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Ask HN: Should I release my MidJourney API?

10 points by hgezim ↗ HN
I was working on a service that allows kids to write a short story and then generate the illustrations for them and get a book on the other side.

I quickly realized that MidJourney is the standard for AI imagine generation. Initially I kept using it thinking I had simply missed the API link.

As you might know, there's no API for MidJourney, so a few weeks in, I decided I'll just build an unofficial API!

On Friday, I posted a demo video of it ( https://youtu.be/Wye8I3KoXaE ) on the MJ subreddit and it got deleted very quickly. DavidH, the CEO claimed it goes against their ToS.

So, do you all think I should push ahead and make it available? I'll likely need to play cat and mouse if they decide to ban my account.

P.S.: I think the biggest deal-breaker for me is that I'm Muslim and going against a contract (even tho I didn't explicitly see or sign the darn thing) _might_ be against Islamic morals (i.e. haram) :/ .. would love your perspective, fellow Muslims.

P.P.S.: I've always looked fondly at stories like PayPal going to eBay's conference with a giant block of ice with "frozen" money inside ... but I don't know if I can do that.

11 comments

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hgezim
Clickable link to the video: https://youtu.be/Wye8I3KoXaE

I should also point out that I did DM DavidH hoping to come up with a resolution but haven't heard back.

It goes without saying (not really, I guess ) that I don't intend to take advantage of their free plan or anything like that. I'm paying for every GPU hour I use (fast mode).

askiiart
I don't see anything wrong with using an unofficial API, as long as you don't, say, circumvent the number of images you'd get for free.
hgezim
Yeah, definitely not doing that. Not sure how to proceed...
megaroads
As much as I would love for an API (official or not) to appear, you'll much likely get into some sort of trouble doing so. If you're violating their ToS, there's not much you can do.

You can use it for yourself without attracting too much attention or make it available open source. Creating a business around it like ImagineAPI seems to be evolving into, is risky I guess.

How did you get access to their API in the first place? Using bots through Discord or you find out their secret endpoints?

Best of luck!

hgezim
Thanks @megaroads. I'm using a "secret sauce" for the backend .. lol
webmaven
Why bother? Switch to using DALL-E or Stable Diffusion APIs.
hgezim
I initially tried DALL-E and SD but they don't compare, unfortunately.
webmaven
If by "tried" you mean you tested the same prompts, then yes, I'm sure the results weren't as good. Generally speaking, the reverse is usually true too.
throwaway675309
From the video it looks like you're making a standard post request, but given the fact that all communication to be able to generate images happens through the discord command API, I am absolutely floored that they have a publicly exposed REST endpoint.

Even if this demo is legitimate I imagine it'll get quickly locked down if you publish it.