BerriAI/litellm · error · ValueError

Invalid image variation provider

Error message

Invalid image variation provider: {custom_llm_provider}. Supported providers are: {LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS}

What it means

litellm.image_variation only supports providers listed in the LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS enum, which currently contains exactly OPENAI and TOPAZ (litellm/types/utils.py:3828-3834). The code first converts the provider to LlmProviders then to LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS; any other provider (stability, gemini, bedrock, ...) fails that enum conversion and raises this ValueError.

Solutions

Use an OpenAI model (dall-e-2 is the classic variation model) via model='openai/dall-e-2' or the plain 'dall-e-2' default.
Use Topaz: model='topaz/...' with TOPAZ credentials.
For other providers, call their native variation/edit API directly instead of litellm.image_variation.
Watch litellm release notes and upgrade — the enum grows over time, then re-test.

Example fix

# before
resp = litellm.image_variation(model="stability/stable-diffusion-xl-1024-v1-0", image=img)
# ValueError: Invalid image variation provider: stability ...

# after
resp = litellm.image_variation(model="dall-e-2", image=img)  # openai path

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

from litellm.types.utils import LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS
from litellm import LlmProviders

SUPPORTED = {p.value for p in LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS}

def can_variation(provider: str) -> bool:
    return provider in SUPPORTED

assert can_variation("openai") and can_variation("topaz")  # only these pass

Type guard

from litellm.types.utils import LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS

def is_supported_variation_provider(provider: str) -> bool:
    """Type/narrowing guard: True only for providers with a wired image_variation branch."""
    try:
        LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS(LlmProviders(provider))
        return True
    except ValueError:
        return False

Try / catch

try:
    resp = litellm.image_variation(model=model, image=img)
except ValueError as e:
    if "Invalid image variation provider" in str(e):
        # fall back to an OpenAI variation model or the provider's native API
        resp = litellm.image_variation(model="dall-e-2", image=img)
    else:
        raise

Prevention

Treat image_variation support as an allowlist (openai, topaz) — never assume parity with image_generation.
Gate variation features behind a config flag listing supported providers.
Re-run an allowlist check after every litellm upgrade since the enum grows over time.

When it happens

Trigger: litellm.image_variation(model='stability/stable-diffusion-xl-...', image=image) or any provider-prefixed model whose provider is not openai/topaz; passing custom_llm_provider explicitly for an unsupported provider; calling image_variation on a model string that get_llm_provider maps to something other than openai or topaz.

Common situations: Assuming the image_variation endpoint has parity with image_generation providers; migrating code from image_generation (many providers) to image_variation (two); using a proxy model name that infers a non-openai provider.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of BerriAI/litellm@77b7c6c40c (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b48b746a70624657. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at litellm/images/main.py:638

    # get logging object
    litellm_logging_obj: Final = cast(LiteLLMLoggingObj, kwargs.get("litellm_logging_obj"))

    # get the litellm params
    litellm_params: Final = get_litellm_params(**kwargs)
    # get the custom llm provider
    model, custom_llm_provider, dynamic_api_key, api_base = get_llm_provider(
        model=model,
        custom_llm_provider=litellm_params.get("custom_llm_provider", None),
        api_base=litellm_params.get("api_base", None),
        api_key=litellm_params.get("api_key", None),
    )

    # route to the correct provider w/ the params
    try:
        llm_provider: Final = LlmProviders(custom_llm_provider)
        image_variation_provider: Final = LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS(llm_provider)
    except ValueError:
        raise ValueError(
            f"Invalid image variation provider: {custom_llm_provider}. Supported providers are: {LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS}"
        )
    model_response: Final = ImageResponse()

    response: ImageResponse | None = None

    provider_config: Final = ProviderConfigManager.get_provider_model_info(
        model=model or "",  # openai defaults to dall-e-2
        provider=llm_provider,
    )

    if provider_config is None:
        raise ValueError(
            f"image variation provider has no known model info config - required for getting api keys, etc.: {custom_llm_provider}. Supported providers are: {LITELLM_IMAGE_VARIATION_PROVIDERS}"
        )

    api_key: Final = provider_config.get_api_key(litellm_params.get("api_key", None))
    api_base = provider_config.get_api_base(litellm_params.get("api_base", None))

View on GitHub (pinned to 77b7c6c40c)