Function tryReadImageFromPath

src/utils/imagePaste.ts:360–425

(
  text: string,
)

 * @returns Object containing the image path and base64 data, or null if not found
 */
export async function tryReadImageFromPath(
  text: string,
): Promise<(ImageWithDimensions & { path: string }) | null> {
  // Strip terminal added spaces or quotes to dragged in paths
  const cleanedPath = asImageFilePath(text)

  if (!cleanedPath) {
    return null
  }

  const imagePath = cleanedPath
  let imageBuffer

  try {
    if (isAbsolute(imagePath)) {
      imageBuffer = getFsImplementation().readFileBytesSync(imagePath)
    } else {
      // VSCode Terminal just grabs the text content which is the filename
      // instead of getting the full path of the file pasted with cmd-v. So
      // we check if it matches the filename of the image in the clipboard.
      const clipboardPath = await getImagePathFromClipboard()
      if (clipboardPath && imagePath === basename(clipboardPath)) {
        imageBuffer = getFsImplementation().readFileBytesSync(clipboardPath)
      }
    }
  } catch (e) {
    logError(e as Error)
    return null
  }
  if (!imageBuffer) {
    return null
  }
  if (imageBuffer.length === 0) {
    logForDebugging(`Image file is empty: ${imagePath}`, { level: 'warn' })
    return null
  }

  // BMP is not supported by the API — convert to PNG via Sharp.
  if (
    imageBuffer.length >= 2 &&
    imageBuffer[0] === 0x42 &&
    imageBuffer[1] === 0x4d
  ) {
    const sharp = await getImageProcessor()
    imageBuffer = await sharp(imageBuffer).png().toBuffer()
  }

  // Resize if needed to stay under 5MB API limit
  // Extract extension from path for format hint
  const ext = extname(imagePath).slice(1).toLowerCase() || 'png'
  const resized = await maybeResizeAndDownsampleImageBuffer(
    imageBuffer,
    imageBuffer.length,
    ext,
  )
  const base64Image = resized.buffer.toString('base64')

  // Detect format from the actual file contents using magic bytes