Gemini Batch API Skill

Large-scale asynchronous document processing using Google's Gemini models.

When to Use

• Process thousands of documents with the same prompt
• Cost-effective bulk extraction (50% cheaper than synchronous API)
• Jobs that can tolerate 24-hour completion windows

IRON LAW: Use Examples First, Never Guess API

READ EXAMPLES BEFORE WRITING ANY CODE. NO EXCEPTIONS.

The Rule

User asks for batch API work
    ↓
MANDATORY: Read examples/batch_processor.py or examples/icon_batch_vision.py
    ↓
Copy the pattern exactly
    ↓
DO NOT guess parameter names
DO NOT try wrapper types
DO NOT improvise API calls

Why This Matters

The Batch API has non-obvious requirements that will fail silently:

1. Metadata must be flat primitives - Nested objects cause cryptic errors
2. Parameter is dest= not destination= - Wrong name → TypeError
3. Config is plain dict - Not a wrapper type
4. Examples are authoritative - Working code beats assumptions

Rationale: Previous agents wasted hours debugging API errors that the examples would have prevented. The patterns in examples/ are battle-tested production code.

Rationalization Table - STOP If You Catch Yourself Thinking:

Red Flags - STOP If You Catch Yourself Thinking:

• "Let me try destination= instead of dest=" → You're about to cause a TypeError. Read examples.
• "I'll create a CreateBatchJobConfig object" → You're instantiating a type instead of using a plain dict. Stop.
• "I'll nest metadata like a normal API" → You'll trigger BigQuery type errors. Flatten your data.
• "This should work like other Google APIs" → Your assumption is wrong; this API is different.
• "I'll figure out the JSONL format" → You'll waste time. Copy from examples instead.

MANDATORY Checklist Before ANY Batch API Code

• Read examples/batch_processor.py OR examples/icon_batch_vision.py
• Identify which example matches the use case (Standard API vs Vertex AI)
• Copy the example's API call pattern exactly
• Copy the example's JSONL structure exactly
• Copy the example's metadata structure exactly
• Adapt for specific needs only after copying base pattern

Enforcement: Writing batch API code without reading examples first violates this IRON LAW and will result in preventable errors.

Prerequisites

Install gcloud SDK

# macOS: Install via nix-darwin (add to ~/nix/ configuration)
# Or if already available: gcloud --version

# Linux: Install Google Cloud SDK from official sources
curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash

Authentication Setup

# Authenticate with Google Cloud Platform
gcloud auth login

# Set up Application Default Credentials for Python libraries
gcloud auth application-default login

# Enable Vertex AI API in your project
gcloud services enable aiplatform.googleapis.com

Why both auth methods?

• gcloud auth login: For gsutil and gcloud CLI commands
• gcloud auth application-default login: For google-generativeai Python library
• CRITICAL: Vertex AI requires ADC (step 2), not just API key

Create GCS Bucket

# Create bucket in us-central1 (required region)
gsutil mb -l us-central1 gs://your-batch-bucket

# Verify bucket location is us-central1
gsutil ls -L -b gs://your-batch-bucket | grep "Location"

See references/gcs-setup.md for complete setup guide.

Quick Start

Standard Gemini API (API Key)

Uses the Gemini File API for input. Results returned via batch_job.dest.file_name.

from google import genai

client = genai.Client()  # Uses GOOGLE_API_KEY env var

# Upload JSONL to File API
uploaded = client.files.upload(
    file="requests.jsonl",
    config={"mime_type": "application/jsonl"}
)

# Submit batch job
job = client.batches.create(
    model="gemini-2.5-flash-lite",
    src=uploaded.name,  # "files/..." URI
    config={"display_name": "my-batch-job"}
)

# Results available at job.dest.file_name after completion

Vertex AI (Recommended for GCS workflows)

Uses GCS URIs directly. Supports dest= parameter for output location.

from google import genai

# Use Vertex AI with ADC (not API key)
client = genai.Client(
    vertexai=True,
    project="your-project-id",
    location="us-central1"
)

# Submit batch job with GCS paths
job = client.batches.create(
    model="gemini-2.5-flash-lite",
    src="gs://bucket/requests.jsonl",   # GCS input
    dest="gs://bucket/outputs/"          # GCS output (Vertex AI only!)
)

Key difference: Standard API uses File API (files/...), Vertex AI uses GCS (gs://...) with explicit dest= parameter.

Core Workflow

Standard API:

1. Create JSONL request file with prompts
2. Upload JSONL to File API via client.files.upload()
3. Submit batch job via client.batches.create(src=uploaded.name)
4. Poll for completion (jobs expire after 24 hours)
5. Download results from job.dest.file_name

Vertex AI:

1. Upload files to GCS bucket (us-central1 region required)
2. Create JSONL request file with document URIs and prompts
3. Submit batch job via client.batches.create(src=..., dest=...)
4. Poll for completion (jobs expire after 24 hours)
5. Download and parse results from GCS output URI
6. Handle failures gracefully (partial failures are common)

Key Gotchas (API Structure)

Metadata must be flat primitives (no nested objects — BigQuery-backed storage). Parameter is dest= not destination= (Vertex AI only). Config is a plain dict (not a wrapper type).

See the Rationalization Table in the first Iron Law section above — the same gotchas apply here. The Key Gotchas table below summarizes all critical issues.

Key Gotchas

Top 3 mistakes (bolded above):

1. Using nested objects in metadata instead of flat primitives
2. Mixing Standard API and Vertex AI patterns
3. Using destination= instead of dest= (Vertex AI)

See references/gotchas.md for detailed solutions (now with Gotchas 10 & 11).

Rate Limits

Recommended Models

Additional Resources

References

• references/gcs-setup.md - NEW: Complete GCS and Vertex AI setup guide
• references/gotchas.md - 9 critical production gotchas (updated auth section)
• references/best-practices.md - Idempotent IDs, state tracking, validation
• references/scale-up-testing.md - Incremental scale-up testing (LangExtract prototyping, LLM-as-judge, Vertex AI batch)
• references/troubleshooting.md - Common errors and debugging
• references/vertex-ai.md - Enterprise alternative with comparison
• references/cli-reference.md - gsutil and gcloud commands

Examples

• examples/icon_batch_vision.py - NEW: Batch vision analysis with Vertex AI
• examples/batch_processor.py - Complete GeminiBatchProcessor class
• examples/pipeline_template.py - Customizable pipeline template

Scripts

• scripts/validate_jsonl.py - Validate JSONL before submission
• scripts/test_single.py - Test single request before batch

External Documentation

• Gemini Batch API Guide
• Google Cloud Storage
• Vertex AI Batch Prediction

Date Awareness

Gemini API evolves rapidly. For API features or model names with uncertainty, verify against current documentation.