gemini-text

Use this skill when you need to:

• Generate any type of text content (blogs, emails, code, stories)
• Process images with text descriptions or analysis
• Perform complex reasoning requiring step-by-step thinking
• Get structured JSON outputs for data processing
• Access real-time information via Google Search
• Apply specific personas or behavior patterns
• Combine text generation with other Gemini skills (images, TTS, embeddings)

scripts/generate.py

Purpose: Full-featured text generation with all Gemini capabilities

When to use:

• Any text generation task
• Multimodal prompts (text + image)
• Complex reasoning requiring thinking mode
• Structured JSON output requirements
• Real-time information needs (grounding)
• Custom system instructions/personas

Key parameters:

| Parameter | Description | Example |

|-----------|-------------|---------|

| prompt | Text prompt (required) | "Explain quantum computing" |

| --model, -m | Model to use | gemini-3-flash-preview |

| --system, -s | System instruction | "You are a helpful assistant" |

| --thinking, -t | Enable thinking mode | Flag |

| --json, -j | Force JSON output | Flag |

| --grounding, -g | Enable Google Search | Flag |

| --image, -i | Image for multimodal | photo.png |

| --temperature | Sampling 0.0-2.0 | 0.7 for creative |

| --max-tokens | Output limit | 1000 |

Output: Generated text string, optionally with grounding sources

Workflow 1: Basic Text Generation

```bash

python scripts/generate.py "Explain quantum computing in simple terms"

```

• Best for: Simple content creation, explanations, summaries
• Model: gemini-3-flash-preview (default, fast)

Workflow 2: With System Instruction (Persona)

```bash

python scripts/generate.py "How do I read a file in Python?" --system "You are a helpful coding assistant"

```

• Best for: Domain-specific tasks, expert personas, consistent tone
• Use when: You need specific behavioral constraints

Workflow 3: Complex Reasoning (Thinking Mode)

```bash

python scripts/generate.py "Analyze the ethical implications of AI in healthcare" --thinking

```

• Best for: Complex analysis, step-by-step reasoning, multi-step problems
• Use when: Task requires careful consideration and logical progression

Workflow 4: Structured JSON Output

```bash

python scripts/generate.py "Generate a user profile object with name, email, and preferences" --json

```

• Best for: Data extraction, structured data generation, API responses
• Output: Valid JSON ready for parsing
• Note: Prompt must clearly request JSON structure

Workflow 5: Real-Time Information (Grounding)

```bash

python scripts/generate.py "Who won the latest Super Bowl?" --grounding

```

• Best for: Current events, news, factual information after training cutoff
• Output: Response + grounding sources with citations
• Use when: Accuracy of current information is critical

Workflow 6: Multimodal (Image Analysis)

```bash

python scripts/generate.py "Describe what's in this image in detail" --image photo.png

```

• Best for: Image captioning, visual analysis, image-based Q&A
• Requires: Image file in PNG or JPEG format
• Combines well with: gemini-files for file upload

Workflow 7: Content Creation Pipeline (Batch + Text + TTS)

```bash

# 1. Create batch requests (gemini-batch skill)

# 2. Generate content

python scripts/generate.py "Create a 500-word blog post about sustainable energy"

# 3. Convert to audio (gemini-tts skill)

```

• Best for: High-volume content production, podcasts, audiobooks

Model Selection

| Model | Speed | Intelligence | Context | Best For |

|-------|-------|--------------|---------|----------|

| gemini-3-flash-preview | Fast | High | 1M | General use, agentic tasks (default) |

| gemini-3-pro-preview | Medium | Highest | 1M | Complex reasoning, research |

| gemini-2.5-flash | Fast | Medium | 1M | Stable, reliable generation |

| gemini-2.5-pro | Slow | High | 1M | Code, math, STEM tasks |

Temperature Settings

| Value | Creativity | Best For |

|-------|-----------|----------|

| 0.0-0.3 | Low | Code, facts, formal writing |

| 0.4-0.7 | Medium | Balanced output |

| 0.8-1.0 | High | Creative writing, brainstorming |

| 1.0-2.0 | Very High | Highly creative, varied outputs |

Thinking Budget

| Value | Description |

|-------|-------------|

| 0 | Disabled (default behavior) |

| 512-1024 | Standard reasoning |

| 2048+ | Deep analysis (slower, more tokens) |

Standard Text Output

• Plain text response ready for use
• Check for truncation if max-tokens was set
• May include markdown formatting

JSON Output

• Valid JSON object (use --json flag)
• Parse with: import json; data = json.loads(output)
• Verify structure matches your requirements
• Handle potential parsing errors

Grounded Response

When --grounding is used, the script prints:

1. Main response text
2. "--- Grounding Sources ---" section
3. List of sources with titles and URLs

Thinking Mode Output

• May include reasoning steps before final answer
• Longer response times due to thinking process
• Better for tasks requiring careful analysis

"google-genai not installed"

```bash

pip install google-genai

```

"API key not set"

Set environment variable:

```bash

export GOOGLE_API_KEY="your-key-here"

# or

export GEMINI_API_KEY="your-key-here"

```

"Model not available"

• Check model name spelling
• Verify API access for selected model
• Try gemini-3-flash-preview (most available)

JSON parse errors

• Ensure prompt explicitly requests JSON structure
• Check output for JSON formatting
• Consider using system instruction: "You always respond with valid JSON"

Image file not found

• Verify image path is correct
• Use absolute paths if relative paths fail
• Supported formats: PNG, JPEG

Response truncated

• Increase --max-tokens value
• Break task into smaller requests
• Use pro models with higher token limits

Performance Optimization

• Use flash models for speed, pro for quality
• Lower temperature (0.0-0.3) for deterministic outputs
• Set appropriate max-tokens to control costs
• Use thinking mode only for complex tasks

Prompt Engineering

• Be specific and clear in your prompts
• Use system instructions for consistent behavior
• Include examples in prompts for better results
• For JSON: specify exact structure in prompt

Error Handling

• Wrap script calls in try-except blocks
• Validate JSON output before parsing
• Handle network timeouts with retries
• Check API quota limits for batch operations

Cost Management

• Use flash models when possible (lower cost)
• Limit max-tokens for simple queries
• Cache results for repeated queries
• Use batch API for high-volume tasks

• gemini-image: Generate images from text
• gemini-tts: Convert text to speech
• gemini-embeddings: Create vector embeddings for semantic search
• gemini-files: Upload files for multimodal processing
• gemini-batch: Process multiple requests efficiently

```bash

# Basic

python scripts/generate.py "Your prompt"

# Persona

python scripts/generate.py "Prompt" --system "You are X"

# Thinking

python scripts/generate.py "Complex task" --thinking

# JSON

python scripts/generate.py "Generate JSON" --json

# Search

python scripts/generate.py "Current event" --grounding

# Multimodal

python scripts/generate.py "Describe this" --image photo.png

```

• See references/models.md for detailed model information
• Get API key: https://aistudio.google.com/apikey
• Documentation: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api