Creating an Image Generator with React and OpenAI API: A Step-by-Step Guide

Type a prompt, get a unique AI-generated image back in your own React app. That's the whole build, and it costs about two cents per 512x512 image, so you can experiment without stressing about the bill. I go from creating the OpenAI account to the working app in the video, including the mistakes that leak your API key if you're not careful.

What's inside

• Get an OpenAI API key and keep it out of your GitHub repo
• Scaffold the app fast with Vite and the OpenAI JavaScript client
• Expose the key safely with VITE_ environment variables
• Call the image endpoint and pull the URL from the response
• Wire up state and handlers so the image updates on every click
• Handle errors and monitor costs before they surprise you

Resources

CourseReact with TypeScript course

Build on this project with real React skills: state, hooks, and apps that talk to APIs.