Nano Banana Workbench CLI

The Nano Banana Workbench comparing three generated icons at full and production preview sizes — Three generated images, one selection, and the same icon checked at its production review sizes.

Generating one image was already easy

Nano Banana 2 already generated an image from a prompt. That part worked. Its CLI handled model and size settings, reference images, transparency, output files, and cost history.

I wanted to generate a batch of icons or images, see them together, and pick the one I liked. So I forked the CLI and built a local browser UI for that decision.

I wanted choices on one screen

The original command still handles one-offs. When I want options, I run:

nano-banana workbench

The Workbench lets me choose Images or Icons, pick up to three visual styles, set a palette, describe the subject, and generate several independent results. The model, resolution, aspect ratio, reference images, and Search setting stay the same for every image in the batch. The results land together on one screen, with the call count and estimated cost visible before I start.

It runs locally, and the API key stays in the server process rather than going into the browser. I can inspect each result, keep the one I like, and download any others worth saving.

Same orange, three styles

The subject, palette, model, and settings stayed fixed. Only the style changed. The same two hands peeling one orange came back as a pastel drawing, pixel art, and an oil painting. Side by side, the difference was obvious without reading three prompts.

Airy pastel illustration of two hands peeling an orange in one long spiral

Pixel art illustration of two hands peeling an orange in one long spiral

Dark oil painting of two hands peeling an orange under focused light

Images and icons need different exports

A full-frame image keeps its chosen aspect ratio and downloads as the provider returned it. An icon gets a second review at the small sizes where it will actually live, on light and dark backgrounds. The Workbench exports the selected icon as a 384×384 circular PNG without quietly redrawing or recoloring it.

Save the prompt and the decision

Every session keeps the rendered prompt, recipe and palette snapshots, provider settings, ordered references, generated images, usage, estimated cost, selection, and exports. A regenerated session stays linked to the one it came from.

Gemini does not expose a seed, so this cannot reproduce the same pixels later. It preserves the request, the files, and the decision.