Python http.client: POST /v1/images on Sume with the standard library

When you cannot pip install anything, the standard library is enough.

The request is the same in every language: POST https://api.sume.com/v1/images with a bearer key from SUME_API_KEY, a JSON body with model, prompt and aspect_ratio, and a client timeout above the route's 30-second wait. The route defaults to mode: "sync", so the status code decides what you do next (docs read 2026-10-07):

Status codes to branch on

Python code

Save as hc.py and run SUME_API_KEY=... python3 hc.py. No packages to install, no top-level await.

import http.client, json, os

key = os.environ["SUME_API_KEY"]
body = json.dumps({
    "model": "bytedance-seed/seedream-5-lite",
    "prompt": "matte ceramic mug on a white sweep, soft shadow",
    "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
})
conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection("api.sume.com", timeout=40)
conn.request("POST", "/v1/images", body, {
    "Authorization": "Bearer " + key,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
})
res = conn.getresponse()
text = res.read().decode()
if res.status == 200:
    print("done:", json.loads(text)["data"][0]["url"])
elif res.status == 202:
    print("queued, follow status_url:", text)
else:
    print("error", res.status, text)
conn.close()

Notes

The timeout on HTTPSConnection is a socket timeout, applied to each blocking operation; 40 seconds is above Sume's 30-second sync wait.

Check res.status before parsing: only a 200 body has data[0].url.

One bytedance-seed/seedream-5-lite image is $0.04375 billed (list $0.035 x 1.25). Prices here are Sume's list-times-1.25 figures. The catalog states the billable formula as "list × 1.25 → ceil usd cents", so treat the dollar amounts as the pre-rounding value and read the exact charge from billable_amount_usd_micros in the submit envelope. Failed or cancelled generations are not billed.

Sources: Sume Image API docs and Jobs and results (read 2026-10-07).