affaan-m/ECC · error · FalError

views must include 'input_image_url' (the front view)

Error message

views must include 'input_image_url' (the front view)

What it means

image_to_3d accepts an optional views dict of multi-view images, but the fal.ai Tripo-style endpoint requires the front view under the key 'input_image_url'. If views is provided but that key is absent or empty after filtering (only known VIEW_FIELDS with truthy values are kept), the library raises FalError instead of submitting an incomplete payload.

Solutions

1. Include 'input_image_url' with a non-empty front-view URL in the views dict
2. Verify each views key is one of VIEW_FIELDS and its value is a non-empty URL string
3. If you only have one image, omit views entirely and pass it via image_url instead

Example fix

# before
image_to_3d(img, views={'back_image_url': back})
# after
image_to_3d(img, views={'input_image_url': front, 'back_image_url': back})

if views is not None:
    cleaned = {k: v for k, v in views.items() if v}
    assert cleaned.get('input_image_url'), "views requires a non-empty 'input_image_url'"

def has_front_view(views: dict) -> bool:
    return bool(views) and bool(views.get('input_image_url'))

When it happens

Trigger: Calling image_to_3d(image_url, views={'back_image_url': 'https://...'}) or views={'input_image_url': None} or views={'input_image_url': ''} — i.e. any views dict that, after filtering to non-empty VIEW_FIELDS keys, lacks 'input_image_url'.

Common situations: Developer misreads the views API and passes only back/side views; keys are correct but values are empty strings or None because upstream URL extraction failed; typo'd key name like 'input_image' that gets filtered out.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• image_to_3d needs at least one image
• fps must be positive, got
• image_to_3d needs at least one image
• Invalid Claude plugin root: expected a string
• Invalid Claude target root: expected a non-empty string

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@8321021c54 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/242aa435862e09f2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at skills/taste-application/scripts/taste/falapi.py:512

    ``{"input_image_url": front, "back_image_url": back}``. Passing a bare
    list assigns images to :data:`VIEW_FIELDS` in order, which is a guess and
    is only correct if the caller actually sorted them that way; a wrong angle
    label is worse than omitting the view entirely, because the model trusts
    it. When in doubt, send one image.

    ``pbr`` requests physically-based maps (metallic, roughness, normal). Without
    them the mesh lights like painted cardboard in Blender, which defeats the
    point of minting it. It is ignored when ``geometry_only`` is set.

    Note the endpoint's own input guidance: simple background, single object,
    object filling >50% of frame. Busy reference stills - collages, wide shots,
    anything with several subjects - produce garbage meshes. Generate a clean
    single-object plate first if the pack's stills are not that.
    """
    if views:
        payload: dict = {k: v for k, v in views.items() if k in VIEW_FIELDS and v}
        if "input_image_url" not in payload:
            raise FalError("views must include 'input_image_url' (the front view)")
    else:
        urls = [image_url] if isinstance(image_url, str) else list(image_url)
        if not urls:
            raise FalError("image_to_3d needs at least one image")
        payload = {f: u for f, u in zip(VIEW_FIELDS, urls[:len(VIEW_FIELDS)])}

    payload["generate_type"] = "Geometry" if geometry_only else "Normal"
    if not geometry_only:
        payload["enable_pbr"] = bool(pbr)
    if face_count:
        # Endpoint range is 40k-1.5M; clamp rather than let it 422.
        payload["face_count"] = int(max(40_000, min(1_500_000, face_count)))

    result = submit(ENDPOINTS["image_to_3d"], payload, timeout)
    return _mesh_url(result, ENDPOINTS["image_to_3d"])


def text_to_3d(prompt: str, *, pbr: bool = True, timeout: int = 900) -> str:

View on GitHub (pinned to 8321021c54)