feat: Add "Handling Errors and Retries" quickstart notebook (Resolves #469) by kkorpal · Pull Request #1160 · google-gemini/cookbook

kkorpal · 2026-03-17T06:55:57Z

…esolves #469)

review-notebook-app · 2026-03-17T06:56:02Z

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gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-17T06:56:07Z

Summary of Changes

Hello, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request introduces a valuable new quickstart guide focused on building more resilient applications by effectively handling API errors and implementing retry mechanisms. It provides practical examples of how to configure the Gemini API client to automatically manage transient network issues and rate limiting, thereby improving the stability and reliability of integrations.

Highlights

New Quickstart Notebook: Added a new quickstart notebook titled "Handling Errors and Retries" to demonstrate how to implement robust error handling and retry logic with exponential backoff when using the Gemini API.
SDK Retry Features: The new notebook showcases the native HttpRetryOptions configuration within the google-genai SDK, allowing users to easily configure automatic retries for transient API errors like rate limits (429) and server errors (5xx).
Documentation Update: The quickstarts/README.md file was updated to include a link and description for the newly added "Handling Errors and Retries" quickstart.

Changelog

quickstarts/Handling_Errors_and_Retries.ipynb
- Added a new Jupyter notebook demonstrating error handling and retry logic for the Gemini API.
quickstarts/README.md
- Updated the quickstarts README to include an entry for the new 'Handling Errors and Retries' notebook.

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gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request introduces a new quickstart notebook, Handling_Errors_and_Retries.ipynb, which explains how to use the retry logic in the Gemini API. The notebook is a valuable addition and clearly explains the concept. My review feedback primarily focuses on ensuring the new notebook adheres to the repository's detailed style guide. I've suggested changes related to notebook formatting, command usage, import placement, and code cell structure to align with the established conventions. The accompanying update to the README.md is correct.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-17T06:57:54Z

+ "cells": [
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": 1,


The execution_count for this cell is 1, while others are null. According to the repository style guide (line 43), this indicates that the notebook formatting script might not have been run. Please run the formatting script to clear execution counts.

Additionally, the style guide (line 48) requires the license to be in a collapsed "Form" mode cell. This can be achieved by adding "cellView": "form" to the cell's metadata, as seen in other notebooks like Authentication.ipynb.

References

If the execution_count has changed to something else than null, it usually indicates that the formatting script has not been run. A warning should be raised, but only once per notebook. ^(link)

Include the collapsed license at the top (uses the Colab "Form" mode to hide the cells). ^(link)

gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-17T06:57:54Z

+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "!pip install -U google-genai"


The style guide requires using %pip instead of !pip (line 55). It also specifies the exact command to use for installing the SDK, which includes the -q flag and a version specifier (line 25).

%pip install -U -q 'google-genai>=1.0.0'

References

use %pip instead of !pip ^(link)

%pip install -U -q 'google-genai>=1.0.0' is the right way to install the SDK. The version indicated should reflect the minimum version needed to use the features used in the notebook (1.0.0 by default or in doubt). ^(link)

gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-17T06:57:54Z

+    "from google import genai\n",
+    "from google.genai import types\n",


The style guide (line 56) suggests placing imports right before they are used to improve readability. genai and types are first used in a later cell (line 144). To adhere to the guide, please move these two import statements to the beginning of that cell.

References

Put the imports when they are first used. Try to avoid having a big "import" cell at the beginning. ^(link)

gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-17T06:57:54Z

+    "client = genai.Client(\n",
+    "    api_key=GEMINI_API_KEY,\n",
+    "    http_options=types.HttpOptions(\n",
+    "        retry_options=types.HttpRetryOptions(\n",
+    "            attempts=5,\n",
+    "            initial_delay=2.0,\n",
+    "            max_delay=60.0,\n",
+    "            http_status_codes=[429, 500, 502, 503, 504]\n",
+    "        )\n",
+    "    )\n",
+    ")\n",
+    "\n",
+    "response = client.models.generate_content(\n",
+    "    model=MODEL_ID,\n",
+    "    contents='Explain the importance of exponential backoff when calling APIs in one short paragraph.'\n",
+    ")\n",
+    "\n",
+    "print(response.text)"
+   ]


The style guide (line 59) recommends breaking code cells between "building" and "running" parts. This cell initializes the client (building) and then calls generate_content (running). For better clarity, please split this into two separate cells: one for client initialization, and another for generating content and printing the response.

References

Break code cells between "building" and "running". ^(link)

…esolves #469)

… error handling examples

Giom-V · 2026-03-18T09:32:53Z

@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@
        "    display(Markdown(part.text))\n",


This should be moved after "Configure model parameters" as this is not a Gemini 3 specific feature

Reply via ReviewNB

@kkorpal I think you missed this comment

@kkorpal And this one

Giom-V · 2026-03-18T09:32:53Z

@@ -0,0 +1,275 @@
+{


Line #1. %pip install -U -q 'google-genai>=1.0.0'
I don't think retry option existed in 1.0.0. Can you add the version the parameter was added instead?

Reply via ReviewNB

I checked the SDK history and it was added in 1.21.1. Can you use that as the minimum version and add a comment to say it's when retry was introduced?

@kkorpal you missed this request

Giom-V · 2026-03-18T09:33:33Z

2 minor comments:

the notebook should end with a "what's next" section
add a link in the main readme too

…n requirements, and updated README links

Giom-V · 2026-05-06T07:54:09Z

It's still missing a link in the main README (the one at the root of the repo)

kkorpal

he missing link has been added to the root README.md

Giom-V · 2026-05-13T08:31:15Z

/gemini review

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request introduces a new "Handling Errors and Retries" guide to the Gemini Cookbook, featuring a dedicated notebook and updates to existing documentation. The new notebook demonstrates both the built-in HttpRetryOptions in the google-genai SDK and custom exponential backoff implementations for handling transient API errors. Review feedback highlights the need to reset notebook execution counts per the style guide, remove redundant comments used for alignment, and delete a duplicate import to maintain code cleanliness.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-05-13T08:34:19Z

+      },
+      "outputs": [],
+      "source": [
+        "from google import genai\n",


The google.genai module has already been imported in a previous cell. This re-import is redundant and can be removed to improve code clarity.

feat: add Handling Errors and Retries quickstart and update README (R…

3864d77

…esolves #469)

github-actions Bot added status:awaiting review PR awaiting review from a maintainer component:quickstarts Issues/PR referencing quickstarts folder labels Mar 17, 2026

gemini-code-assist Bot reviewed Mar 17, 2026

View reviewed changes

kkorpal added 3 commits March 17, 2026 12:41

feat: add Handling Errors and Retries quickstart and update README (R…

a97a0c2

…esolves #469)

style: move imports to the cells where they are first used and expand…

af553ae

… error handling examples

style: move imports to the cells where they are first used and expand…

e9d6854

… error handling examples

Giom-V reviewed Mar 18, 2026

View reviewed changes

kkorpal added 2 commits April 2, 2026 00:56

Address review comments: Added 502/504/404 explanations, fixed versio…

7aca4a9

…n requirements, and updated README links

Format Handling_Errors_and_Retries.ipynb with nbfmt

9c43272

Update README with new features and guides

34baf3d

kkorpal commented May 13, 2026

View reviewed changes

kkorpal and others added 2 commits May 13, 2026 12:25

Update pip install command for google-genai

a7df3f0

Merge branch 'main' into feature/retry-logic-backoff

a1ee8de

gemini-code-assist Bot reviewed May 13, 2026

View reviewed changes

Giom-V force-pushed the feature/retry-logic-backoff branch from 23ac1e5 to a1ee8de Compare May 13, 2026 12:06

		"from google import genai\n",
		"from google.genai import types\n",

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