Alibaba Provider

Provider name: alibaba

What It Does #

Alibaba is currently the image-generation provider used by util_generate_image.

You give the Discord MCP a prompt, Alibaba generates one image, and the Discord MCP returns a usable URL. If an image uploader is also configured, the Discord MCP may reupload the result instead of returning Alibaba's URL directly.

Typical Use Case #

Use Alibaba when you want an MCP client to:

  • generate one image from text
  • receive a URL instead of raw binary data
  • keep provider choice outside of the model prompt

What It Usually Needs #

At minimum, Alibaba needs:

  • a token
  • a model name

In practice, a common setup is:

  • global default model configured once by the operator
  • per-app token configured only for the applications that should be allowed to generate images
  • optional request-time model override through X-Image-Model
  • optional request-time size through the tool argument size

If the required configuration is missing, util_generate_image is hidden and cannot be used.

Alibaba support is intentionally restricted to models matching:

  • ^qwen-image-2\.0(?:-pro)?$

If the effective model does not match that pattern, the Discord MCP hides the tool and rejects calls.

What You Can Configure #

Provider fields:

  • token (required)
  • model (required)

Provider selection settings that can point to alibaba:

  • image_api
  • default_image_api

Request-time override:

  • X-Image-Model

Practical meaning:

  • use image_api / default_image_api to choose Alibaba as the image generator
  • use token so the Discord MCP can authenticate upstream
  • use model as the normal default model
  • use X-Image-Model only when you intentionally want to override that model for one request
  • use size only when you want to request a specific output size for one call

Request-time size support:

  • Format: WxH
  • Supported range: each value must be between 512 and 2048
  • Examples:
  • 1024x1024
  • 1024x1536
  • 2048x2048

If size is omitted, Alibaba uses its normal upstream default behavior.

Output Shape #

Alibaba may return:

  • a direct image URL
  • base64 image data
  • a data URL

The Discord MCP handles those cases for you and always tries to end up with a simple URL in the tool response.

Related Tools #

Related Settings #

  • token
  • model
  • image_api
  • default_image_api

You do not need to know the internal storage layout to use the service, but the operator or app owner must configure the provider before it becomes available.