generate-images-with-firebase-ai

Generating images with Firebase AI Logic

Gemini image models return interleaved text and image parts from one call. The response is a sequence to walk, not a string to read.

A request that comes back empty is usually a configuration problem rather than a bug in your code, so section 1 covers the three settings that cause it.

1. Three things that block the very first call

A first call that returns an error, an empty response, or a 403 is almost always one of these rather than your Dart. Rule them out before you debug code.

Billing. Image generation has no free tier. On a Spark-plan project the image models return limit: 0 for generate_content_free_tier_requests, so the first request fails on quota having made zero requests. Text models do work on Spark, which means "my other Gemini call works" proves nothing. Upgrade to Blaze, then verify the current limits rather than trusting this note:

gcloud services quota list --service=generativelanguage.googleapis.com --consumer=projects/YOUR_PROJECT_ID

App Check. Firebase AI Logic enforces App Check when the project has it turned on. Otherwise the endpoint is open to anyone who extracts your config from the shipped client, and that config is public by design. Anything reachable from a device you do not control needs App Check. Debug builds attest with a debug provider, release builds with a real one. Web has a specific trap that costs an afternoon, described in references/setup.md.

responseModalities. Without it the model has no permission to return an image, so you get text describing the picture it would have drawn. Set both modalities, as in the call below.

2. The minimal call that works

final model = FirebaseAI.googleAI().generativeModel(
  model: 'gemini-3.1-flash-image',
  generationConfig: GenerationConfig(
    responseModalities: [
      ResponseModalities.text,
      ResponseModalities.image,
    ],
    imageConfig: ImageConfig(
      aspectRatio: ImageAspectRatio.landscape16x9,
      imageSize: ImageSize.size2K,
    ),
  ),
);

final response = await model.generateContent([
  Content.multi([
    TextPart(prompt),
    InlineDataPart('image/jpeg', selfieBytes), // omit for text-to-image
  ]),
]);