Generating assets

Four commands, one per modality:

layer generate image -p "a crystal sword icon, transparent background"
layer generate video -d 5 --aspect-ratio 16:9 -p "camera pushes through the gate"
layer generate mesh  -p "weathered treasure chest, game-ready"
layer generate audio -p "arcade coin pickup"

Each waits for the run, prints what it cost, and writes the result into your working directory.

Choosing a model

Leave --base-model off and the CLI asks Layer for the recommended model for that modality, then prints which it chose — the choice is never baked into the package, so a new release of a model reaches you without a CLI upgrade.

layer generate image --base-model bfl-flux-2-pro -p "..."

layer base-models list shows what your workspace can run.

Flags

Flag	Meaning
`-p`, `--prompt`	What to generate
`-n`, `--count`	How many, up to 16
`--base-model`	Which model to run
`--seed`	A repeatable result
`--negative`	What to steer away from
`--aspect-ratio`	Output shape, e.g. `16:9` (image and video)
`--resolution`	Output size, e.g. `2K` or `1080p` (image and video)
`-d`, `--duration`	Length in seconds (video and audio)
`--reference-set`	Apply a trained style or reference set; repeatable
`--session`	Group the run under a named session, for browsing in the app
`--param key=value`	A model-specific setting; repeatable
`--refresh`	Ignore the cached model catalogue

A flag the modality does not understand is refused rather than ignored — --duration on an image is an error, not a silently dropped setting, because a discarded flag means a run at settings you believed you had changed.

--param is validated against that model’s own inference schema before the request is sent, so a mistyped key fails immediately instead of producing a default-generated asset. layer base-models show prints the keys a model accepts.

Cost

Every run is priced before it executes, and the estimate is printed either way:

layer generate video --confirm -p "..."       # ask before spending
layer generate video --max-cost 8 -p "..."    # refuse anything more expensive

--max-cost exits 4 when the estimate is over the ceiling, which is the same code you get when the workspace cannot pay for the run at all. See Creative Units.

Long runs

By default a run blocks and shows progress. To submit and walk away:

id=$(layer --json generate video --no-wait -p "..." | jq -r .inference_id)
layer generate status "$id" --wait

layer generate status <id> prints the state of a run; --wait blocks until it finishes and then downloads, exactly as a foreground run does.

Output

Files land in the working directory under a name derived from the prompt. An existing file is never overwritten — an asset costs Creative Units to produce, so a matching name is numbered rather than replaced. Several outputs from one run are numbered -1, -2, and so on.

layer generate image -p "..." -o props/          # into a directory
layer generate image -p "..." -o hero.png        # an exact filename, for a single output
layer generate image -p "..." --no-download      # print URLs instead