BerriAI/litellm · error · Exception

Invalid image received - {image_url}

Error message

Invalid image received - {image_url}

What it means

Gemini image-part guard: the image_url is neither a recognized provider URL, data URI, nor a resolvable file reference, so no fileData/inlineData part can be created and the image is rejected as invalid.

Source

Thrown at litellm/llms/vertex_ai/gemini/transformation.py:580

            # These URLs return 403 when accessed directly, so we must not try
            # to resolve their MIME type via HTTP.
            if format:
                file_data = FileDataType(mime_type=format, file_uri=image_url)
            else:
                # Gemini Files API references can be passed through as URI-only.
                file_data = cast(FileDataType, {"file_uri": image_url})
            part = {"file_data": file_data}
            return _apply_gemini_metadata(part, model, media_resolution_enum, video_metadata)
        elif "https://" in image_url and (image_type := format or _get_image_mime_type_from_url(image_url)) is not None:
            file_data = FileDataType(mime_type=image_type, file_uri=image_url)
            part = {"file_data": file_data}
            return _apply_gemini_metadata(part, model, media_resolution_enum, video_metadata)
        elif "http://" in image_url or "https://" in image_url or "base64" in image_url:
            image: Final = convert_to_anthropic_image_obj(image_url, format=format)
            _blob: Final[BlobType] = {"data": image["data"], "mime_type": image["media_type"]}
            part = {"inline_data": cast(BlobType, _blob)}
            return _apply_gemini_metadata(part, model, media_resolution_enum, video_metadata)
        raise Exception(f"Invalid image received - {image_url}")
    except Exception as e:
        raise e


def _snake_to_camel(snake_str: str) -> str:
    """Convert snake_case to camelCase"""
    components: Final = snake_str.split("_")
    return components[0] + "".join(x.capitalize() for x in components[1:])


def _camel_to_snake(camel_str: str) -> str:
    """Convert camelCase to snake_case"""
    return re.sub(r"(?<!^)(?=[A-Z])", "_", camel_str).lower()


def _get_equivalent_key(key: str, available_keys: set) -> str | None:
    """
    Get the equivalent key from available keys, checking both camelCase and snake_case variants

View on GitHub (pinned to 77b7c6c40c)

Solutions

1. Provide a valid image URL or base64 data that can be fetched/decoded.
2. Check the image_url value for accessibility and correct format.

Example fix

# verify the URL is reachable or use data:image/png;base64,... format.

When it happens

Trigger: Triggered when an invalid image URL/data is passed to the Vertex AI Gemini transformation.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of BerriAI/litellm@77b7c6c40c (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/058c6aec5cec2dfd. Report an issue: GitHub.