Generate Open Graph images in Python

What you need

• An API key. Create one in the app under API keys and export it as FORMFEED_API_KEY. A test key (ff_test_…) is right for trying things out. See the quick start.
• Python. You need Python 3.10 or newer and the formfeed package (it brings httpx and pydantic).
• The template. og-image from the Open Graph example: Tailwind classes, compiled at render time, no stylesheet to keep.
• The data. The example’s data.json next to the program: category, title, publication date, reading time and the author with an avatar URL.

pip install formfeed

The program

The program reads data.json, asks for png, marks the output public, waits for the result when the API answers 202, and saves the image; download_url is its address on the CDN.

import json
import os
from pathlib import Path

from formfeed import Formfeed

formfeed = Formfeed(api_key=os.environ["FORMFEED_API_KEY"])
data = json.loads(Path("data.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8"))

# a problem answer (4xx, 5xx) raises a FormfeedError with the API's code, title and detail
render = formfeed.renders.create(
    template="og-image",
    data=data,
    output="png",
    access="public",
)
# not done within 60 seconds: the API answered 202 and the render goes on in the background
if render.status != "succeeded":
    render = formfeed.renders.wait_for(render.id)
if render.status == "failed":
    raise SystemExit(f"render failed: {render.error}")

Path("og-image.png").write_bytes(formfeed.renders.download(render))
print(render.id, render.download_url)

Run it

It prints the render’s id and the download URL, and og-image.png lies next to the program. Open it: 1200 × 630 pixels, the title truncated to fit, the avatar round.

export FORMFEED_API_KEY=ff_test_...
python render.py

What is particular about Python

• Keyword arguments. Every field of the request is a keyword argument (renders.create, pdf.protect), after the items of renders.batch and the sources of pdf.merge, which come first; nested options such as settings or post are plain dictionaries.
• Retries are built in. The client sends an Idempotency-Key with every render and retries 429, 503 and network errors up to three times with backoff, with the same key: a retry of a request that was answered already gets that answer back instead of a second render.
• Typed results. The answer is a pydantic model: render.download_url, render.page_count and render.units are attributes, not dictionary keys.
• Async too. AsyncFormfeed has the same methods as coroutines, for FastAPI or any asyncio service.

What the two options do

• output: "png". Names the format of the image. jpg and webp work as well; the pixel size, the scale factor and the format of a request without output come from the template’s image settings.
• access: "public". Gives a CDN URL without a signature, which is what a meta tag needs: a scraper has no API key. The address works for as long as the file is kept, which the retention of your plan decides, so serve the saved image from your own site when a page is shared for longer. Use it only for images that may be public.

Render once, not on every request

An identical request with a live key within 24 hours is answered from the deduplication cache at zero units, so a second deploy on the same day costs nothing (test keys cost nothing anyway and are never deduplicated). After that the image is rendered again: store the image or its URL with the post and render when the post changes, never inside the page handler, because a social scraper will not wait for a render. See deduplication.

One template, many sizes

Open Graph wants 1200 × 630, and other networks want other frames. Put the size in the request’s settings.image instead of the template, and the same markup renders every format you need.

When the API says no

• One shape for every error. Errors are problem documents (RFC 9457) with type, title, status, detail, a stable code and the request_id to quote to support; the type URL leads to a page about that error. The list is in the error reference.
• The usual ones. 401 unauthorized for a missing or revoked key, 404 template_not_found for a wrong template name, 422 template_runtime_error when the template fails on the data, 429 rate_limited above the plan’s requests per second, 402 quota_exceeded when the Free plan’s units are used up (a paid plan bills extra units up to its hard cap).
• Retry safely. Send an Idempotency-Key header with the POST, and repeat the request with the same key when you do not know whether the first attempt arrived: for 24 hours the key returns the first answer instead of rendering and billing again. The answer is stored once the first attempt has been answered, so do not retry while it may still run; and problems below 500 are stored too, so a corrected request needs a new key.

The job around this program

This guide is one program. What the job needs around it, from the template to the limits and the price, is on the page Open Graph image API.

More Python guides

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• Create a ZUGFeRD / Factur-X e-invoice in Python
• Convert HTML to PDF in Python
• Generate PDFs from a CSV in Python
• Merge PDFs and add a password in Python
• Async PDF rendering with a verified webhook in Python

FAQ

Does the image count as a render?

Yes, one unit per image, like a one-page PDF. Test renders are free. See pricing.

Can I use my own fonts?

Yes: link a web font in the template’s head, which the renderer fetches and caches, or, from the Starter plan on, upload font files in the app under Fonts and name the family in your CSS. See fonts.

Why is my text cut off?

The frame is fixed, so a long headline has to give. The example truncates with truncate: 70; a smaller font size or a two-line clamp in CSS works as well.

Open Graph image in other languages

• Node.js (TypeScript)
• PHP
• Go
• C# (.NET)
• Java
• Ruby
• curl