File input methods

This guide explains the different ways you can include media files such as images, audio, video, and documents when making requests to the Gemini API. The new methods are supported in all of the Gemini API endpoints, including Batch, Interactions and Live API. Choosing the right method depends on the size of your file, where your data is stored, and how frequently you plan to use the file.

The simplest way to include a file as your input is to read a local file and include it in a prompt. The following example shows how to read a local PDF file. PDFs are limited to 50MB for this method. See the Input method comparison table for a complete list of file input types and limits.

Python

from google import genai
import pathlib
import base64

client = genai.Client()

filepath = pathlib.Path('my_local_file.pdf')

prompt = "Summarize this document"
interaction = client.interactions.create(
    model="gemini-3.7-flash",
    input=[
        {"type": "text", "text": prompt},
        {"type": "document", "data": base64.b64encode(filepath.read_bytes()).decode('utf-8'), "mime_type": "application/pdf"}
    ]
)
print(interaction.output_text)

JavaScript

import { GoogleGenAI } from "@google/genai";
import * as fs from 'node:fs';

const client = new GoogleGenAI({});
const prompt = "Summarize this document";

async function main() {
    const filePath = 'my_local_file.pdf';

    const interaction = await client.interactions.create({
        model: "gemini-3.7-flash",
        input: [
            { type: "text", text: prompt },
            {
                type: "document",
                data: fs.readFileSync(filePath).toString("base64"),
                mime_type: "application/pdf"
            }
        ]
    });
    console.log(interaction.output_text);
}

main();

REST

# Encode the local file to base64
B64_CONTENT=$(base64 -w 0 my_local_file.pdf)

curl -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/interactions" \
  -H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "model": "gemini-3.7-flash",
    "input": [
      {"type": "text", "text": "Summarize this document"},
      {
        "type": "document",
        "data": "'${B64_CONTENT}'",
        "mime_type": "application/pdf"
      }
    ]
  }'

Input method comparison

The following table compares each input method with file limits and best use cases. Note that the file size limit may vary depending on the file type and model or tokenizer used to process the file.

Method Best for Max file size Persistence
Inline data Quick testing, small files, real-time applications. 100 MB per request or payload
(50 MB for PDFs)		 None (sent with every request)