Venice AI

Complete Venice AI platform — text generation, web search, embeddings, TTS, speech-to-text, image generation, video creation, upscaling, and AI editing. Private, uncensored AI inference for everything.

Security Scan

The skill's code, runtime instructions, and requested secrets match its stated purpose (a Venice.ai CLI wrapper); nothing requested is disproportionate, but you should still verify the external service and avoid sending sensitive data if you don't trust Venice.ai.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description promise (full Venice.ai platform access) matches the actual artifacts: Python CLI scripts that call api.venice.ai endpoints for chat, images, video, upscaling, TTS, transcription, embeddings, etc. Declared requirements (python3 and VENICE_API_KEY) are exactly what the scripts need.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md + scripts keep scope to interacting with Venice API and local files used as inputs/outputs. The code optionally reads the user's ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json to find a stored VENICE_API_KEY (useful but not declared as a required config path). Several scripts will download arbitrary HTTP(S) URLs when the user supplies them (e.g., upscaling downloads an image and converts to base64) and can perform web-scraping/web-search via Venice API — all expected for this functionality but worth noticing because remote fetches and uploads will transmit the fetched data to the Venice service.

Install Mechanism

Install spec only ensures python is available via a Homebrew formula (formula: python). This is a low-risk, proportionate install step since the code is Python-based and requires python3.

Credentials

Only VENICE_API_KEY is required (declared as primary credential). The scripts honour that and fall back to reading the optional ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json; no unrelated credentials or broad environment access are requested.

Persistence & Privilege

Skill is not always: true and does not request elevated or persistent platform-wide privileges. It writes output media to user-specified or local directories (expected). The agent-autonomous-invocation flag is the default platform behavior and not a special risk here.

Assessment

This skill is internally consistent with its stated purpose: it is a Python CLI wrapper that sends data you provide (text, images, audio, URLs) to Venice.ai using your VENICE_API_KEY. Before installing or using it: - Verify Venice.ai and its privacy/data-retention claims independently (the skill posts your data to api.venice.ai). Don't assume 'private' means safe for secrets — avoid uploading highly sensitive data unless you trust the provider and have reviewed their policy. - Use a test or limited API key (and monitor billing) until you're comfortable with costs and behavior (the skill may call image, video, or web-search endpoints which can be expensive). - Be aware the scripts will download user-specified URLs and include them in requests (upscale/image-edit pipelines convert downloads to base64 and send them to the API). Only supply URLs you trust. - The code optionally reads ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json to find an API key; if you don't want that, set VENICE_API_KEY only in an environment variable. - If you need stricter guarantees, inspect network traffic or run the scripts in an isolated environment (container/VM) and review the vendor docs at https://docs.venice.ai.

Venice AI — Complete Platform Skill

What is Venice AI?

Venice AI is the AI platform for people who don't want Big Tech watching over their shoulder. Unlike OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google — where every prompt is logged, analyzed, and potentially used to train future models — Venice offers true privacy with zero data retention on private models. Your conversations stay yours.

Venice is also uncensored: no content filters, no refusals, no "I can't help with that." The AI answers what you actually ask, whether that's creative fiction, security research, controversial topics, or anything else mainstream AI platforms won't touch.

Why agents should care:

• Private inference — Models marked "Private" have zero data retention. Process sensitive data without it leaking into training sets.
• Uncensored responses — No guardrails blocking legitimate use cases. Generate any content your workflow needs.
• OpenAI-compatible API — Drop-in replacement. Same API format, just change the base URL.
• 30+ models — From tiny efficient models to Claude Opus 4.5, GPT-5.2, and Venice's own uncensored models.
• Built-in web search — LLMs can search the web and cite sources in a single API call.
• Image & video generation — Flux, Sora, Runway, WAN models for visual content.

This skill gives you the complete Venice platform: text generation, web search, embeddings, TTS, speech-to-text, image generation, video creation, upscaling, and AI editing.

⚠️ API changes: If something doesn't work as expected, check docs.venice.ai — the API specs may have been updated since this skill was written.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• Venice API key (free tier available at venice.ai/settings/api)

Setup

Get Your API Key

1. Create account at venice.ai
2. Go to venice.ai/settings/api
3. Click "Create API Key" → copy the key (starts with vn_...)

Configure

Option A: Environment variable

export VENICE_API_KEY="vn_your_key_here"

Option B: Clawdbot config (recommended)

// ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json
{
  skills: {
    entries: {
      "venice-ai": {
        env: { VENICE_API_KEY: "vn_your_key_here" }
      }
    }
  }
}

Verify

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py models --type text

Scripts Overview

Script	Purpose
venice.py	Text generation, models, embeddings, TTS, transcription
venice-image.py	Image generation (Flux, etc.)
venice-video.py	Video generation (Sora, WAN, Runway)
venice-upscale.py	Image upscaling
venice-edit.py	AI image editing

---

Part 1: Text & Audio

Model Discovery & Selection

Venice has a huge model catalog spanning text, image, video, audio, and embeddings.

Browse Models

# List all text models
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py models --type text

# List image models
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py models --type image

# List all model types
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py models --type text,image,video,audio,embedding

# Get details on a specific model
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py models --filter llama

Model Selection Guide

Need	Recommended Model	Why
Cheapest text	qwen3-4b ($0.05/M in)	Tiny, fast, efficient
Best uncensored	venice-uncensored ($0.20/M in)	Venice's own uncensored model
Best private + smart	deepseek-v3.2 ($0.40/M in)	Great reasoning, efficient
Vision/multimodal	qwen3-vl-235b-a22b ($0.25/M in)	Sees images
Best coding	qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct ($0.75/M in)	Massive coder model
Frontier (budget)	grok-41-fast ($0.50/M in)	Fast, 262K context
Frontier (max quality)	claude-opus-4-6 ($6/M in)	Best overall quality
Reasoning	kimi-k2-5 ($0.75/M in)	Strong chain-of-thought
Web search	Any model + enable_web_search	Built-in web search

---

Text Generation (Chat Completions)

Basic Generation

# Simple prompt
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "What is the meaning of life?"

# Choose a model
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Explain quantum computing" --model deepseek-v3.2

# System prompt
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Review this code" --system "You are a senior engineer."

# Read from stdin
echo "Summarize this" | python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat --model qwen3-4b

# Stream output
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Write a story" --stream

Web Search Integration

# Auto web search (model decides when to search)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "What happened in tech news today?" --web-search auto

# Force web search with citations
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Current Bitcoin price" --web-search on --web-citations

# Web scraping (extracts content from URLs in prompt)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Summarize: https://example.com/article" --web-scrape

Uncensored Mode

# Use Venice's own uncensored model
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Your question" --model venice-uncensored

# Disable Venice system prompts for raw model output
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Your prompt" --no-venice-system-prompt

Reasoning Models

# Use a reasoning model with effort control
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Solve this math problem..." --model kimi-k2-5 --reasoning-effort high

# Strip thinking from output
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Debug this code" --model qwen3-4b --strip-thinking

Advanced Options

# Temperature and token control
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Be creative" --temperature 1.2 --max-tokens 4000

# JSON output mode
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "List 5 colors as JSON" --json

# Prompt caching (for repeated context)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Question" --cache-key my-session-123

# Show usage stats
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py chat "Hello" --show-usage

---

Embeddings

Generate vector embeddings for semantic search, RAG, and recommendations:

# Single text
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py embed "Venice is a private AI platform"

# Multiple texts (batch)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py embed "first text" "second text" "third text"

# From file (one text per line)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py embed --file texts.txt

# Output as JSON
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py embed "some text" --output json

Model: text-embedding-bge-m3 (private, $0.15/M tokens)

---

Text-to-Speech (TTS)

Convert text to speech with 60+ multilingual voices:

# Default voice
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py tts "Hello, welcome to Venice AI"

# Choose a voice
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py tts "Exciting news!" --voice af_nova

# List available voices
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py tts --list-voices

# Custom output path
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py tts "Some text" --output /tmp/speech.mp3

# Adjust speed
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py tts "Speaking slowly" --speed 0.8

Popular voices: af_sky, af_nova, am_liam, bf_emma, zf_xiaobei (Chinese), jm_kumo (Japanese)

Model: tts-kokoro (private, $3.50/M characters)

---

Speech-to-Text (Transcription)

Transcribe audio files to text:

# Transcribe a file
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py transcribe audio.wav

# With timestamps
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py transcribe recording.mp3 --timestamps

# From URL
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py transcribe --url https://example.com/audio.wav

Supported formats: WAV, FLAC, MP3, M4A, AAC, MP4

Model: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v3 (private, $0.0001/audio second)

---

Check Balance

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice.py balance

---

Part 2: Images & Video

Pricing Overview

Feature	Cost
Image generation	~$0.01-0.03 per image
Image upscale	~$0.02-0.04
Image edit	$0.04
Video (WAN)	~$0.10-0.50
Video (Sora)	~$0.50-2.00
Video (Runway)	~$0.20-1.00

Use --quote with video commands to check pricing before generation.

---

Image Generation

# Basic generation
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-image.py --prompt "a serene canal in Venice at sunset"

# Multiple images
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-image.py --prompt "cyberpunk city" --count 4

# Custom dimensions
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-image.py --prompt "portrait" --width 768 --height 1024

# List available models and styles
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-image.py --list-models
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-image.py --list-styles

# Use specific model and style
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-image.py --prompt "fantasy" --model flux-2-pro --style-preset "Cinematic"

# Reproducible results with seed
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-image.py --prompt "abstract" --seed 12345

Key flags: --prompt, --model (default: flux-2-max), --count, --width, --height, --format (webp/png/jpeg), --resolution (1K/2K/4K), --aspect-ratio, --negative-prompt, --style-preset, --cfg-scale (0-20), --seed, --safe-mode, --hide-watermark, --embed-exif

---

Image Upscale

# 2x upscale
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-upscale.py photo.jpg --scale 2

# 4x with AI enhancement
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-upscale.py photo.jpg --scale 4 --enhance

# Enhanced with custom prompt
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-upscale.py photo.jpg --enhance --enhance-prompt "sharpen details"

# From URL
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-upscale.py --url "https://example.com/image.jpg" --scale 2

Key flags: --scale (1-4, default: 2), --enhance (AI enhancement), --enhance-prompt, --enhance-creativity (0.0-1.0), --url, --output

---

Image Edit

AI-powered image editing:

# Add elements
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-edit.py photo.jpg --prompt "add sunglasses"

# Modify scene
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-edit.py photo.jpg --prompt "change the sky to sunset"

# Remove objects
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-edit.py photo.jpg --prompt "remove the person in background"

# From URL
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-edit.py --url "https://example.com/image.jpg" --prompt "colorize"

Note: The edit endpoint uses Qwen-Image which has some content restrictions.

---

Video Generation

# Get price quote first
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-video.py --quote --model wan-2.6-image-to-video --duration 10s

# Image-to-video (WAN - default)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-video.py --image photo.jpg --prompt "camera pans slowly" --duration 10s

# Image-to-video (Sora)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-video.py --image photo.jpg --prompt "cinematic" \
  --model sora-2-image-to-video --duration 8s --aspect-ratio 16:9 --skip-audio-param

# Video-to-video (Runway Gen4)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-video.py --video input.mp4 --prompt "anime style" \
  --model runway-gen4-turbo-v2v

# List models with available durations
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/venice-video.py --list-models

Key flags: --image or --video, --prompt, --model (default: wan-2.6-image-to-video), --duration, --resolution (480p/720p/1080p), --aspect-ratio, --audio/--no-audio, --quote, --timeout

Models:

• WAN — Image-to-video, configurable audio, 5s-21s
• Sora — Requires --aspect-ratio, use --skip-audio-param
• Runway — Video-to-video transformation

---

Tips & Ideas

🔍 Web Search + LLM = Research Assistant

Use --web-search on --web-citations to build a research workflow. Venice searches the web, synthesizes results, and cites sources — all in one API call.

🔓 Uncensored Creative Content

Venice's uncensored models work for both text AND images. No guardrails blocking legitimate creative use cases.

🎯 Prompt Caching for Agents

If you're running an agent loop that sends the same system prompt repeatedly, use --cache-key to get up to 90% cost savings.

🎤 Audio Pipeline

Combine TTS and transcription: generate spoken content with tts, process audio with transcribe. Both are private inference.

🎬 Video Workflow

1. Generate or find a base image
2. Use --quote to estimate video cost
3. Generate with appropriate duration/model
4. Videos take 1-5 minutes depending on settings

---

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
VENICE_API_KEY not set	Set env var or configure in ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json
Invalid API key	Verify at venice.ai/settings/api
Model not found	Run --list-models to see available; use --no-validate for new models
Rate limited	Check --show-usage output
Video stuck	Videos can take 1-5 min; use --timeout 600 for long ones

Resources

• API Docs: docs.venice.ai
• Status: veniceai-status.com
• Discord: discord.gg/askvenice