Vertex AI SDK for Generative AI Google Gen AI SDK
Legacy names Vertex AI SDK for Generative AI, vertexai.generative_models, @google-cloud/vertexai, google-generativeai
Unified client SDK for calling Gemini models across both the Gemini Developer API and Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform.
Naming timeline
- Vertex AI SDK for Generative AI & Google AI Client SDKs
Separate client libraries for Vertex AI generative models (vertexai.generative_models / @google-cloud/vertexai) and the Gemini Developer API.
- Google Gen AI SDKCurrent name
Unified Google Gen AI SDK (google-genai) launched across Python, Go, Node.js, and Java; legacy Vertex AI SDK generative AI modules were deprecated and removed after June 24, 2026.
What replaced Vertex AI SDK for Generative AI?
Vertex AI SDK for Generative AI has been superseded by Google Gen AI SDK, with the latest change in December 2024 (Gemini 2.0 Launch · Legacy Vertex AI GenAI SDK Removed Jun 24, 2026). Earlier names covered by this entry also include vertexai.generative_models, @google-cloud/vertexai, google-generativeai. Unified client SDK for calling Gemini models across both the Gemini Developer API and Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. The underlying legacy API or CLI surface is deprecated, so a technical migration is required.
Also known as
- google-genai (Python)
- @google/genai (Node.js)
- google.golang.org/genai (Go)
- com.google.genai:google-genai (Java)
Technical identifiers
Legacy identifiers deprecated. The underlying API or CLI surface for the legacy name is officially deprecated, so this change requires a technical migration rather than a label update.
| REST / gRPC APIs | aiplatform.googleapis.com generativelanguage.googleapis.com |
|---|---|
| IAM Predefined Roles | roles/aiplatform.* |
SDK releases of google-cloud-aiplatform, @google-cloud/vertexai, cloud.google.com/go/vertexai/genai, and com.google.cloud:google-cloud-vertexai after June 24, 2026 no longer include generative AI modules; use google-genai instead.
Notes & disambiguation
- The Generative AI modules in the legacy Vertex AI SDK (vertexai.generative_models, vertexai.language_models, vertexai.vision_models, vertexai.caching, vertexai.tuning in google-cloud-aiplatform, @google-cloud/vertexai, cloud.google.com/go/vertexai/genai, and com.google.cloud:google-cloud-vertexai) were deprecated and removed from SDK releases after June 24, 2026.
- Replaced by the unified Google Gen AI SDK (google-genai, @google/genai, google.golang.org/genai, com.google.genai:google-genai), which runs the same application code against either the Gemini Developer API or the Gemini API on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (Agent Platform).
Sources & official documentation
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