node --version  # Should be >=18.0.0

npm install @google/genai

**Current Stable Version:** 1.30.0+ (verify with `npm view @google/genai version`)

**⚠️ Important:** File Search API requires **@google/genai v1.29.0 or later**. Earlier versions do not support File Search. The API was added in v1.29.0 (November 5, 2025).

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2020",
    "module": "ESNext",
    "moduleResolution": "node",
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "strict": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true
  }
}

Error: Documents cannot be modified after indexing

// ❌ WRONG: Trying to update document (no such API)
await ai.fileSearchStores.documents.update({
  name: documentName,
  customMetadata: { version: '2.0' }
})

// ✅ CORRECT: Delete then re-upload
const docs = await ai.fileSearchStores.documents.list({
  parent: fileStore.name
})

const oldDoc = docs.documents.find(d => d.displayName === 'manual.pdf')
if (oldDoc) {
  await ai.fileSearchStores.documents.delete({
    name: oldDoc.name,
    force: true
  })
}

await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  name: fileStore.name,
  file: fs.createReadStream('manual-v2.pdf'),
  config: { displayName: 'manual.pdf' }
})

Error: Quota exceeded. Expected 1GB limit, but 3.2GB used.

// ❌ WRONG: Assuming storage = file size
const fileSize = fs.statSync('data.pdf').size // 500 MB
// Expect 500 MB usage → WRONG

// ✅ CORRECT: Account for 3x multiplier
const fileSize = fs.statSync('data.pdf').size // 500 MB
const estimatedStorage = fileSize * 3 // 1.5 GB (embeddings + metadata)
console.log(`Estimated storage: ${estimatedStorage / 1e9} GB`)

// Check if within quota before upload
if (estimatedStorage > 1e9) {
  console.warn('⚠️ File may exceed free tier 1 GB limit')
}

// ❌ WRONG: Using defaults without testing
await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  name: fileStore.name,
  file: fs.createReadStream('docs.pdf')
  // Default chunking may be too large or too small
})

// ✅ CORRECT: Configure chunking for precision
await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  name: fileStore.name,
  file: fs.createReadStream('docs.pdf'),
  config: {
    chunkingConfig: {
      whiteSpaceConfig: {
        maxTokensPerChunk: 500,  // Smaller chunks = more precise retrieval
        maxOverlapTokens: 50     // 10% overlap prevents context loss
      }
    }
  }
})

Error: Maximum 20 custom metadata key-value pairs allowed

// ❌ WRONG: Too many metadata fields
await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  name: fileStore.name,
  file: fs.createReadStream('doc.pdf'),
  config: {
    customMetadata: {
      doc_type: 'manual',
      version: '1.0',
      author: 'John Doe',
      department: 'Engineering',
      created_date: '2025-01-01',
      // ... 18 more fields → Error!
    }
  }
})

// ✅ CORRECT: Use hierarchical keys or JSON strings
await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  name: fileStore.name,
  file: fs.createReadStream('doc.pdf'),
  config: {
    customMetadata: {
      doc_type: 'manual',
      version: '1.0',
      author_dept: 'John Doe|Engineering',  // Combine related fields
      dates: JSON.stringify({                // Or use JSON for complex data
        created: '2025-01-01',
        updated: '2025-01-15'
      })
    }
  }
})

// ❌ WRONG: No cost estimation
await uploadAllDocuments(fileStore.name, './data') // 10 GB uploaded → $375 surprise

// ✅ CORRECT: Calculate costs upfront
const totalSize = getTotalDirectorySize('./data') // 10 GB
const estimatedTokens = (totalSize / 4) // Rough estimate: 1 token ≈ 4 bytes
const indexingCost = (estimatedTokens / 1e6) * 0.15

console.log(`Estimated indexing cost: $${indexingCost.toFixed(2)}`)
console.log(`Estimated storage: ${(totalSize * 3) / 1e9} GB`)

// Confirm before proceeding
const proceed = await confirm(`Proceed with indexing? Cost: $${indexingCost.toFixed(2)}`)
if (proceed) {
  await uploadAllDocuments(fileStore.name, './data')
}

// ❌ WRONG: Assuming upload is instant
const operation = await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  name: fileStore.name,
  file: fs.createReadStream('large.pdf')
})
// Immediately query → No results!

// ✅ CORRECT: Poll until indexing complete with timeout
const operation = await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  name: fileStore.name,
  file: fs.createReadStream('large.pdf')
})

// Poll with timeout and fallback
const MAX_POLL_TIME = 60000 // 60 seconds
const POLL_INTERVAL = 1000
let elapsed = 0

while (!operation.done && elapsed < MAX_POLL_TIME) {
  await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, POLL_INTERVAL))
  elapsed += POLL_INTERVAL

  try {
    operation = await ai.operations.get({ name: operation.name })
    console.log(`Indexing progress: ${operation.metadata?.progress || 'processing...'}`)
  } catch (error) {
    console.warn('Polling failed, assuming complete:', error)
    break
  }
}

if (operation.error) {
  throw new Error(`Indexing failed: ${operation.error.message}`)
}

// ⚠️ Warning: operations.get() can be unreliable for large files
// If timeout reached, verify document exists manually
if (elapsed >= MAX_POLL_TIME) {
  console.warn('Polling timeout - verifying document manually')
  const docs = await ai.fileSearchStores.documents.list({ parent: fileStore.name })
  const uploaded = docs.documents?.find(d => d.displayName === 'large.pdf')
  if (uploaded) {
    console.log('✅ Document found despite polling timeout')
  } else {
    throw new Error('Upload failed - document not found')
  }
}

console.log('✅ Indexing complete:', operation.response?.displayName)

Error: Cannot delete store with documents. Set force=true.

// ❌ WRONG: Trying to delete store with documents
await ai.fileSearchStores.delete({
  name: fileStore.name
})
// Error: Cannot delete store with documents

// ✅ CORRECT: Use force delete
await ai.fileSearchStores.delete({
  name: fileStore.name,
  force: true  // Deletes store AND all documents
})

// Alternative: Delete documents first
const docs = await ai.fileSearchStores.documents.list({ parent: fileStore.name })
for (const doc of docs.documents || []) {
  await ai.fileSearchStores.documents.delete({
    name: doc.name,
    force: true
  })
}
await ai.fileSearchStores.delete({ name: fileStore.name })

Error: File Search is only supported for Gemini 3 Pro and Flash models

// ❌ WRONG: Using Gemini 1.5 model
const response = await ai.models.generateContent({
  model: 'gemini-1.5-pro',  // Not supported!
  contents: 'What is the installation procedure?',
  config: {
    tools: [{
      fileSearch: { fileSearchStoreNames: [fileStore.name] }
    }]
  }
})

// ✅ CORRECT: Use Gemini 3 models
const response = await ai.models.generateContent({
  model: 'gemini-3-flash',  // ✅ Supported (fast, cost-effective)
  // OR
  // model: 'gemini-3-pro',   // ✅ Supported (higher quality)
  contents: 'What is the installation procedure?',
  config: {
    tools: [{
      fileSearch: { fileSearchStoreNames: [fileStore.name] }
    }]
  }
})

groundingChunks[0].title === null  // No document source shown

// ✅ CORRECT: Upgrade to v1.34.0+ for automatic fix
npm install @google/genai@latest  // v1.34.0+

await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  name: storeName,
  file: new Blob([arrayBuffer], { type: 'application/pdf' }),
  config: {
    displayName: 'Safety Manual.pdf',  // ✅ Now preserved
    customMetadata: { version: '1.0' }  // ✅ Now preserved
  }
})

// ⚠️ WORKAROUND for v1.33.0 and earlier: Use resumable upload
const uploadUrl = `https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/upload/v1beta/${storeName}:uploadToFileSearchStore?key=${API_KEY}`

// Step 1: Initiate with displayName in body
const initResponse = await fetch(uploadUrl, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'X-Goog-Upload-Protocol': 'resumable',
    'X-Goog-Upload-Command': 'start',
    'X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Length': numBytes.toString(),
    'X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Type': 'application/pdf',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    displayName: 'Safety Manual.pdf'  // ✅ Works with resumable upload
  })
})

// Step 2: Upload file bytes
const uploadUrl2 = initResponse.headers.get('X-Goog-Upload-URL')
await fetch(uploadUrl2, {
  method: 'PUT',
  headers: {
    'Content-Length': numBytes.toString(),
    'X-Goog-Upload-Offset': '0',
    'X-Goog-Upload-Command': 'upload, finalize',
    'Content-Type': 'application/pdf'
  },
  body: fileBytes
})

response.candidates[0].groundingMetadata === undefined
// Even though fileSearch tool is configured

// ❌ WRONG: Structured output overrides grounding
const response = await ai.models.generateContent({
  model: 'gemini-3-flash',
  contents: 'Summarize guidelines',
  config: {
    responseMimeType: 'application/json',  // Loses grounding
    tools: [{ fileSearch: { fileSearchStoreNames: [storeName] } }]
  }
})

// ✅ CORRECT: Two-step approach
// Step 1: Get grounded text response
const textResponse = await ai.models.generateContent({
  model: 'gemini-3-flash',
  contents: 'Summarize guidelines',
  config: {
    tools: [{ fileSearch: { fileSearchStoreNames: [storeName] } }]
  }
})

const grounding = textResponse.candidates[0].groundingMetadata

// Step 2: Convert to structured format in prompt
const jsonResponse = await ai.models.generateContent({
  model: 'gemini-3-flash',
  contents: `Convert to JSON: ${textResponse.text}

Format:
{
  "summary": "...",
  "key_points": ["..."]
}`,
  config: {
    responseMimeType: 'application/json',
    responseSchema: {
      type: 'object',
      properties: {
        summary: { type: 'string' },
        key_points: { type: 'array', items: { type: 'string' } }
      }
    }
  }
})

// Combine results
const result = {
  data: JSON.parse(jsonResponse.text),
  sources: grounding.groundingChunks
}

Error: "Search as a tool and file search tool are not supported together"
Status: INVALID_ARGUMENT

// ❌ WRONG: Combining search tools
const response = await ai.models.generateContent({
  model: 'gemini-3-flash',
  contents: 'What are the latest industry guidelines?',
  config: {
    tools: [
      { googleSearch: {} },
      { fileSearch: { fileSearchStoreNames: [storeName] } }
    ]
  }
})

// ✅ CORRECT: Use separate specialist agents
async function searchWeb(query: string) {
  return ai.models.generateContent({
    model: 'gemini-3-flash',
    contents: query,
    config: { tools: [{ googleSearch: {} }] }
  })
}

async function searchDocuments(query: string) {
  return ai.models.generateContent({
    model: 'gemini-3-flash',
    contents: query,
    config: { tools: [{ fileSearch: { fileSearchStoreNames: [storeName] } }] }
  })
}

// Orchestrate based on query type
const needsWeb = query.includes('latest') || query.includes('current')
const response = needsWeb
  ? await searchWeb(query)
  : await searchDocuments(query)

// ❌ WRONG: Expecting metadata in response
const batchRequest = {
  metadata: { key: 'my-request-id' },
  contents: [{ parts: [{ text: 'Question?' }], role: 'user' }],
  config: {
    tools: [{ fileSearch: { fileSearchStoreNames: [storeName] } }]
  }
}

const batchResponse = await ai.batch.create({ requests: [batchRequest] })
console.log(batchResponse.responses[0].metadata)  // ❌ undefined

// ✅ CORRECT: Use array index to correlate
const requests = [
  { metadata: { id: 'req-1' }, contents: [...] },
  { metadata: { id: 'req-2' }, contents: [...] }
]

const responses = await ai.batch.create({ requests })

// Map by index (not ideal but works)
responses.responses.forEach((response, i) => {
  const requestMetadata = requests[i].metadata
  console.log(`Response for ${requestMetadata.id}:`, response)
})

import { GoogleGenAI } from '@google/genai'
import fs from 'fs'

// Initialize client with API key
const ai = new GoogleGenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.GOOGLE_API_KEY
})

// Verify API key is set
if (!process.env.GOOGLE_API_KEY) {
  throw new Error('GOOGLE_API_KEY environment variable is required')
}

// Create a store (container for documents)
const fileStore = await ai.fileSearchStores.create({
  config: {
    displayName: 'my-knowledge-base',  // Human-readable name
    // Optional: Add store-level metadata
    customMetadata: {
      project: 'customer-support',
      environment: 'production'
    }
  }
})

console.log('Created store:', fileStore.name)
// Output: fileSearchStores/abc123xyz...

// List all stores (paginated)
const stores = await ai.fileSearchStores.list({
  pageSize: 20  // Max 20 per page
})

// Find by display name
let targetStore = null
let pageToken = null

do {
  const page = await ai.fileSearchStores.list({ pageToken })
  targetStore = page.fileSearchStores.find(
    s => s.displayName === 'my-knowledge-base'
  )
  pageToken = page.nextPageToken
} while (!targetStore && pageToken)

if (targetStore) {
  console.log('Found existing store:', targetStore.name)
} else {
  console.log('Store not found, creating new one...')
}

const operation = await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  name: fileStore.name,
  file: fs.createReadStream('./docs/manual.pdf'),
  config: {
    displayName: 'Installation Manual',
    customMetadata: {
      doc_type: 'manual',
      version: '1.0',
      language: 'en'
    },
    chunkingConfig: {
      whiteSpaceConfig: {
        maxTokensPerChunk: 500,
        maxOverlapTokens: 50
      }
    }
  }
})

// Poll until indexing complete
while (!operation.done) {
  await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000))
  operation = await ai.operations.get({ name: operation.name })
}

console.log('✅ Indexed:', operation.response.displayName)

const filePaths = [
  './docs/manual.pdf',
  './docs/faq.md',
  './docs/troubleshooting.docx'
]

// Upload all files concurrently
const uploadPromises = filePaths.map(filePath =>
  ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
    name: fileStore.name,
    file: fs.createReadStream(filePath),
    config: {
      displayName: filePath.split('/').pop(),
      customMetadata: {
        doc_type: 'support',
        source_path: filePath
      },
      chunkingConfig: {
        whiteSpaceConfig: {
          maxTokensPerChunk: 500,
          maxOverlapTokens: 50
        }
      }
    }
  })
)

const operations = await Promise.all(uploadPromises)

// Poll all operations
for (const operation of operations) {
  let op = operation
  while (!op.done) {
    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000))
    op = await ai.operations.get({ name: op.name })
  }
  console.log('✅ Indexed:', op.response.displayName)
}