Avatar service

A service endpoint that returns a branded avatar for any user: photoreal, illustrated, or pixel, deterministic from a seed (user ID / email hash / initials). Built around a fallback hierarchy — real photo → upload → AI from initials → static default — with caching by seed so you pay once per user.

When to Use

• New user signup where you need an immediate profile image.
• Comment systems or forums that default to gravatars.
• Team pages, directories, leaderboards without uploaded photos.
• Placeholder avatars during onboarding before the user picks one.
• Branded alternative to Gravatar / UI Avatars / DiceBear.
• Mock data for staging/demo environments.

Not for: deepfaking real people from a single photo (wrong tool + wrong ethics), or stylizing an already-great uploaded photo — let users keep their own.

Prerequisites

Before building, ask (one message, 5 questions):

1. Seed source: user ID, email hash, username, initials? Is it stable forever?
2. Style: photoreal portrait, illustrated (Pixar/Disney-ish), flat vector, pixel art, claymorphic, monogram?
3. Brand palette: accent color for backgrounds + monogram fallbacks.
4. Storage + cache: S3/CDN + DB column, Picsart Drive URL, or KV key? TTL?
5. Fallback chain: photo → AI avatar → initials-on-color → default SVG? Order matters.

Skip if the user hands over a detailed brief.

How to Run

1. Decide the fallback hierarchy first. This is the whole service:

   1. user.photo_url          → return as-is
   2. cache.get(seed)         → return stored AI avatar URL
   3. gen-ai generate         → store URL + return
   4. initials on brand color → SVG fallback (no credits)
   5. static /default.png     → last resort
   

2. Estimate + validate model.

   gen-ai models info recraftv4
   gen-ai pricing recraftv4
   gen-ai generate -m recraftv4 -p "illustrated avatar, seed abc123" \
     --aspect-ratio 1:1 --dry-run --debug
   

3. Deterministic seed → prompt. Hash the seed into stable attribute picks. Never inject Math.random() or timestamps.

   SEED="u_482c91"
   # Pick palette + mood from the seed, not from RNG
   HUE=$(printf "%s" "$SEED" | shasum | cut -c1-2)   # 0-255 from hash
   gen-ai generate -m recraftv4 \
     -p "illustrated profile avatar, round frame, abstract humanoid silhouette, HSL hue ${HUE}, friendly neutral expression, flat vector, centered composition, studio background" \
     --aspect-ratio 1:1 \
     --negative-prompt "text, watermark, letters, realistic face, specific person" \
     --save-to-drive --drive-folder avatars \
     --json --no-input | jq -r '.url'
   

4. Cache the URL (not the binary) keyed on the seed. Any store: Redis, KV, Postgres column, S3 + stable filename.

5. Initials fallback (zero credits). When gen-ai is down, rate-limited, or over budget — return an SVG built from the user's initials on a hue derived from the same seed. Users never see a broken image.

   const initials = name.split(' ').map(p => p[0]).slice(0, 2).join('').toUpperCase();
   const hue = parseInt(sha1(seed).slice(0, 2), 16);
   const svg = `<svg viewBox="0 0 64 64"><rect width="64" height="64" fill="hsl(${hue} 70% 45%)"/><text x="32" y="40" text-anchor="middle" font-size="28" fill="#fff" font-family="system-ui">${initials}</text></svg>`;
   

6. Wire the endpoint. /avatar/:seed → check photo → check cache → gen-ai → initials. 302 to CDN URL on success; inline SVG on fallback.

7. Pre-warm the cache in batch for existing users so your prod rollout doesn't hammer gen-ai live:

   gen-ai batch run avatars-backfill.json -c 4 -o ./avatars-out
   

Quick Reference

Backfill 500 existing users:

{
  "defaults": {
    "model": "recraftv4",
    "aspectRatio": "1:1",
    "negativePrompt": "text, watermark, letters, realistic face, specific person"
  },
  "jobs": [
    { "id": "u_482c91", "prompt": "illustrated profile avatar, round frame, flat vector, hue 42, friendly neutral, studio background" },
    { "id": "u_91ac3b", "prompt": "illustrated profile avatar, round frame, flat vector, hue 128, calm expression, studio background" },
    { "id": "u_7de119", "prompt": "illustrated profile avatar, round frame, flat vector, hue 201, warm smile, studio background" }
  ]
}

Output lands at ./avatars-out/<user-id>.webp — upload to your CDN under the same key. results.json becomes the seed → URL lookup table.

Quick Reference

Verify live IDs with gen-ai models --mode image.

Procedure

• Determinism = cacheability. Derive every variable attribute (hue, pose, expression) from a hash of the seed. Same seed → same prompt → same image → one credit forever.
• Version the prompt template. Bump V=2 in the cache key when you restyle; old avatars age out, new ones regenerate on demand.
• Fallback is not optional. Initials-on-hue SVG must always work. Never let the UI render a broken avatar because gen-ai 429'd.
• Negative prompt matters. Always exclude text, watermark, letters, realistic face of specific person — avatars must not resemble real celebrities or render accidental copy.
• Don't generate on every page load. Generate once per seed, cache forever (or until template version bump). A viral signup spike must not trigger a gen-ai spike.
• Use Drive for storage. --save-to-drive --drive-folder avatars gives a stable CDN URL with no extra infra.
• Pre-warm before launch. Batch-generate for existing users; don't migrate live traffic onto a cold cache.
• Respect user uploads. If the user has uploaded a real photo, return that — never override. AI avatars are for missing photos only.
• Rate-limit at the edge. Cap gen-ai calls per IP per hour. A bot probing /avatar/:random can burn your credit budget in minutes.

Pitfalls

Verification

Run gen-ai whoami to confirm authentication, then re-run the failed command with --debug.

Cost & time

In steady state, expect >99% cache hit rate — near-zero ongoing cost.

See also

• gen-ai-use.md — CLI reference, auth, scripting with --json --no-input / jq
• gen-ai-batch.md — manifest shapes, batch resume, rate-limit strategy, Cloudflare Worker pattern
• gen-ai-workflows.md — Workflow 6 (headshot studio) for stylizing uploaded photos
• dev-og-image-service — same caching + determinism patterns for OG cards