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Free Tier Shows Up, but You Get a 429 With `limit: 0` — What to Check in the First Hour of a New Gemini API Project
A new Gemini API project says Free tier, yet the very first call returns 429 with limit: 0. Here is the order I check things in, how to read the error body, and a 40-line script that tests models one by one.
When a Deprecation Has No Shutdown Date: Re-Picking an Image Model on Three Conditions
gemini-nano-banana-2.1 went GA on October 6, and gemini-3.1-flash-image was deprecated with no shutdown date. Here is a table and a short script for choosing a replacement by resolution, reference images, and search grounding.
Three Veo 3.1 previews stop on Oct 22. I started with an inventory of every call site
Three Veo 3.1 preview models shut down on Oct 22, with gemini-omni-1.1-flash as the listed replacement. Before swapping model names, here is a search script that finds every call site in a repo, and a config pattern that stops loudly after the deadline instead of drifting to another model.
Estimating a Sheets-Driven Gemini Bill Across the Year-End Price Switch with Apps Script
If you call the Gemini API from a spreadsheet, log the token counts per call and estimate the month in two columns: the intro price that ends on December 31, 2026 and the standard price from January 1, 2027. Apps Script, with real output.
Six Months After March's Gemini Features in Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive: What I Kept and What I Dropped
A way to sort the Gemini features added to Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive in March 2026 into keep, hold and drop, based on whether you still use them every week in October.
Gemini CLI Kept Saying 'API key not valid' After I Gave It a New Key — It Was Reading an Old One From a Third Place
I switched Gemini CLI from Google login to a paid API key, and the 400 'API key not valid' error would not go away. The key can come from four places — the shell, a project .env, a home .env, and settings.json — and a short script that lights them up in order narrows the cause to one.
The Size Column Said 'F6' and 'About A4' — I Let Gemini Read It, and Let a Table Do the Math
An artist's spreadsheet mixed 'F6', '41×31.8cm', and 'about A4' in one size column. Here is the small tool I built: Gemini reads each cell, a lookup table converts to centimeters, and the artwork image decides the orientation. Working code, step by step.
Swapping a Preview TTS Model for 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS, Then Re-choosing a Voice From 150+ Candidates
On September 22, gemini-3.8-flash-lite-tts went GA as the replacement for the 3.1 Flash TTS preview. Here is what I did over one week: replacing the preview model name behind my healing app's guidance audio and re-choosing a voice from the new /v1beta/voices endpoint.
Before You Send a Gemini Draft, Run Double-Check and Fix Only the Orange Sentences
A short routine for using the Gemini app's double-check feature right before you send an email or reply: what green, orange, and unhighlighted sentences mean, the order I use to fix orange ones, and when even green deserves a second look.
I Stopped Asking Gemini 'Is This Right?' and Started Hiding My Answer Instead
Ask Gemini to confirm a label you already chose and it tends to agree. Here is why I compared three ways of asking, chose blind re-classification, how my answer still leaked in, and the routing code that sends only disagreements to a human.
Workspace turned third-party connectors on by default. Two screens to check before you decide
Since September 15, 2026, Gemini in Workspace connects to Asana, Salesforce and five other tools over MCP, and the setting ships on by default. Here is how I count what is actually enabled, from both the Admin console and the user side panel.
When Function Calls Turn Into Plain Text, Suspect the Property Names in Your Tool Declarations
A record of chasing MALFORMED_FUNCTION_CALL after output limits and schema conflicts were ruled out, bisecting nine tool declarations down to one property name, and adding a linter that stops bad names before they ship.