Get started with the Gemini API using the Vertex AI in Firebase SDKs

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Swift

This guide assumes that you're familiar with using Xcode to develop apps for Apple platforms (like iOS).

• Make sure that your development environment and Apple platforms app meet these requirements:

  • Xcode 16.2 or higher
  • Your app targets iOS 15 or higher, or macOS 12 or higher

• (Optional) Check out the sample app.

  Download the quickstart app

  You can try out the SDK quickly, see a complete implementation of various use cases, or use the sample app if don't have your own Apple platforms app. To use the sample app, you'll need to connect it to a Firebase project.

Kotlin

This guide assumes that you're familiar with using Android Studio to develop apps for Android.

• Make sure that your development environment and Android app meet these requirements:

  • Android Studio (latest version)
  • Your app targets API level 21 or higher

• (Optional) Check out the sample app.

  Download the sample app

  You can try out the SDK quickly, see a complete implementation of various use cases, or use the sample app if don't have your own Android app. To use the sample app, you'll need to connect it to a Firebase project.

Java

This guide assumes that you're familiar with using Android Studio to develop apps for Android.

• Make sure that your development environment and Android app meet these requirements:

  • Android Studio (latest version)
  • Your app targets API level 21 or higher

• (Optional) Check out the sample app.

  Download the sample app

  You can try out the SDK quickly, see a complete implementation of various use cases, or use the sample app if don't have your own Android app. To use the sample app, you'll need to connect it to a Firebase project.

Web

This guide assumes that you're familiar with using JavaScript to develop web apps. This guide is framework-independent.

• Make sure that your development environment and web app meet these requirements:

  • (Optional) Node.js
  • Modern web browser

• (Optional) Check out the sample app.

  Download the sample app

  You can try out the SDK quickly, see a complete implementation of various use cases, or use the sample app if don't have your own web app. To use the sample app, you'll need to connect it to a Firebase project.

Dart

This guide assumes that you're familiar with developing apps with Flutter.

• Make sure that your development environment and Flutter app meet these requirements:

  • Dart 3.2.0+

• (Optional) Check out the sample app.

  Download the sample app

  You can try out the SDK quickly, see a complete implementation of various use cases, or use the sample app if don't have your own Flutter app. To use the sample app, you'll need to connect it to a Firebase project.

Swift

1. Continue in the console's Vertex AI in Firebase setup workflow to connect your app to Firebase, which includes these tasks:

   • Registering your app with your Firebase project.

   • Adding your Firebase configuration file (GoogleService-Info.plist) to your app.

2. In the next steps of this guide, you'll add the Vertex AI in Firebase SDK to your app and complete the required initialization specific to using the SDK and the Gemini API.

Kotlin

1. Continue in the console's Vertex AI in Firebase setup workflow to connect your app to Firebase, which includes these tasks:

   • Registering your app with your Firebase project.

   • Adding your Firebase configuration file (google-services.json) and the google-services Gradle plugin to your app.

2. In the next steps of this guide, you'll add the Vertex AI in Firebase SDK to your app and complete the required initialization specific to using the SDK and the Gemini API.

Java

1. Continue in the console's Vertex AI in Firebase setup workflow to connect your app to Firebase, which includes these tasks:

   • Registering your app with your Firebase project.

   • Adding your Firebase configuration file (google-services.json) and the google-services Gradle plugin to your app.

2. In the next steps of this guide, you'll add the Vertex AI in Firebase SDK to your app and complete the required initialization specific to using the SDK and the Gemini API.

Web

1. Continue in the console's Vertex AI in Firebase setup workflow to connect your app to Firebase, which includes these tasks:

   • Registering your app with your Firebase project.

   • Adding your Firebase configuration object to your app.

2. In the next steps of this guide, you'll add the Vertex AI in Firebase SDK to your app and complete the required initialization specific to using the SDK and the Gemini API.

Dart

1. Install the required command line tools:

   1. If you haven't already, install the Firebase CLI.

   2. Log into Firebase using your Google Account by running the following command:

      firebase login 

   3. Install the FlutterFire CLI by running the following command from any directory:

      dart pub global activate flutterfire_cli 

2. Configure your apps to use Firebase:

   Use the FlutterFire CLI to configure your Flutter apps to connect to Firebase.

   From your Flutter project directory, run the following command to start the app configuration workflow:

   flutterfire configure 

   What does this  flutterfire configure  workflow do?

   The flutterfire configure workflow does the following:

   • Asks you to select the platforms (iOS, Android, Web) supported in your Flutter app. For each selected platform, the FlutterFire CLI creates a new Firebase app in your Firebase project.

     You can select either to use an existing Firebase project or to create a new Firebase project. If you already have apps registered in an existing Firebase project, the FlutterFire CLI will attempt to match them based on your current Flutter project configuration.

   • Creates a Firebase configuration file (firebase_options.dart) and adds it to the lib/ directory of your Flutter app.

Swift

Use Swift Package Manager to install and manage Firebase dependencies.

The Vertex AI in Firebase library provides access to the APIs for interacting with Gemini and Imagen models. The library is included as part of the Firebase SDK for Apple platforms (firebase-ios-sdk).

1. In Xcode, with your app project open, navigate to File > Add Packages.

2. When prompted, add the Firebase Apple platforms SDK repository:

   https://github.com/firebase/firebase-ios-sdk 

3. Select the latest SDK version.

4. Select the FirebaseVertexAI library.

When finished, Xcode will automatically begin resolving and downloading your dependencies in the background.

Kotlin

The Vertex AI in Firebase SDK for Android (firebase-vertexai) provides access to the APIs for interacting with Gemini and Imagen models.

In your module (app-level) Gradle file (like <project>/<app-module>/build.gradle.kts), add the dependency for the Vertex AI in Firebase library for Android. We recommend using the Firebase Android BoM to control library versioning.

dependencies {   // ... other androidx dependencies    // Import the BoM for the Firebase platform   implementation(platform("com.google.firebase:firebase-bom:33.13.0"))    // Add the dependency for the Vertex AI in Firebase library   // When using the BoM, you don't specify versions in Firebase library dependencies   implementation("com.google.firebase:firebase-vertexai") }

By using the Firebase Android BoM, your app will always use compatible versions of Firebase Android libraries.

If you choose not to use the Firebase BoM, you must specify each Firebase library version in its dependency line.

Note that if you use multiple Firebase libraries in your app, we strongly recommend using the BoM to manage library versions, which ensures that all versions are compatible.

dependencies {   // Add the dependency for the Vertex AI in Firebase library   // When NOT using the BoM, you must specify versions in Firebase library dependencies   implementation("com.google.firebase:firebase-vertexai:16.4.0") }

Java

The Vertex AI in Firebase SDK for Android (firebase-vertexai) provides access to the APIs for interacting with Gemini and Imagen models.

In your module (app-level) Gradle file (like <project>/<app-module>/build.gradle.kts), add the dependency for the Vertex AI in Firebase library for Android. We recommend using the Firebase Android BoM to control library versioning.

For Java, you need to add two additional libraries.

dependencies {   // ... other androidx dependencies    // Import the BoM for the Firebase platform   implementation(platform("com.google.firebase:firebase-bom:33.13.0"))    // Add the dependency for the Vertex AI in Firebase library   // When using the BoM, you don't specify versions in Firebase library dependencies   implementation("com.google.firebase:firebase-vertexai")    // Required for one-shot operations (to use `ListenableFuture` from Guava Android)   implementation("com.google.guava:guava:31.0.1-android")    // Required for streaming operations (to use `Publisher` from Reactive Streams)   implementation("org.reactivestreams:reactive-streams:1.0.4") }

By using the Firebase Android BoM, your app will always use compatible versions of Firebase Android libraries.

If you choose not to use the Firebase BoM, you must specify each Firebase library version in its dependency line.

Note that if you use multiple Firebase libraries in your app, we strongly recommend using the BoM to manage library versions, which ensures that all versions are compatible.

dependencies {   // Add the dependency for the Vertex AI in Firebase library   // When NOT using the BoM, you must specify versions in Firebase library dependencies   implementation("com.google.firebase:firebase-vertexai:16.4.0") }

Web

The Vertex AI in Firebase library provides access to the APIs for interacting with Gemini and Imagen models. The library is included as part of the Firebase JavaScript SDK for Web.

1. Install the Firebase JS SDK for Web using npm:

   npm install firebase 

2. Initialize Firebase in your app:

   import { initializeApp } from "firebase/app";  // 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); 

Dart

The Vertex AI in Firebase plugin for Flutter (firebase_vertexai) provides access to the APIs for interacting with Gemini and Imagen models.

1. From your Flutter project directory, run the following command to install the core plugin and the Vertex AI in Firebase plugin:

   flutter pub add firebase_core && flutter pub add firebase_vertexai 

2. In your lib/main.dart file, import the Firebase core plugin, the Vertex AI in Firebase plugin, and the configuration file you generated earlier:

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

3. Also in your lib/main.dart file, initialize Firebase using the DefaultFirebaseOptions object exported by the configuration file:

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

4. Rebuild your Flutter application:

   flutter run 

Swift

import FirebaseVertexAI  // Initialize the Vertex AI service let vertex = VertexAI.vertexAI()  // Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case let model = vertex.generativeModel(modelName: "gemini-2.0-flash") 

Kotlin

// Initialize the Vertex AI service and create a `GenerativeModel` instance // Specify a model that supports your use case val generativeModel = Firebase.vertexAI.generativeModel("gemini-2.0-flash") 

Java

// Initialize the Vertex AI service and create a `GenerativeModel` instance // Specify a model that supports your use case GenerativeModel gm = FirebaseVertexAI.getInstance()         .generativeModel("gemini-2.0-flash");  // Use the GenerativeModelFutures Java compatibility layer which offers // support for ListenableFuture and Publisher APIs GenerativeModelFutures model = GenerativeModelFutures.from(gm); 

Web

import { initializeApp } from "firebase/app"; import { getVertexAI, getGenerativeModel } from "firebase/vertexai";  // 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 Vertex AI service const vertexAI = getVertexAI(firebaseApp);  // Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case const model = getGenerativeModel(vertexAI, { model: "gemini-2.0-flash" }); 

Dart

import 'package:firebase_vertexai/firebase_vertexai.dart'; import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart'; import 'firebase_options.dart';  // Initialize FirebaseApp await Firebase.initializeApp(   options: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform, );  // Initialize the Vertex AI service and create a `GenerativeModel` instance // Specify a model that supports your use case final model =       FirebaseVertexAI.instance.generativeModel(model: 'gemini-2.0-flash'); 

Swift

import FirebaseVertexAI  // Initialize the Vertex AI service let vertex = VertexAI.vertexAI()  // Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case let model = vertex.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

// Initialize the Vertex AI service and create a `GenerativeModel` instance // Specify a model that supports your use case val generativeModel = Firebase.vertexAI.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

// Initialize the Vertex AI service and create a `GenerativeModel` instance // Specify a model that supports your use case GenerativeModel gm = FirebaseVertexAI.getInstance()         .generativeModel("gemini-2.0-flash"); GenerativeModelFutures model = GenerativeModelFutures.from(gm);  // 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

import { initializeApp } from "firebase/app"; import { getVertexAI, getGenerativeModel } from "firebase/vertexai";  // 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 Vertex AI service const vertexAI = getVertexAI(firebaseApp);  // Create a `GenerativeModel` instance with a model that supports your use case const model = getGenerativeModel(vertexAI, { 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

import 'package:firebase_vertexai/firebase_vertexai.dart'; import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart'; import 'firebase_options.dart';  await Firebase.initializeApp(   options: DefaultFirebaseOptions.currentPlatform, );  // Initialize the Vertex AI service and create a `GenerativeModel` instance // Specify a model that supports your use case final model =       FirebaseVertexAI.instance.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);