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Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

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Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#301

Post by baobun »

deificx wrote: post #243
edwinjm wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turn time wheel? How do you know in advance how long you stay? Where I live, you start and when you leave, you click stop. You also get reminders in case you forgot to stop.

Not GP, but I guess I'm using the same app. You guess (and then it gives you the price up front). 10 minutes before it expires it asks you if you want to extend it. There might also have been a detect if you drive away and stop feature (don't recall). Mostly these days all paid parking has registration camera's, and it just starts and stops parking for you automatically. However, there are like 3 or so apps that comp…

There is no way this is not a degradation compared to a physical meter accepting cash plus whatever. My country doesn't really have parking apps yet here and paying for parking is never a friction.

Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#302

Post by obmelvin »

BoorishBears wrote: post #76
obmelvin wrote: post #43

I don't understand the multiple posts / comments I've seen about this. I google `gemini API key` and the first result* is this docs page: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/api-key That docs page has a link in the first primary section on the page. Sure, it could be a huge CTA, but this is a docs page, so it's kinda nice that it's not gone through a marketing make over. * besides sponsored result for AI Studio (Ma…

As the other comments pointed out, that's not covering billing... But also the (theoretical) production platform for Gemini is Vertex AI, not AI Studio. And until pretty recently using that took figuring out service accounts, and none of Google's docs would demonstrate production usage. Instead they'd use the gcloud CLI to authenticate, and you'd have to figure out how each SDK consumed a credentials file. - Now ther…

I could've made my comment more clear. Definitely missing a statement along the lines of "and then after creating, you click 'set up billing' and link the accounts in 15 seconds"

I did edit my message to mention I had GCP billing set up already. I'm guessing that's one of the differences between those having trouble and those not.

Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#303

Post by verdverm »

rezonant wrote: post #85
amluto wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Gemini via studio Excuse me? If you mean AI Studio, are you talking about the product where you can’t even switch which logged in account you’re using without agreeing to its terms under whatever random account it selected, where the ability to turn off training on your data does not obviously exist, and where it’s extremely unclear how an organization is supposed to pay for it?

Yes, much like admin.google.com (the GSuite admin interface), which goes ahead and tries to two-factor your personal GMail account every single time you load it instead of asking you which of the actual GSuite accounts you're signed into you'd like to use...

Yeah, with multiple chrome profiles, you have to be mindful of which one you last had focused before clicking a link from an external application (i.e. tailscale), so that it opens the new tab in the right instance so the account(s) you use in it are available

Def use multiple chrome profiles if you aren't. You can color code them to make visual identification a breeze

Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#304

Post by deinonychus »

StilesCrisis wrote: post #134
the_snooze wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parking apps don’t seem to care much for that. They know you’ll jump through their shoddy UIs and data collection because they have a local monopoly. Often with physical payment kiosks removed and replaced with “download our shitty app!” notices.

They get paid more if you get a parking ticket.

i'm currently disputing a bill with a parking company. there's a kiosk at the movie theater served by the parking lot, so that you can get free parking if you see a movie. the kiosk has an option for you to describe your car if you forgot your license plate number. i did that and they sent me a bill for unpaid parking.

customer service is unable to acknowledge why that feature is offered and can only assert that if you park you gotta pay. after threatening to complain to the BBB and my state AG they have graciously offered to drop the ticket to $25.

thank you for listening to me vent :)

Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#305

Post by logankilpatrick »

Hey! Very valid feedback on setting up a billing account. This is something I have been pushing for over the last 2 years at Google. The good news: setting up billing directly in AI Studio tested internally and will be shipped in January : )

Will follow up on some of the other threads in here!

Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#306

Post by mseri »

logankilpatrick wrote: post #305

Hey! Very valid feedback on setting up a billing account. This is something I have been pushing for over the last 2 years at Google. The good news: setting up billing directly in AI Studio tested internally and will be shipped in January : ) Will follow up on some of the other threads in here!

Finally! Great to hear. I had the exact same experience, but gave up at the moment of ID verification… too much hassle indeed

Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#307

Post by rezonant »

verdverm wrote: post #303
rezonant wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, much like admin.google.com (the GSuite admin interface), which goes ahead and tries to two-factor your personal GMail account every single time you load it instead of asking you which of the actual GSuite accounts you're signed into you'd like to use...

Yeah, with multiple chrome profiles, you have to be mindful of which one you last had focused before clicking a link from an external application (i.e. tailscale), so that it opens the new tab in the right instance so the account(s) you use in it are available Def use multiple chrome profiles if you aren't. You can color code them to make visual identification a breeze

I'm aware of multiple Chrome profiles and I do not want to use them. Google should simply make their account switching consistent across their apps and work sensibly in these corner cases.

Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#308

Post by phantasmish »

downsplat wrote: post #225
hobofan wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Gemini API will randomly fail about 1% of the time, retry logic is basically mandatory. That is sadly true across the board for AI inference API providers. OpenAI and Anthropic API stability usually suffers around launch events. Azure OpenAI/Foundry serving regularly has 500 errors for certain time periods. For any production feature with high uptime guarantees I would right now strongly advise for picking a mo…

Yeah at $WORK we use various LLM APIs to analyze text; it's not heavy usage in terms of tokens but maybe 10K calls per day. We've found that response times vary a lot, sometimes going over a minute for simple tasks, and random fails happen. Retry logic is definitely mandatory, and it's good to have multiple providers ready. We're abstracting calls across three different APIs (openai, gemini and mistral, btw we're get…

It'd be kinda nice if they exposed whatever queuing is going on behind the scenes, so you could at least communicate that to your users.

Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#309

Post by eitally »

biglyburrito wrote: post #246
cortesoft wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had way too many arguments over the years with product and sales people at my job on the importance of instant self-signup. I want to be able to just pay and go, without having to talk to people or wait for things. I know part of it is that sales wants to be able to price discriminate and wants to be able to use their sales skills on a customer, but I am never going to sign up for anything that makes me talk t…

My previous company was like this, and it boggles the mind. Sales is so focused on their experience that they completely discount what the customer wants. Senior management wants what's best for sales & the bottom line, so they go along with it. Meanwhile, as a prospective customer I would never spend a minute evaluating our product if it means having to call sales to get a demo & a price quote. My team was focused o…

My current employer offers three tiers of licensing with clearly articulated prices & benefits (the lowest of which is free), but also offers a "Custom - let's talk" option because the reality is that sometimes customer situations are complicated and bespoke contracts make sense, but at least the published pricing provides directional guidance heading into a discussion. I think this is reasonable.

Re: Getting a Gemini API key is an exercise in frustration

#310

Post by verdverm »

rezonant wrote: post #307
verdverm wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, with multiple chrome profiles, you have to be mindful of which one you last had focused before clicking a link from an external application (i.e. tailscale), so that it opens the new tab in the right instance so the account(s) you use in it are available Def use multiple chrome profiles if you aren't. You can color code them to make visual identification a breeze

I'm aware of multiple Chrome profiles and I do not want to use them. Google should simply make their account switching consistent across their apps and work sensibly in these corner cases.

"simply" is doing a lot of work, profiles is the outcome of addressing the problems you are talking about. Many people enjoy them and find them useful. Why are you against using them?
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