| name | gemini-live-api-dev |
| description | Use this skill when building real-time, bidirectional streaming applications with the Gemini Live API. Covers WebSocket-based audio/video/text streaming, voice activity detection (VAD), native audio features, function calling, session management, ephemeral tokens for client-side auth, and all Live API configuration options. SDKs covered - google-genai (Python), @google/genai (JavaScript/TypeScript). |
Gemini Live API Development Skill
Overview
The Live API enables low-latency, real-time voice and video interactions with Gemini over WebSockets. It processes continuous streams of audio, video, or text to deliver immediate, human-like spoken responses.
Key capabilities:
- Bidirectional audio streaming — real-time mic-to-speaker conversations
- Video streaming — send camera/screen frames alongside audio
- Text input/output — send and receive text within a live session
- Audio transcriptions — get text transcripts of both input and output audio
- Voice Activity Detection (VAD) — automatic interruption handling
- Native audio — thinking (with configurable
thinkingLevel)
- Function calling — synchronous tool use
- Google Search grounding — ground responses in real-time search results
- Session management — context compression, session resumption, GoAway signals
- Ephemeral tokens — secure client-side authentication
[!NOTE]
The Live API currently only supports WebSockets. For WebRTC support or simplified integration, use a partner integration.
Models
gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview — Optimized for low-latency, real-time dialogue. Native audio output, thinking (via thinkingLevel). 128k context window. This is the recommended model for all Live API use cases.
[!WARNING]
The following Live API models are deprecated and will be shut down. Migrate to gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview.
gemini-2.5-flash-native-audio-preview-12-2025 — Migrate to gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview.gemini-live-2.5-flash-preview — Released June 17, 2025. Shutdown: December 9, 2025.gemini-2.0-flash-live-001 — Released April 9, 2025. Shutdown: December 9, 2025.
SDKs
- Python:
google-genai — pip install google-genai
- JavaScript/TypeScript:
@google/genai — npm install @google/genai
[!WARNING]
Legacy SDKs google-generativeai (Python) and @google/generative-ai (JS) are deprecated. Use the new SDKs above.
Partner Integrations
To streamline real-time audio/video app development, use a third-party integration supporting the Gemini Live API over WebRTC or WebSockets:
Audio Formats
- Input: Raw PCM, little-endian, 16-bit, mono. 16kHz native (will resample others). MIME type:
audio/pcm;rate=16000
- Output: Raw PCM, little-endian, 16-bit, mono. 24kHz sample rate.
[!IMPORTANT]
Use send_realtime_input / sendRealtimeInput for all real-time user input (audio, video, and text). send_client_content / sendClientContent is only supported for seeding initial context history (requires setting initial_history_in_client_content in history_config). Do not use it to send new user messages during the conversation.
[!WARNING]
Do not use media in sendRealtimeInput. Use the specific keys: audio for audio data, video for images/video frames, and text for text input.
Quick Start
Authentication
Python
from google import genai
client = genai.Client(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
JavaScript
import { GoogleGenAI } from '@google/genai';
const ai = new GoogleGenAI({ apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY' });
Connecting to the Live API
Python
from google.genai import types
config = types.LiveConnectConfig(
response_modalities=[types.Modality.AUDIO],
system_instruction=types.Content(
parts=[types.Part(text="You are a helpful assistant.")]
)
)
async with client.aio.live.connect(model="gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview", config=config) as session:
pass
JavaScript
const session = await ai.live.connect({
model: 'gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview',
config: {
responseModalities: ['audio'],
systemInstruction: { parts: [{ text: 'You are a helpful assistant.' }] }
},
callbacks: {
onopen: () => console.log('Connected'),
onmessage: (response) => console.log('Message:', response),
onerror: (error) => console.error('Error:', error),
onclose: () => console.log('Closed')
}
});
Sending Text
Python
await session.send_realtime_input(text="Hello, how are you?")
JavaScript
session.sendRealtimeInput({ text: 'Hello, how are you?' });
Sending Audio
Python
await session.send_realtime_input(
audio=types.Blob(data=chunk, mime_type="audio/pcm;rate=16000")
)
JavaScript
session.sendRealtimeInput({
audio: { data: chunk.toString('base64'), mimeType: 'audio/pcm;rate=16000' }
});
Sending Video
Python
await session.send_realtime_input(
video=types.Blob(data=frame, mime_type="image/jpeg")
)
JavaScript
session.sendRealtimeInput({
video: { data: frame.toString('base64'), mimeType: 'image/jpeg' }
});
Receiving Audio and Text
[!IMPORTANT]
A single server event can contain multiple content parts simultaneously (e.g., audio chunks and transcript). Always process all parts in each event to avoid missing content.
Python
async for response in session.receive():
content = response.server_content
if content:
if content.model_turn:
for part in content.model_turn.parts:
if part.inline_data:
audio_data = part.inline_data.data
if content.input_transcription:
print(f"User: {content.input_transcription.text}")
if content.output_transcription:
print(f"Gemini: {content.output_transcription.text}")
if content.interrupted is True:
pass
JavaScript
const content = response.serverContent;
if (content?.modelTurn?.parts) {
for (const part of content.modelTurn.parts) {
if (part.inlineData) {
const audioData = part.inlineData.data;
}
}
}
if (content?.inputTranscription) console.log('User:', content.inputTranscription.text);
if (content?.outputTranscription) console.log('Gemini:', content.outputTranscription.text);
if (content?.interrupted) { }
Limitations
- Response modality — Only
TEXT or AUDIO per session, not both
- Audio-only session — 15 min without compression
- Audio+video session — 2 min without compression
- Connection lifetime — ~10 min (use session resumption)
- Context window — 128k tokens (native audio) / 32k tokens (standard)
- Async function calling — Not yet supported; function calling is synchronous only. The model will not start responding until you've sent the tool response.
- Proactive audio — Not yet supported in Gemini 3.1 Flash Live. Remove any configuration for this feature.
- Affective dialogue — Not yet supported in Gemini 3.1 Flash Live. Remove any configuration for this feature.
- Code execution — Not supported
- URL context — Not supported
Migrating from Gemini 2.5 Flash Live
When migrating from gemini-2.5-flash-native-audio-preview-12-2025 to gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview:
- Model string — Update from
gemini-2.5-flash-native-audio-preview-12-2025 to gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview.
- Thinking configuration — Use
thinkingLevel (minimal, low, medium, high) instead of thinkingBudget. Default is minimal for lowest latency.
- Server events — A single event can contain multiple content parts simultaneously (audio + transcript). Process all parts in each event.
- Client content —
send_client_content is only for seeding initial context history (set initial_history_in_client_content in history_config). Use send_realtime_input for text during conversation.
- Turn coverage — Defaults to
TURN_INCLUDES_AUDIO_ACTIVITY_AND_ALL_VIDEO instead of TURN_INCLUDES_ONLY_ACTIVITY. If sending constant video frames, consider sending only during audio activity to reduce costs.
- Async function calling — Not yet supported. Function calling is synchronous only.
- Proactive audio & affective dialogue — Not yet supported. Remove any configuration for these features.
Best Practices
- Use headphones when testing mic audio to prevent echo/self-interruption
- Enable context window compression for sessions longer than 15 minutes
- Implement session resumption to handle connection resets gracefully
- Use ephemeral tokens for client-side deployments — never expose API keys in browsers
- Use
send_realtime_input for all real-time user input (audio, video, text). Reserve send_client_content only for seeding initial context history
- Send
audioStreamEnd when the mic is paused to flush cached audio
- Clear audio playback queues on interruption signals
- Process all parts in each server event — events can contain multiple content parts
Documentation Lookup
When MCP is Installed (Preferred)
If the search_docs tool (from the Google MCP server) is available, use it as your only documentation source:
- Call
search_docs with your query
- Read the returned documentation
- Trust MCP results as source of truth for API details — they are always up-to-date.
[!IMPORTANT]
When MCP tools are present, never fetch URLs manually. MCP provides up-to-date, indexed documentation that is more accurate and token-efficient than URL fetching.
When MCP is NOT Installed (Fallback Only)
If no MCP documentation tools are available, fetch from the official docs index:
llms.txt URL: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/llms.txt
This index contains links to all documentation pages in .md.txt format. Use web fetch tools to:
- Fetch
llms.txt to discover available documentation pages
- Fetch specific pages (e.g.,
https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/live-session.md.txt)
Key Documentation Pages
[!IMPORTANT]
Those are not all the documentation pages. Use the llms.txt index to discover available documentation pages
Supported Languages
The Live API supports 70 languages including: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, and many more. Native audio models automatically detect and switch languages.
