/google-genai-sdk-python

Setup and Initialization

Installation

Golden Rule: Always use the google-genai SDK. Do not use legacy google-generativeai.

pip install google-genai

Initialization

The SDK requires a client object. It implicitly uses the GEMINI_API_KEY (or GOOGLE_API_KEY) environment variable.

from google import genai
from google.genai import types

# Standard initialization
client = genai.Client()

# Explicit API key (avoid hardcoding in production)
# client = genai.Client(api_key='YOUR_API_KEY')

# Vertex AI Initialization
# client = genai.Client(
#     vertexai=True,
#     project='your-project-id',
#     location='us-central1'
# )

Best Practices

• Imports: Use from google import genai and from google.genai import types.
• Statelessness: The client is predominantly stateless. Access methods via client.models, client.chats, etc.