---
title: "Add a picture to a section"
method: POST
path: "/widgets/create-image"
tags: ["Widgets"]
---

# Add a picture to a section

`POST /widgets/create-image`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://api.reportingninja.com/v1`
- URL: `https://api.reportingninja.com/v1/widgets/create-image`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Writes one picture -- a logo, a screenshot, a diagram -- as one more widget of a section.

IT IS THE ONE WIDGET THAT IS A FILE AND NOT A DEFINITION, which is why it has a route of its own: there is nothing about a picture that the widget DSL could describe. /v1/reports/get answers `type: image` and `editable: false` for it, with the size of the picture and the weight of its file under `image`, and never the bytes.

`image_base64` carries the file itself, base64 encoded and with no data URI prefix, up to 716800 bytes DECODED. That ceiling is lower than the 1 MB the application accepts from an upload because these bytes travel encoded inside the request body, which is capped at 1 MB: a bigger one is answered 413 before this endpoint sees it.

THE BYTES DECIDE WHAT THE FILE IS. The size, the first bytes (JPEG, PNG or GIF) and finally whether the picture really decodes are all checked, in that order, whatever the filename says; anything else is refused by name. A file that is refused is 400 INVALID_VALUE with the rule that stopped it in `details.reason`, one of: `too_large` (over 716800 decoded bytes), `too_many_pixels` (the header announces more than 25000000 pixels, which is a picture nothing draws and a decode nothing should pay for), `format_not_supported` (the first bytes are not a JPEG, a PNG or a GIF, whatever the file is called) and `not_an_image` (the bytes announce a format and do not decode as one). The width and the height are read off the picture and are not chosen by the caller, exactly as in the application, and they are read from the HEADER first: a file of a few hundred KB can announce twenty thousand pixels a side and decode into hundreds of megabytes, so the ceiling of pixels is applied before anything is decoded -- on a dry run too, which validates everything.

Without a `placement` the widget goes to the first row that takes it. An image is not a KPI, so it counts as one of the elements a row holds; a row holding a page break takes nobody else. A report built on a template is refused with 400 APPEND_NOT_ALLOWED, reason template_based.

Refusals: 400 for the framework and the body, 400 INVALID_VALUE, 400 APPEND_NOT_ALLOWED, 403 WRITE_ACCESS_DISABLED, 404 NOT_FOUND, 409 VERSION_MISMATCH, 409 SECTION_BUSY, 409 REPORT_IN_TRASH and 413 PAYLOAD_TOO_LARGE.

Every write endpoint reads dry_run and idempotency_key; see the Write guarantees section of the introduction.

## Request body

- WidgetsCreateImageRequest: The picture, the section it goes in and where in that section.
  - `report_key` string, required: The report the section belongs to.
  - `section_key` string, required: The section the picture goes in.
  - `image_base64` string, required: The file itself, base64 encoded, with no data URI prefix. At most 716800 bytes DECODED and at most 25000000 pixels, and it has to really be a JPEG, a PNG or a GIF: the first bytes of the file decide, never its name. The two dimensions are read off the header before anything is decoded, so an oversized picture is refused without being drawn.
  - `filename` string: The name of the file the bytes came from, ending in .jpg, .jpeg, .png or .gif. Optional, and it decides nothing: what the bytes are is decided by the bytes.
  - `name` string: What the widget is listed under, 1 to 80 characters. Nothing paints it beside the picture. LEAVE IT OUT to take the name a picture dropped in the application gets, in the language of the account; an empty string is refused rather than silently becoming that default.
  - `placement` object: Where to put the picture. When absent, it is placed automatically. An image is not a KPI, so it counts as one of the elements a row holds. Only row and column are read here.
    - `row` integer, required: 1-based row. It must be an existing row or the first free one, and it must respect how that row is already filled: a refusal names the first free row in details.first_free_row.
    - `column` integer: 1-based column. A column that is taken is moved to the first free one and the answer says so with placement_adjusted.
  - `if_version` integer: The sections version of the report, as /v1/reports/get publishes it. A stale one is HTTP 409 VERSION_MISMATCH.
  - `dry_run` boolean: Validate and answer what WOULD happen, without writing anything. Default false.
  - `idempotency_key` string: Makes a retry safe: the answer of the first call is replayed for 24 hours to any later call with the same key and the same body.

## Response `200`

The call succeeded. This endpoint reports its errors with a real HTTP status, so a 200 always carries status=ok.

- WidgetsCreateImageResponse: The 200 of this write, in whichever of its shapes the call asked for.
  - `status` 'ok', required
  - `data` union, required: The answer of the write. A call sent with dry_run: true answers WriteDryRunData instead.
    - WidgetsCreateImageData: The image widget that was created and what its picture measures.
      - `report_key` string, required
      - `section_key` string, required
      - `widget_key` string, nullable: The key of the widget. Absent from a dry run, where nothing was created.
      - `name` string, nullable, required
      - `row` integer, nullable, required
      - `column` integer, nullable, required
      - `placement_adjusted` boolean, required: True when the column asked for was taken and the widget went to the next free one.
      - `image` WidgetImage, required: What the picture of an image widget measures. The bytes themselves are never published by a read: they leave this surface drawn, inside the report.
        - `width` integer, nullable, required
        - `height` integer, nullable, required
        - `bytes` integer, nullable, required: How much the stored file weighs.
      - `created_keys` string[]: The key of the widget that was created. Absent from a dry run.
      - `unfulfilled` string[], required: What was asked for and could not be expressed; the API returns an empty list.
      - `warnings` Problem[], required: Things worth knowing about a write that DID happen. They are never errors.
        - `path` string, required: Dotted path of the offending field inside the request body, empty for a problem about the body as a whole.
        - `code` 'MISSING_REQUIRED_FIELD' | 'INVALID_VALUE' | 'UNKNOWN_PARAM' | 'INVALID_DATE_RANGE' | 'INTEGRATION_NOT_SUPPORTED' | 'CONNECTION_NOT_FOUND' | 'ACCOUNT_NOT_FOUND' | 'ONE_CONNECTION_PER_INTEGRATION' | 'DATE_PRESET_NOT_IN_REPORTS' | 'TEMPLATE_NOT_FOUND' | 'TEMPLATE_PARAMETERIZED' | 'ROW_RULE' | 'POSITION_CHANGED' | 'SECTION_CHANGED' | 'TOO_MANY_PROBLEMS' | 'DATA_SOURCES_PARTIALLY_BOUND' | 'WELCOME_EMAIL_FAILED' | 'REPORT_WILL_BE_SHARED_PUBLICLY' | 'MAY_BE_DELIVERED_AGAIN_TODAY' | 'SUMMARY_SECTION_SKIPPED' | 'COVER_FILE_REMOVED' | 'COVER_TYPE_SET' | 'LOGO_REMOVED' | 'READ_ONLY_FIELD_IGNORED' | 'AI_BRIEF_NOT_SAVED' | 'SPENDS_AI_CREDITS' | 'DROPS_ACCOUNT_CACHE' | 'CHART_TYPE_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'CHART_TYPE_NOT_FOR_TREND' | 'CONTENT_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'FULL_WIDTH_NOT_FOR_KPI' | 'DATA_VIEW_FIELDS_PER_ACCOUNT' | 'DATA_VIEW_NOT_AVAILABLE' | 'DATA_VIEW_NOT_EMPTY' | 'DATA_VIEW_NOT_OF_THE_SECTION' | 'DATA_VIEW_REQUIRED' | 'DATA_VIEW_UNKNOWN' | 'DATE_RANGE_CUSTOM_INCOMPLETE' | 'DATE_RANGE_CUSTOM_INVALID' | 'DATE_RANGE_CUSTOM_INVERTED' | 'DATE_RANGE_PRESET_UNKNOWN' | 'DATE_RANGE_X_REQUIRED' | 'DIMENSION_DUPLICATED' | 'DIMENSION_IS_A_METRIC' | 'DIMENSION_REQUIRED' | 'DIMENSION_UNKNOWN' | 'DSL_INVALID' | 'FIELD_NOT_IN_AD_TYPES' | 'FILTERS_NOT_SUPPORTED' | 'FILTER_COMBINATION_NOT_SUPPORTED' | 'FILTER_CONDITIONS_MIXED_KINDS' | 'FILTER_FIELD_NOT_A_COLUMN' | 'FILTER_FIELD_NOT_IN_DATA_VIEW' | 'FILTER_FIELD_UNKNOWN' | 'FILTER_LIKE_NEEDS_WILDCARD' | 'FILTER_OPERATOR_INVALID' | 'FILTER_TYPE_OF_FIELD_MISMATCH' | 'FILTER_TYPE_OF_FIELD_NOT_USED' | 'FILTER_TYPE_OF_FIELD_REQUIRED' | 'FILTER_VALUE_EMPTY' | 'FILTER_VALUE_NOT_ALLOWED' | 'FILTER_VALUE_NOT_NUMERIC' | 'GRAPH_EXTRA_DIMENSIONS' | 'GRAPH_TIME_DIMENSION_MIXED' | 'INTEGRATION_UNKNOWN' | 'INTENT_MISSING' | 'KPI_NEEDS_ONE_METRIC' | 'KPI_TAKES_NO_DIMENSIONS' | 'LIMIT_IGNORED_IN_TREND' | 'LIMIT_OUT_OF_RANGE' | 'METRICS_SUMMARY_TAKES_NO_DIMENSIONS' | 'METRIC_DUPLICATED' | 'METRIC_IS_A_DIMENSION' | 'METRIC_UNKNOWN' | 'METRICS_REQUIRED' | 'NAME_EMPTY' | 'NAME_NOT_PLAIN_TEXT' | 'NAME_TOO_LONG' | 'PIE_TAKES_ONE_DIMENSION' | 'PREVIOUS_PERIOD_NOT_AVAILABLE_FOR_THIS_TABLE' | 'COMPARISON_NOT_AVAILABLE_FOR_THIS_WIDGET' | 'PREVIOUS_PERIOD_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'SHOW_CHANGE_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'SHOW_CHANGE_NEEDS_PREVIOUS_PERIOD' | 'SETTING_DUPLICATED' | 'SETTING_NOT_FOR_DATA_VIEW' | 'SETTING_NOT_IN_WIDGET' | 'SETTING_UNKNOWN' | 'SETTING_VALUE_INVALID' | 'SORT_FIELD_NOT_SELECTED' | 'TABLE_TIME_DIMENSION_NOT_DRAWABLE' | 'TEXT_CONTENT_REQUIRED' | 'TEXT_CONTENT_TOO_LONG' | 'TEXT_NOT_A_WIDGET_TYPE' | 'TEXT_TAKES_NO_DATA' | 'TOO_MANY_DIMENSIONS' | 'TOO_MANY_METRICS' | 'TRANSLATION_FAILED' | 'TREND_ORDER_IS_THE_TIME_AXIS' | 'TREND_TAKES_NO_DIMENSIONS' | 'VISUALIZATION_NOT_AVAILABLE' | 'VISUALIZATION_NOT_OF_REQUESTED_TYPE' | 'FIELD_NOT_AVAILABLE' | 'FILTER_CONDITIONS_MIXED_LEVELS' | 'FILTER_LEVEL_MISMATCH' | 'FORMULA_TOKEN_UNKNOWN' | 'FORMULA_INVALID' | 'LANGUAGE_FILE_KEYS_IGNORED' | 'SELECTION_EMPTY' | 'FILTER_KEY_AND_FILTERS' | 'FILTER_KEY_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'KEY_NOT_FOR_GENERATION' | 'COMPARE_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'COMPARE_NOT_FOR_INTEGRATION' | 'COMPARE_ITEMS_CARDINALITY' | 'COMPARE_METRICS_CARDINALITY' | 'COMPARE_OVER_TIME_NOT_AVAILABLE' | 'COMPARE_METRIC_HAS_NO_BREAKDOWN' | 'COMPARE_KEY_NOT_FOR_THIS_COMPARATOR' | 'COMPARATOR_CLASS_FIXED', required: What is wrong with that field, or what is worth knowing about it. The first group is the vocabulary of the body itself; the eleven that follow it appear only in `warnings[]`, bar TOO_MANY_PROBLEMS, which closes a `problems` list that was truncated; and the rest are the codes of the widget DSL, which travel here when a composition or a widget carries a dsl that does not validate.
        - `message` string, required: Human-readable explanation. Not stable across versions.
        - `suggestions` string[]: The accepted values, when the field takes a closed list.
    - WriteDryRunData: The answer of a call sent with dry_run: true. Nothing was written, no idempotency key was consumed and no confirmation token was burnt. When valid is true, the fields of the endpoint's own preview travel alongside these two; when it is false, `message` and `problems` do instead. The HTTP status is 200 in both cases: a rehearsal that says the body is wrong is a successful rehearsal. Two refusals are NOT translated and arrive with their real status: a 429 (the budgets are spent either way) and any 5xx.
      - `dry_run` true, required: Always true in this shape.
      - `valid` boolean, required: Whether the body would be accepted.
      - `message` string: Why the body would be refused. Present only when valid is false.
      - `problems` Problem[]: Everything that is wrong with the body. Present only when valid is false.
        - `path` string, required: Dotted path of the offending field inside the request body, empty for a problem about the body as a whole.
        - `code` 'MISSING_REQUIRED_FIELD' | 'INVALID_VALUE' | 'UNKNOWN_PARAM' | 'INVALID_DATE_RANGE' | 'INTEGRATION_NOT_SUPPORTED' | 'CONNECTION_NOT_FOUND' | 'ACCOUNT_NOT_FOUND' | 'ONE_CONNECTION_PER_INTEGRATION' | 'DATE_PRESET_NOT_IN_REPORTS' | 'TEMPLATE_NOT_FOUND' | 'TEMPLATE_PARAMETERIZED' | 'ROW_RULE' | 'POSITION_CHANGED' | 'SECTION_CHANGED' | 'TOO_MANY_PROBLEMS' | 'DATA_SOURCES_PARTIALLY_BOUND' | 'WELCOME_EMAIL_FAILED' | 'REPORT_WILL_BE_SHARED_PUBLICLY' | 'MAY_BE_DELIVERED_AGAIN_TODAY' | 'SUMMARY_SECTION_SKIPPED' | 'COVER_FILE_REMOVED' | 'COVER_TYPE_SET' | 'LOGO_REMOVED' | 'READ_ONLY_FIELD_IGNORED' | 'AI_BRIEF_NOT_SAVED' | 'SPENDS_AI_CREDITS' | 'DROPS_ACCOUNT_CACHE' | 'CHART_TYPE_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'CHART_TYPE_NOT_FOR_TREND' | 'CONTENT_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'FULL_WIDTH_NOT_FOR_KPI' | 'DATA_VIEW_FIELDS_PER_ACCOUNT' | 'DATA_VIEW_NOT_AVAILABLE' | 'DATA_VIEW_NOT_EMPTY' | 'DATA_VIEW_NOT_OF_THE_SECTION' | 'DATA_VIEW_REQUIRED' | 'DATA_VIEW_UNKNOWN' | 'DATE_RANGE_CUSTOM_INCOMPLETE' | 'DATE_RANGE_CUSTOM_INVALID' | 'DATE_RANGE_CUSTOM_INVERTED' | 'DATE_RANGE_PRESET_UNKNOWN' | 'DATE_RANGE_X_REQUIRED' | 'DIMENSION_DUPLICATED' | 'DIMENSION_IS_A_METRIC' | 'DIMENSION_REQUIRED' | 'DIMENSION_UNKNOWN' | 'DSL_INVALID' | 'FIELD_NOT_IN_AD_TYPES' | 'FILTERS_NOT_SUPPORTED' | 'FILTER_COMBINATION_NOT_SUPPORTED' | 'FILTER_CONDITIONS_MIXED_KINDS' | 'FILTER_FIELD_NOT_A_COLUMN' | 'FILTER_FIELD_NOT_IN_DATA_VIEW' | 'FILTER_FIELD_UNKNOWN' | 'FILTER_LIKE_NEEDS_WILDCARD' | 'FILTER_OPERATOR_INVALID' | 'FILTER_TYPE_OF_FIELD_MISMATCH' | 'FILTER_TYPE_OF_FIELD_NOT_USED' | 'FILTER_TYPE_OF_FIELD_REQUIRED' | 'FILTER_VALUE_EMPTY' | 'FILTER_VALUE_NOT_ALLOWED' | 'FILTER_VALUE_NOT_NUMERIC' | 'GRAPH_EXTRA_DIMENSIONS' | 'GRAPH_TIME_DIMENSION_MIXED' | 'INTEGRATION_UNKNOWN' | 'INTENT_MISSING' | 'KPI_NEEDS_ONE_METRIC' | 'KPI_TAKES_NO_DIMENSIONS' | 'LIMIT_IGNORED_IN_TREND' | 'LIMIT_OUT_OF_RANGE' | 'METRICS_SUMMARY_TAKES_NO_DIMENSIONS' | 'METRIC_DUPLICATED' | 'METRIC_IS_A_DIMENSION' | 'METRIC_UNKNOWN' | 'METRICS_REQUIRED' | 'NAME_EMPTY' | 'NAME_NOT_PLAIN_TEXT' | 'NAME_TOO_LONG' | 'PIE_TAKES_ONE_DIMENSION' | 'PREVIOUS_PERIOD_NOT_AVAILABLE_FOR_THIS_TABLE' | 'COMPARISON_NOT_AVAILABLE_FOR_THIS_WIDGET' | 'PREVIOUS_PERIOD_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'SHOW_CHANGE_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'SHOW_CHANGE_NEEDS_PREVIOUS_PERIOD' | 'SETTING_DUPLICATED' | 'SETTING_NOT_FOR_DATA_VIEW' | 'SETTING_NOT_IN_WIDGET' | 'SETTING_UNKNOWN' | 'SETTING_VALUE_INVALID' | 'SORT_FIELD_NOT_SELECTED' | 'TABLE_TIME_DIMENSION_NOT_DRAWABLE' | 'TEXT_CONTENT_REQUIRED' | 'TEXT_CONTENT_TOO_LONG' | 'TEXT_NOT_A_WIDGET_TYPE' | 'TEXT_TAKES_NO_DATA' | 'TOO_MANY_DIMENSIONS' | 'TOO_MANY_METRICS' | 'TRANSLATION_FAILED' | 'TREND_ORDER_IS_THE_TIME_AXIS' | 'TREND_TAKES_NO_DIMENSIONS' | 'VISUALIZATION_NOT_AVAILABLE' | 'VISUALIZATION_NOT_OF_REQUESTED_TYPE' | 'FIELD_NOT_AVAILABLE' | 'FILTER_CONDITIONS_MIXED_LEVELS' | 'FILTER_LEVEL_MISMATCH' | 'FORMULA_TOKEN_UNKNOWN' | 'FORMULA_INVALID' | 'LANGUAGE_FILE_KEYS_IGNORED' | 'SELECTION_EMPTY' | 'FILTER_KEY_AND_FILTERS' | 'FILTER_KEY_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'KEY_NOT_FOR_GENERATION' | 'COMPARE_NOT_FOR_THIS_SHAPE' | 'COMPARE_NOT_FOR_INTEGRATION' | 'COMPARE_ITEMS_CARDINALITY' | 'COMPARE_METRICS_CARDINALITY' | 'COMPARE_OVER_TIME_NOT_AVAILABLE' | 'COMPARE_METRIC_HAS_NO_BREAKDOWN' | 'COMPARE_KEY_NOT_FOR_THIS_COMPARATOR' | 'COMPARATOR_CLASS_FIXED', required: What is wrong with that field, or what is worth knowing about it. The first group is the vocabulary of the body itself; the eleven that follow it appear only in `warnings[]`, bar TOO_MANY_PROBLEMS, which closes a `problems` list that was truncated; and the rest are the codes of the widget DSL, which travel here when a composition or a widget carries a dsl that does not validate.
        - `message` string, required: Human-readable explanation. Not stable across versions.
        - `suggestions` string[]: The accepted values, when the field takes a closed list.
  - `meta` WriteMeta, required: The meta of a write answer. A replay carries two extra fields so it can be told apart from a first call and still traced back to it.
    - `request_id` string, required: Id of THIS request, including on a replay.
    - `timestamp` string, date-time, required
    - `replayed` boolean: True when this answer is the stored answer of an earlier call with the same idempotency_key and the same body. Absent on a first call.
    - `replayed_from_request_id` string, nullable: The request_id of the call that actually did the work. Present only on a replay, and null when the stored answer carried no id.

## Other responses

- `400`: The request was refused before anything was written. INVALID_REQUEST covers the framework refusals of every endpoint (the Content-Type is not application/json, the body could not be read, the body is not valid JSON). The report endpoints add their own: VALIDATION_FAILED with details.problems, UNKNOWN_PARAM with the path of the field the endpoint does not read, and the single-field refusals MISSING_REQUIRED_FIELD, INVALID_VALUE and APPEND_NOT_ALLOWED. The description of each operation lists the ones it emits. Everything else a body can get wrong arrives as an entry of details.problems rather than as the code of the envelope.
- `401`: Invalid or missing Bearer token.
- `403`: The account may not perform this write. WRITE_ACCESS_DISABLED means write access has not been enabled for the API key in the REST API tab of the app. PLAN_LIMIT_REACHED means the plan has no room left for another report or template, and is emitted only by the endpoints that create one.
- `404`: A key of the request does not name anything this account owns. NOT_FOUND covers reports, sections, widgets, schedules, portal views, brand templates, email templates and language files; TEMPLATE_NOT_FOUND covers a catalog slug, version or section position that stopped being published between the validation and the write. An entity of another account is reported the same way as one that does not exist.
- `409`: The request is well formed and the current state does not allow it. Every write can answer IDEMPOTENCY_CONFLICT (the same idempotency_key with a different body) and IDEMPOTENCY_IN_PROGRESS (an identical call is running, with a Retry-After). The endpoints that ask for a confirmation add CONFIRMATION_EXPIRED and CONFIRMATION_MISMATCH; the ones that never confirm cannot answer either. Each operation lists the domain conflicts it adds on top of those.
- `413`: The request body is over 1 MB. The cap is applied before authentication, so this answer is refused without the key being read, and it carries the usual error envelope.
- `429`: A budget was spent. RATE_LIMITED is the per-key read budget (300/minute, 5000/day) or the per-account write budget (60/minute, 1000/day). EMAIL_QUOTA_REACHED is the separate budget of 50 calls per account per day that send email, and its Retry-After points at the next UTC midnight. The Retry-After header gives the seconds until the more restrictive window resets. The X-RateLimit-* headers report the read budget, except on the 429 of a write, where they report the write budget.
- `500`: Internal server error.
- `503`: Writes are paused, or the store the write guarantees rely on is not answering. Nothing was written and the call is worth retrying later. Reads are unaffected.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/reportingninja/apis/reporting-ninja-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/reportingninja/apis/reporting-ninja-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/reportingninja/apis/reporting-ninja-api/revisions/13876c71be34?raw)
