How to pass an image URL or binary data to Pickaxe via n8n?

Hey everyone,

I am trying to figure out how to structure an automated image-to-text workflow with Pickaxe and n8n, and I’d love some guidance on how to accomplish this objective.

The Goal:
I want to be able to upload a photo from my phone to a Google Drive folder. Once uploaded, an n8n workflow triggers, grabs the image link, and sends it to my Pickaxe to generate a “microblog” post based on the image. (I currently do this manually with ChatGPT, but I want to fully automate it).

The Problem:
I am currently using the Pickaxe community node in n8n. I set it up so that it sends the Google Drive link as a text message to the prompt. However, when I test it, the Pickaxe responds that it cannot access Google Drive.

I know that in the Pickaxe interface, I can manually attach and upload an image, but my goal is to have this triggered entirely by me uploading the image to a folder, completely avoiding any manual copy-and-pasting. I am using a vision-capable model for this prompt.

My Questions:

  1. Is there a way to send an image URL via the Pickaxe n8n community node so the model actually reads the image rather than just the URL text?
  2. Do I need to use a custom HTTP request in n8n to grab the file’s binary data and push it to Pickaxe? If so, how should that be formatted?
  3. Are there specific actions or configurations I need to set up within my Pickaxe to allow it to download or read an image from an external link?

Thank you so much for taking a look at this, and I look forward to hearing your suggestions!

Here is a video explaining my process..