustration generation
Mind the Graph: https://mindthegraph.com - Scientific infographic maker

4. Academic Figure Composition (Multi-Panel abc Labels)

For combining multiple images into a single figure with (a), (b), (c) labels - standard in academic papers.

Python (matplotlib + PIL)

from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.image as mpimg
import numpy as np

def create_figure_grid(image_paths, labels=None, cols=2, label_font_size=20, 
                       label_position='top-left', padding=20, label_color='white',
                       bg_color='white', dpi=300, output_path='figure.png'):
    """
    Combine multiple images into a single academic figure with (a)(b)(c) labels.
    
    Args:
        image_paths: List of image file paths
        labels: List of label strings (default: a, b, c, ...)
        cols: Number of columns
        label_font_size: Font size for labels
        label_position: 'top-left', 'top-right', 'bottom-left', 'bottom-right'
        padding: Space between images in pixels
        label_color: Color of labels ('white' or 'black')
        bg_color: Background color
        dpi: Output DPI
        output_path: Output file path
    """
    if labels is None:
        labels = [chr(ord('a') + i) for i in range(len(image_paths))]
    
    rows = (len(image_paths) + cols - 1) // cols
    images = [Image.open(p).convert('RGB') for p in image_paths]
    
    # Find max dimensions
    max_w = max(img.width for img in images)
    max_h = max(img.height for img in images)
    
    # Create canvas
    total_w = cols * max_w + (cols + 1) * padding
    total_h = rows * max_h + (rows + 1) * padding
    canvas = Image.new('RGB', (total_w, total_h), bg_color)
    draw = ImageDraw.Draw(canvas)
    
    # Try to load a font
    try:
        font = ImageFont.truetype("/usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans-Bold.ttf", label_font_size)
    except:
        font = ImageFont.load_default()
    
    for idx, (img, label) in enumerate(zip(images, labels)):
        row, col = idx // cols, idx % cols
        x = padding + col * (max_w + padding)
        y = padding + row * (max_h + padding)
        canvas.paste(img, (x, y))
        
        # Draw label
        label_text = f"({label})"
        bbox = draw.textbbox((0, 0), label_text, font=font)
        lw, lh = bbox[2] - bbox[0], bbox[3] - bbox[1]
        margin = 10
        
        if label_position == 'top-left':
            lx, ly = x + margin, y + margin
        elif label_position == 'top-right':
            lx, ly = x + max_w - lw - margin, y + margin
        elif label_position == 'bottom-left':
            lx, ly = x + margin, y + max_h - lh - margin
        else:
            lx, ly = x + max_w - lw - margin, y + max_h - lh - margin
        
        # Draw background rectangle for readability
        draw.rectangle([lx - 4, ly - 2, lx + lw + 4, ly + lh + 2], fill=label_color, outline=label_color)
        text_color = 'black' if label_color == 'white' else 'white'
        draw.text((lx, ly), label_text, fill=text_color, font=font)
    
    canvas.save(output_path, dpi=(dpi, dpi))
    print(f"Figure saved to {output_path}")
    return canvas

# Usage
create_figure_grid(
    image_paths=['fig1.png', 'fig2.png', 'fig3.png', 'fig4.png'],
    labels=['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'],
    cols=2,
    output_path='combined_figure.png'
)

Python (matplotlib subplot)

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.image as mpimg

def subplot_figure(image_paths, labels=None, cols=2, figsize=(12, 10), 
                   label_size=16, label_weight='bold', output_path='figure.pdf'):
    """Create academic figure using matplotlib subplots with (a)(b)(c) labels."""
    if labels is None:
        labels = [chr(ord('a') + i) for i in range(len(image_paths))]
    
    rows = (len(image_paths) + cols - 1) // cols
    fig, axes = plt.subplots(rows, cols, figsize=figsize)
    axes = axes.flatten() if hasattr(axes, 'flatten') else [axes]
    
    for ax, path, label in zip(axes, image_paths, labels):
        img = mpimg.imread(path)
        ax.imshow(img)
        ax.set_title(f'({label})', fontsize=label_size, fontweight=label_weight, loc='left')
        ax.axis('off')
    
    # Hide empty subplots
    for ax in axes[len(image_paths):]:
        ax.axis('off')
    
    plt.tight_layout()
    fig.savefig(output_path, dpi=300, bbox_inches='tight')
    print(f"Saved to {output_path}")

# Usage
subplot_figure(['a.png', 'b.png', 'c.png'], cols=3, output_path='fig1.pdf')

CLI one-liner (ImageMagick)

# Simple 2x2 grid
montage img1.png img2.png img3.png img4.png -tile 2x2 -geometry +5+5 output.png

# With labels (requires additional steps)
# Better to use the Python script above for labeled figures

5. News Image Sources

Google News Scraper

Repo: https://github.com/oxylabs/google-news-scraper
Scrapes Google News articles including thumbnails

Tavily News Search

node ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/tavily-search/scripts/search.mjs "AI breakthrough 2024" --topic news --days 7

NewsAPI.org

Base URL: https://newsapi.org/v2
Auth: apiKey query param or X-Api-Key header
Get key: https://newsapi.org
Rate limit: 100 requests/day (free)

# Search news with images
curl "https://newsapi.org/v2/everything?q=AI+research&apiKey=$NEWSAPI_KEY&pageSize=10"
# Articles include urlToImage field

GNews API

Base URL: https://gnews.io/api/v4
Auth: token query param or apikey header

curl "https://gnews.io/api/v4/search?q=climate+change&token=$GNEWS_API_KEY&lang=en&max=10"

6. E-Commerce / Product Image Sources

Amazon Product Advertising API

Base URL: https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5
Auth: Access Key + Secret Key
Get key: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com

# Search products with images (via PA-API)
curl -X POST "https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/searchitems" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"Keywords":"wireless headphones","SearchIndex":"Electronics","ItemCount":10}'

Scraper Alternatives (GitHub)

Search GitHub for amazon scraper, taobao scraper, ebay scraper
Use with caution regarding terms of service

7. Social Media Image Sources

X/Twitter

xbird-skill MCP: https://github.com/checkra1neth/xbird-skill - 34 tools for Twitter/X
x-search (ClawHub): Search tweets with media

Reddit API: https://oauth.reddit.com/search.json?q=<query>&type=link
Multiple subreddits are excellent image sources:
- r/EarthPorn, r/SpacePorn, r/CityPorn - High-res photography
- r/dataisbeautiful - Data visualizations
- r/infographics - Infographics
- r/scientific - Scientific imagery

Instagram (via Meta Graph API)

Base URL: https://graph.instagram.com
Auth: Access Token
Get key: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/instagram-api

8. Wikimedia Commons (Free, no key needed)

# Search images via MediaWiki API
curl "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&generator=search&gsrnamespace=6&gsrsearch=cat+breeds&gsrlimit=10&prop=imageinfo&iiprop=url|extmetadata&format=json"

# Get random featured picture
curl "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=random&rnnamespace=6&rnlimit=5&prop=imageinfo&iiprop=url&format=json"

9. AI Image Generation (When You Can't Find What You Need)

Built-in OpenClaw image generation

Use the image_generate tool directly - supports DALL-E, Gemini, and other providers.

MCP Image Generators

mcp-image (Nano Banana): AI image generation via Gemini
- npx mcp-image with GEMINI_API_KEY
fal.ai MCP: Multi-provider image generation
Flux MCP: Flux model image generation

10. Image Search Strategy Guide

By Use Case

Use Case	Best Sources	Notes
Academic papers	Semantic Scholar, arXiv, PubMed	Check open access for figures
Blog posts	Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay	Free commercial use
Presentations	Unsplash, Wikimedia Commons	High resolution preferred
Social media	Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay	Square/vertical formats
Product images	Platform APIs, scraper	Check ToS
News articles	NewsAPI, Tavily news, Google News	urlToImage field
Scientific figures	FigureLabs, BioRender, matplotlib	Generate, don't search
Data visualizations	Reddit r/dataisbeautiful, Observable	Check licensing
Icons/illustrations	Pixabay (vectors), Flaticon, Noun Project	SVG preferred
Backgrounds	Unsplash, Pixabay (backgrounds category)	High resolution

Best Practices

Always check licensing - Use CC0/public domain when possible for publications
Attribute creators - Even when not required, it's good practice
Prefer high resolution - Download raw or full size for print/publication
Batch your requests - Respect API rate limits
Cache results - Don't re-fetch the same images
Validate URLs - Image URLs can expire; download promptly
Use include_images - When extracting web content, request images

Environment Variable Reference

Set these in your shell environment or .env file:

# Free Stock Photos
UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY=""     # https://unsplash.com/developers
PEXELS_API_KEY=""          # https://www.pexels.com/api/
PIXABAY_API_KEY=""         # https://pixabay.com/api/docs/
FLICKR_API_KEY=""          # https://www.flickr.com/services/apps/

# Search Engines
GOOGLE_API_KEY=""          # https://developers.google.com/custom-search
GOOGLE_CX=""               # Custom Search Engine ID
BING_API_KEY=""            # https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/apis/

# News
NEWSAPI_KEY=""             # https://newsapi.org
GNEWS_API_KEY=""           # https://gnews.io

# AI Generation
GEMINI_API_KEY=""          # https://aistudio.google.com
OPENAI_API_KEY=""          # https://platform.openai.com

Image Fetch Toolkit

安装技能

Image Fetch Toolkit

Quick Start

1. Free Stock Photo APIs

Unsplash API

Pexels API

Pixabay API

Flickr API

2. Search Engine Image APIs

Google Custom Search API (Image Search)

Bing Image Search API

Tavily Extract (for webpage images)

3. Academic & Scientific Image Sources

Paper Search MCP (MCP Server)

Semantic Scholar API (Free)

arXiv API (Free, no key needed)

PubMed Central (Free, no key needed)

Scientific Illustration Tools

4. Academic Figure Composition (Multi-Panel abc Labels)

Python (matplotlib + PIL)

Python (matplotlib subplot)

CLI one-liner (ImageMagick)

5. News Image Sources

Google News Scraper

Tavily News Search

NewsAPI.org

GNews API

6. E-Commerce / Product Image Sources

Amazon Product Advertising API

Scraper Alternatives (GitHub)

7. Social Media Image Sources

X/Twitter

Reddit

Instagram (via Meta Graph API)

8. Wikimedia Commons (Free, no key needed)

9. AI Image Generation (When You Can't Find What You Need)

Built-in OpenClaw image generation

MCP Image Generators

10. Image Search Strategy Guide

By Use Case

Best Practices

Environment Variable Reference