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Generate text using the Gemini API
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You can ask a Gemini model to generate text from a text-only prompt or a multimodal prompt. When you use Firebase AI Logic, you can make this request directly from your app.

Multimodal prompts can include multiple types of input (like text along with images, PDFs, plain-text files, audio, and video).

This guide shows how to generate text from a text-only prompt and from a basic multimodal prompt that includes a file.

Jump to code samples for text-only input Jump to code samples for multimodal input

See other guides for additional options for working with text
Generate structured output Multi-turn chat Bidirectional streaming Generate text on-device Generate images from text

Before you begin

Click your Gemini API provider to view provider-specific content and code on this page.

If you haven't already, complete the getting started guide, which describes how to set up your Firebase project, connect your app to Firebase, add the SDK, initialize the backend service for your chosen Gemini API provider, and create a GenerativeModel instance.

For testing and iterating on your prompts and even getting a generated code snippet, we recommend using Google AI Studio.

Generate text from text-only input

Before trying this sample, complete the Before you begin section of this guide to set up your project and app.
In that section, you'll also click a button for your chosen Gemini API provider so that you see provider-specific content on this page.

You can ask a Gemini model to generate text by prompting with text-only input.

Swift

You can call generateContent() to generate text from text-only input.


import FirebaseAI

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
let ai = FirebaseAI.firebaseAI(backend: .googleAI())

// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
let model = ai.generativeModel(modelName: "gemini-2.0-flash")


// Provide a prompt that contains text
let prompt = "Write a story about a magic backpack."

// To generate text output, call generateContent with the text input
let response = try await model.generateContent(prompt)
print(response.text ?? "No text in response.")

Kotlin

You can call generateContent() to generate text from text-only input.

^{For Kotlin, the methods in this SDK are suspend functions and need to be called
from a Coroutine scope.}


// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
val model = Firebase.ai(backend = GenerativeBackend.googleAI())
                        .generativeModel("gemini-2.0-flash")


// Provide a prompt that contains text
val prompt = "Write a story about a magic backpack."

// To generate text output, call generateContent with the text input
val response = generativeModel.generateContent(prompt)
print(response.text)

Java

You can call generateContent() to generate text from text-only input.

^{For Java, the methods in this SDK return a
ListenableFuture.}


// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
GenerativeModel ai = FirebaseAI.getInstance(GenerativeBackend.googleAI())
        .generativeModel("gemini-2.0-flash");

// Use the GenerativeModelFutures Java compatibility layer which offers
// support for ListenableFuture and Publisher APIs
GenerativeModelFutures model = GenerativeModelFutures.from(ai);


// Provide a prompt that contains text
Content prompt = new Content.Builder()
    .addText("Write a story about a magic backpack.")
    .build();

// To generate text output, call generateContent with the text input
ListenableFuture<GenerateContentResponse> response = model.generateContent(prompt);
Futures.addCallback(response, new FutureCallback<GenerateContentResponse>() {
    @Override
    public void onSuccess(GenerateContentResponse result) {
        String resultText = result.getText();
        System.out.println(resultText);
    }

    @Override
    public void onFailure(Throwable t) {
        t.printStackTrace();
    }
}, executor);

Web

You can call generateContent() to generate text from text-only input.


import { initializeApp } from "firebase/app";
import { getAI, getGenerativeModel, GoogleAIBackend } from "firebase/ai";

// TODO(developer) Replace the following with your app's Firebase configuration
// See: https://firebase.google.com/docs/web/learn-more#config-object
const firebaseConfig = {
  // ...
};

// Initialize FirebaseApp
const firebaseApp = initializeApp(firebaseConfig);

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
const ai = getAI(firebaseApp, { backend: new GoogleAIBackend() });

// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
const model = getGenerativeModel(ai, { model: "gemini-2.0-flash" });


// Wrap in an async function so you can use await
async function run() {
  // Provide a prompt that contains text
  const prompt = "Write a story about a magic backpack."

  // To generate text output, call generateContent with the text input
  const result = await model.generateContent(prompt);

  const response = result.response;
  const text = response.text();
  console.log(text);
}

run();

Dart

You can call generateContent() to generate text from text-only input.


import 'package:firebase_ai/firebase_ai.dart';
import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart';
import 'firebase_options.dart';

// Initialize FirebaseApp
await Firebase.initializeApp(
  options: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform,
);

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
final model =
      FirebaseAI.googleAI().generativeModel(model: 'gemini-2.0-flash');


// Provide a prompt that contains text
final prompt = [Content.text('Write a story about a magic backpack.')];

// To generate text output, call generateContent with the text input
final response = await model.generateContent(prompt);
print(response.text);

Unity

You can call generateContent() to generate text from text-only input.


using Firebase;
using Firebase.AI;

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
var ai = FirebaseAI.GetInstance(FirebaseAI.Backend.GoogleAI());

// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
var model = ai.GetGenerativeModel(modelName: "gemini-2.0-flash");


// Provide a prompt that contains text
var prompt = "Write a story about a magic backpack.";

// To generate text output, call GenerateContentAsync with the text input
var response = await model.GenerateContentAsync(prompt);
UnityEngine.Debug.Log(response.Text ?? "No text in response.");

Generate text from text-and-file (multimodal) input

You can ask a Gemini model to generate text by prompting with text and a file—providing each input file's mimeType and the file itself. Find requirements and recommendations for input files later on this page.

The following example shows the basics of how to generate text from a file input by analyzing a single video file provided as inline data (base64-encoded file).

Note that this example shows providing the file inline, but the SDKs also support providing a YouTube URL.

Need a sample video file?

You can use this publicly available file with a MIME type of video/mp4 (view or download file). https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-samples-data/video/animals.mp4

Swift

You can call generateContent() to generate text from multimodal input of text and video files.


import FirebaseAI

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
let ai = FirebaseAI.firebaseAI(backend: .googleAI())

// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
let model = ai.generativeModel(modelName: "gemini-2.0-flash")


// Provide the video as `Data` with the appropriate MIME type.
let video = InlineDataPart(data: try Data(contentsOf: videoURL), mimeType: "video/mp4")

// Provide a text prompt to include with the video
let prompt = "What is in the video?"

// To generate text output, call generateContent with the text and video
let response = try await model.generateContent(video, prompt)
print(response.text ?? "No text in response.")

Kotlin

You can call generateContent() to generate text from multimodal input of text and video files.

^{For Kotlin, the methods in this SDK are suspend functions and need to be called
from a Coroutine scope.}


// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
val model = Firebase.ai(backend = GenerativeBackend.googleAI())
                        .generativeModel("gemini-2.0-flash")


val contentResolver = applicationContext.contentResolver
contentResolver.openInputStream(videoUri).use { stream ->
  stream?.let {
    val bytes = stream.readBytes()

    // Provide a prompt that includes the video specified above and text
    val prompt = content {
        inlineData(bytes, "video/mp4")
        text("What is in the video?")
    }

    // To generate text output, call generateContent with the prompt
    val response = generativeModel.generateContent(prompt)
    Log.d(TAG, response.text ?: "")
  }
}

Java

You can call generateContent() to generate text from multimodal input of text and video files.

^{For Java, the methods in this SDK return a
ListenableFuture.}


// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
GenerativeModel ai = FirebaseAI.getInstance(GenerativeBackend.googleAI())
        .generativeModel("gemini-2.0-flash");

// Use the GenerativeModelFutures Java compatibility layer which offers
// support for ListenableFuture and Publisher APIs
GenerativeModelFutures model = GenerativeModelFutures.from(ai);


ContentResolver resolver = getApplicationContext().getContentResolver();
try (InputStream stream = resolver.openInputStream(videoUri)) {
    File videoFile = new File(new URI(videoUri.toString()));
    int videoSize = (int) videoFile.length();
    byte[] videoBytes = new byte[videoSize];
    if (stream != null) {
        stream.read(videoBytes, 0, videoBytes.length);
        stream.close();

        // Provide a prompt that includes the video specified above and text
        Content prompt = new Content.Builder()
                .addInlineData(videoBytes, "video/mp4")
                .addText("What is in the video?")
                .build();

        // To generate text output, call generateContent with the prompt
        ListenableFuture<GenerateContentResponse> response = model.generateContent(prompt);
        Futures.addCallback(response, new FutureCallback<GenerateContentResponse>() {
            @Override
            public void onSuccess(GenerateContentResponse result) {
                String resultText = result.getText();
                System.out.println(resultText);
            }

            @Override
            public void onFailure(Throwable t) {
                t.printStackTrace();
            }
        }, executor);
    }
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
} catch (URISyntaxException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

Web

You can call generateContent() to generate text from multimodal input of text and video files.


import { initializeApp } from "firebase/app";
import { getAI, getGenerativeModel, GoogleAIBackend } from "firebase/ai";

// TODO(developer) Replace the following with your app's Firebase configuration
// See: https://firebase.google.com/docs/web/learn-more#config-object
const firebaseConfig = {
  // ...
};

// Initialize FirebaseApp
const firebaseApp = initializeApp(firebaseConfig);

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
const ai = getAI(firebaseApp, { backend: new GoogleAIBackend() });

// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
const model = getGenerativeModel(ai, { model: "gemini-2.0-flash" });


// Converts a File object to a Part object.
async function fileToGenerativePart(file) {
  const base64EncodedDataPromise = new Promise((resolve) => {
    const reader = new FileReader();
    reader.onloadend = () => resolve(reader.result.split(',')[1]);
    reader.readAsDataURL(file);
  });
  return {
    inlineData: { data: await base64EncodedDataPromise, mimeType: file.type },
  };
}

async function run() {
  // Provide a text prompt to include with the video
  const prompt = "What do you see?";

  const fileInputEl = document.querySelector("input[type=file]");
  const videoPart = await fileToGenerativePart(fileInputEl.files[0]);

  // To generate text output, call generateContent with the text and video
  const result = await model.generateContent([prompt, videoPart]);

  const response = result.response;
  const text = response.text();
  console.log(text);
}

run();

Dart

You can call generateContent() to generate text from multimodal input of text and video files.


import 'package:firebase_ai/firebase_ai.dart';
import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart';
import 'firebase_options.dart';

// Initialize FirebaseApp
await Firebase.initializeApp(
  options: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform,
);

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
final model =
      FirebaseAI.googleAI().generativeModel(model: 'gemini-2.0-flash');


// Provide a text prompt to include with the video
final prompt = TextPart("What's in the video?");

// Prepare video for input
final video = await File('video0.mp4').readAsBytes();

// Provide the video as `Data` with the appropriate mimetype
final videoPart = InlineDataPart('video/mp4', video);

// To generate text output, call generateContent with the text and images
final response = await model.generateContent([
  Content.multi([prompt, ...videoPart])
]);
print(response.text);

Unity

You can call generateContent() to generate text from multimodal input of text and video files.


using Firebase;
using Firebase.AI;

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
var ai = FirebaseAI.GetInstance(FirebaseAI.Backend.GoogleAI());

// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
var model = ai.GetGenerativeModel(modelName: "gemini-2.0-flash");


// Provide the video as `data` with the appropriate MIME type.
var video = ModelContent.InlineData("video/mp4",
      System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(System.IO.Path.Combine(
          UnityEngine.Application.streamingAssetsPath, "yourVideo.mp4")));

// Provide a text prompt to include with the video
var prompt = ModelContent.Text("What is in the video?");

// To generate text output, call GenerateContentAsync with the text and video
var response = await model.GenerateContentAsync(new [] { video, prompt });
UnityEngine.Debug.Log(response.Text ?? "No text in response.");

Learn how to choose a model appropriate for your use case and app.

Stream the response

You can achieve faster interactions by not waiting for the entire result from the model generation, and instead use streaming to handle partial results. To stream the response, call generateContentStream.

View example: Stream generated text from text-only input

Swift

You can call generateContentStream() to stream generated text from text-only input.


import FirebaseAI

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
let ai = FirebaseAI.firebaseAI(backend: .googleAI())

// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
let model = ai.generativeModel(modelName: "gemini-2.0-flash")


// Provide a prompt that contains text
let prompt = "Write a story about a magic backpack."

// To stream generated text output, call generateContentStream with the text input
let contentStream = try model.generateContentStream(prompt)
for try await chunk in contentStream {
  if let text = chunk.text {
    print(text)
  }
}

Kotlin

You can call generateContentStream() to stream generated text from text-only input.

^{For Kotlin, the methods in this SDK are suspend functions and need to be called
from a Coroutine scope.}


// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
val model = Firebase.ai(backend = GenerativeBackend.googleAI())
                        .generativeModel("gemini-2.0-flash")


// Provide a prompt that includes only text
val prompt = "Write a story about a magic backpack."

// To stream generated text output, call generateContentStream and pass in the prompt
var response = ""
generativeModel.generateContentStream(prompt).collect { chunk ->
    print(chunk.text)
    response += chunk.text
}

Java

You can call generateContentStream() to stream generated text from text-only input.

^{For Java, the streaming methods in this SDK return a
Publisher type from the Reactive Streams library.}


// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
GenerativeModel ai = FirebaseAI.getInstance(GenerativeBackend.googleAI())
        .generativeModel("gemini-2.0-flash");

// Use the GenerativeModelFutures Java compatibility layer which offers
// support for ListenableFuture and Publisher APIs
GenerativeModelFutures model = GenerativeModelFutures.from(ai);


// Provide a prompt that contains text
Content prompt = new Content.Builder()
        .addText("Write a story about a magic backpack.")
        .build();

// To stream generated text output, call generateContentStream with the text input
Publisher<GenerateContentResponse> streamingResponse =
    model.generateContentStream(prompt);

// Subscribe to partial results from the response
final String[] fullResponse = {""};
streamingResponse.subscribe(new Subscriber<GenerateContentResponse>() {
  @Override
  public void onNext(GenerateContentResponse generateContentResponse) {
    String chunk = generateContentResponse.getText();
    fullResponse[0] += chunk;
  }

  @Override
  public void onComplete() {
    System.out.println(fullResponse[0]);
  }

  @Override
  public void onError(Throwable t) {
    t.printStackTrace();
  }

  @Override
  public void onSubscribe(Subscription s) { }
});

Web

You can call generateContentStream() to stream generated text from text-only input.


import { initializeApp } from "firebase/app";
import { getAI, getGenerativeModel, GoogleAIBackend } from "firebase/ai";

// TODO(developer) Replace the following with your app's Firebase configuration
// See: https://firebase.google.com/docs/web/learn-more#config-object
const firebaseConfig = {
  // ...
};

// Initialize FirebaseApp
const firebaseApp = initializeApp(firebaseConfig);

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
const ai = getAI(firebaseApp, { backend: new GoogleAIBackend() });

// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
const model = getGenerativeModel(ai, { model: "gemini-2.0-flash" });


// Wrap in an async function so you can use await
async function run() {
  // Provide a prompt that contains text
  const prompt = "Write a story about a magic backpack."

  // To stream generated text output, call generateContentStream with the text input
  const result = await model.generateContentStream(prompt);

  for await (const chunk of result.stream) {
    const chunkText = chunk.text();
    console.log(chunkText);
  }

  console.log('aggregated response: ', await result.response);
}

run();

Dart

You can call generateContentStream() to stream generated text from text-only input.


import 'package:firebase_ai/firebase_ai.dart';
import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart';
import 'firebase_options.dart';

// Initialize FirebaseApp
await Firebase.initializeApp(
  options: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform,
);

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
final model =
      FirebaseAI.googleAI().generativeModel(model: 'gemini-2.0-flash');


// Provide a prompt that contains text
final prompt = [Content.text('Write a story about a magic backpack.')];

// To stream generated text output, call generateContentStream with the text input
final response = model.generateContentStream(prompt);
await for (final chunk in response) {
  print(chunk.text);
}

Unity

You can call generateContentStream() to stream generated text from text-only input.


using Firebase;
using Firebase.AI;

// Initialize the Gemini Developer API backend service
var ai = FirebaseAI.GetInstance(FirebaseAI.Backend.GoogleAI());

// Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case
var model = ai.GetGenerativeModel(modelName: "gemini-2.0-flash");


// Provide a prompt that contains text
var prompt = "Write a story about a magic backpack.";

// To stream generated text output, call GenerateContentStreamAsync with the text input
var responseStream = model.GenerateContentStreamAsync(prompt);
await foreach (var response in responseStream) {
  if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(response.Text)) {
    UnityEngine.Debug.Log(response.Text);
  }
}