Generate AI Images Automatically with n8n and Fal Flux API

1. Opening Problem Statement

Meet Anna, a digital marketer for a fashion brand who constantly needs fresh, eye-catching images for social media campaigns. Creating those images manually takes hours, involving multiple apps and repeated uploads and downloads, causing delays and sometimes budget overruns. She wishes she could generate unique images automatically from simple text prompts with minimal effort. This exact challenge is what the “Flux Dev Image Generation Fal.ai” workflow tackles — streamlining the tedious process of AI-driven image creation into a fast, reliable automated system.

2. What This Automation Does

This n8n workflow leverages the Fal Flux AI image generation API to turn descriptive text prompts into high-quality AI-generated images, then downloads and stores them in a designated Google Drive folder. Here’s what happens when it runs:

• Accepts input parameters such as prompt text, image width, height, number of inference steps, guidance scale
• Sends a POST request to Fal Flux API to start image generation with your prompt and settings
• Checks generation status by polling the API every 3 seconds until the image is ready
• Fetches the generated image URL once the process is complete
• Downloads the image to n8n workflow memory
• Uploads the image to a specified Google Drive folder for easy access and organization

By automating this, you save hours of manual work in generating and organizing AI images. Instead of juggling multiple tools, this workflow handles all the steps transparently, so you get ready-to-use images faster.

3. Prerequisites ⚙️

• n8n account — you need an n8n automation environment, self-hosted or cloud
• Fal Flux API access with valid API key and HTTP Header authentication configured in n8n
• Google Drive account & OAuth2 credentials with permission to upload to your target folder

4. Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Start with a Manual Trigger

In n8n, add a Manual Trigger node named “When clicking ‘Test workflow’”. This allows you to start the workflow on demand for testing or production runs. It’s located under “Trigger” nodes.

Step 2: Define Your Image Generation Parameters

Add a Set node named “Edit Fields” right after the trigger. Here you specify key input parameters:

• Prompt: Example — “Thai young woman net idol 25 yrs old, walking on the street”
• Width: Image width in pixels, e.g., 1024
• Height: Image height in pixels, e.g., 768
• Steps: Number of inference steps, e.g., 30
• Guidance: Guiding scale parameter, e.g., 3.5

You input these values directly into the node’s parameters tab. This node shapes the payload sent to the Fal Flux API.

Step 3: Send Image Generation Request to Fal Flux

Next, add an HTTP Request node called “Fal Flux” for the API POST call. Configure it with:

• URL: https://queue.fal.run/fal-ai/flux/dev
• Method: POST
• Authentication: Use HTTP Header Auth with your Fal Flux API key
• Body Format: JSON payload mapping prompt, width, height, steps, and guidance from prior node data

Example JSON body used:
{"prompt": "{{ $json.Prompt }}", "image_size": {"width": {{ $json.Width }}, "height": {{ $json.Height }}}, "num_inference_steps": {{ $json.Steps }}, "guidance_scale": {{ $json.Guidance }}, "num_images": 1, "enable_safety_checker": true}

Step 4: Wait for Image Processing (3 Seconds)

Since image generation is asynchronous, add a Wait node called “Wait 3 Sec” with a 3-second delay to pause before checking status.

Step 5: Poll for Status Check

Add another HTTP Request node named “Check Status” pointing at the URL https://queue.fal.run/fal-ai/flux/requests/{{ $json.request_id }}/status. It polls the generation request status using the previously returned request ID.

Step 6: Conditional Check for Completion

Follow with an If node titled “Completed?” that evaluates if the status equals “COMPLETED”. If not, it routes back to the wait node for another pause, creating a loop until the image is ready.

Step 7: Fetch the Generated Image URL

Once complete, an HTTP Request node “Get Image Result URL” calls https://queue.fal.run/fal-ai/flux/requests/{{ $json.request_id }} to retrieve JSON containing the image URL.

Step 8: Download the AI-Generated Image

Add another HTTP Request node “Download Image” using the URL from the previous step to download the image binary data into n8n.

Step 9: Upload Image to Google Drive

Finally, use the Google Drive node configured with your OAuth2 credentials. Set the destination folder ID for your “Flux Image” folder and use the binary file name from the download node to upload the image to your drive.

5. Customizations ✏️

• Change Image Size and Quality: Adjust the Width, Height, Steps, and Guidance in the “Edit Fields” node to get different resolutions and image fidelity.
• Enable/Disable Safety Checker: In the “Fal Flux” HTTP node JSON body, change "enable_safety_checker": true to false if you want to bypass content filtering (use with caution).
• Save to Different Google Drive Folder: Modify the folderId in the Google Drive node to organize images in distinct folders for projects.
• Automate Input Prompt Source: Replace the manual trigger and set node with a webhook or Google Sheets node to feed prompts dynamically.
• Adjust Polling Interval: Change the “Wait 3 Sec” node duration to poll faster or slower based on your API rate limits.

6. Troubleshooting 🔧

Problem: “Authentication failed” error in HTTP Request nodes
Cause: Invalid or missing API key in HTTP Header Auth credentials
Solution: Double-check the Fal Flux API key in n8n credentials section, ensure it’s set as “Key {your_api_key}” in header.

Problem: Workflow gets stuck in endless polling loop
Cause: The status never changes to “COMPLETED” due to API or network issues.
Solution: Add a maximum retry count using the n8n workflow settings or introduce an If node limit. Also, verify API endpoint availability.

Problem: Image not uploading to Google Drive
Cause: Incorrect folder ID or expired OAuth token
Solution: Confirm the Google Drive folder ID is correct and OAuth credentials are valid and refreshed.

7. Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Verify your Fal Flux API key is correct and active
• Test the manual trigger and see if the initial POST returns a request ID
• Ensure the polling loop completes and the image URL is returned
• Confirm the image downloads without errors
• Check Google Drive uploads to the correct folder with proper permissions
• Backup your workflow and credential configurations before live deployment

8. Deployment Guide

Activate your workflow by setting it from inactive to active inside n8n. From now on, you can trigger it manually or configure scheduling. Monitor execution logs under “Executions” to track success and errors. For long-running workflows, ensure error handling to catch API failures gracefully.

10. Conclusion

By following this guide, you have built a powerful automation that transforms text prompts into downloadable AI-generated images stored neatly in Google Drive. Anna and others in creative roles can now save significant time—potentially hours weekly—by eliminating manual image creation and file management. This workflow is a great starting point for AI image automation, which you can expand by integrating dynamic prompt inputs or other cloud storage options. Happy automating!