invoke-ai/InvokeAI · error · ExternalProviderRequestError

Seedream response payload missing image data

Error message

Seedream response payload missing image data

What it means

The Seedream external image-generation provider requires its HTTP response JSON to contain a top-level "data" array holding generated image objects. This error is raised when the response parsed as JSON but either omits "data" or has it as a non-list value (null, string, object). It signals that the provider's response shape does not match the expected API contract, so no images can be extracted.

Source

Thrown at invokeai/app/services/external_generation/providers/seedream.py:120

            if response.status_code == 429:
                retry_after = _parse_retry_after(response.headers.get("retry-after"))
                raise ExternalProviderRateLimitError(
                    f"Seedream rate limit exceeded. {f'Retry after {retry_after:.0f}s.' if retry_after else 'Please try again later.'}",
                    retry_after=retry_after,
                )
            raise ExternalProviderRequestError(
                f"Seedream request failed with status {response.status_code}: {response.text}"
            )

        body = response.json()
        if not isinstance(body, dict):
            raise ExternalProviderRequestError("Seedream response payload was not a JSON object")

        generated_images: list[ExternalGeneratedImage] = []
        item_errors: list[dict[str, object]] = []
        data_items = body.get("data")
        if not isinstance(data_items, list):
            raise ExternalProviderRequestError("Seedream response payload missing image data")

        for item in data_items:
            if not isinstance(item, dict):
                continue
            # Items may be error objects for failed images in batch — collect rather than discard
            # so partial-failure causes (e.g., content filter) are visible to the caller.
            if "error" in item:
                error_payload = item["error"]
                item_errors.append(
                    error_payload if isinstance(error_payload, dict) else {"message": str(error_payload)}
                )
                continue
            encoded = item.get("b64_json")
            if not encoded:
                continue
            image = decode_image_base64(encoded)
            generated_images.append(ExternalGeneratedImage(image=image, seed=request.seed))

View on GitHub (pinned to 0b6a024f2f)

Solutions

1. Verify the Seedream API key and account status so the provider returns a success payload rather than a JSON error object without "data"
2. Log the raw response body before parsing to confirm the actual payload shape and compare against the expected {"data": [...]} schema
3. Check the configured endpoint/model ID matches the Seedream API version in use (schema drift between versions)
4. Check for a proxy or gateway substituting its own JSON error responses

Example fix

// before
body = response.json()
data_items = body.get("data")
// after
body = response.json()
if "error" in body:
    raise ExternalProviderRequestError(f"Seedream API error: {body['error']}")
data_items = body.get("data")

body = response.json()
if not isinstance(body.get("data"), list):
    raise ValueError(f"Seedream payload missing data array: {body}")

def has_data_array(body: object) -> bool:
    return isinstance(body, dict) and isinstance(body.get("data"), list)

try:
    images = provider.generate(request)
except ExternalProviderRequestError as e:
    logger.error(f"Seedream payload invalid: {e}")
    raise HTTPException(502, "Image provider returned an invalid response")

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ExternalProvider.generate() with a Seedream model when the provider returns JSON whose body.get("data") is not a list — e.g. an error JSON body like {"error": {...}} without "data", a malformed/proxy response, or an API version whose payload shape changed.

Common situations: Expired or invalid API key causing the provider to return an error object instead of a generation payload; upstream API schema change; a gateway/load balancer returning JSON error pages; wrong model endpoint configured so responses come from a different API version.

Related errors

• Seedream response contained no images
• Seedream returned no images. Provider reported: {message or
• Mode '{request.mode}' requires an init image for {request.mo
• DashScope async response missing task_id: {data}
• DashScope response missing output: {data}

AI-assisted analysis of invoke-ai/InvokeAI@0b6a024f2f (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d8adf2f54ef760c9. Report an issue: GitHub.