Background execution

For long-running tasks like deep research, complex reasoning, or multi-step agent executions, connection timeouts can interrupt standard HTTP requests (which typically close after 60 seconds). The Interactions API provides background execution to run these tasks asynchronously.

To let the interaction run until it completes the task on the server, set "background": true when creating the interaction. The API immediately returns an interaction ID, which client applications can use to poll for status, stream progress, or reconnect to a disconnected stream.

Background execution is supported for standard Gemini models (such as gemini-3.5-flash and gemini-3.1-pro-preview) and Managed Agents (such as antigravity-preview-05-2026).

Create a background interaction

To start a background interaction, set the background parameter to true when creating the resource.

Python

from google import genai

client = genai.Client()

interaction = client.interactions.create(
    model="gemini-3.5-flash",
    input="Write a guide on space exploration.",
    background=True,
)
print(f"Created background interaction ID: {interaction.id}")

JavaScript

import { GoogleGenAI } from "@google/genai";

const client = new GoogleGenAI({});

const interaction = await client.interactions.create({
    model: "gemini-3.5-flash",
    input: "Write a guide on space exploration.",
    background: true,
});
console.log(`Created background interaction ID: ${interaction.id}`);

REST

curl -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/interactions" \
  -H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Api-Revision: 2026-05-20" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gemini-3.5-flash",
    "input": "Write a guide on space exploration.",
    "background": true
  }'

How background execution works

When you create a background interaction, the task runs asynchronously on the server. The interaction transitions through various execution states:

  • in_progress: The server is actively executing the interaction (such as running code or researching).
  • requires_action: The interaction has paused and is waiting for client input (such as confirming a tool execution or answering a question).
  • completed: The interaction finished successfully and the output is available.
  • failed: An error occurred during execution (such as tool failure or rate limits).
  • cancelled: A client request stopped the execution.

Use cases

Use background execution for:

  • Agent executions: Tasks requiring code execution, web browsing, or sub-agent orchestration (such as antigravity-preview-05-2026).

  • Deep research: Runs using deep-research-preview-04-2026 or deep-research-max-preview-04-2026 which take several minutes.

  • Long reasoning: Tasks where model thinking steps exceed standard HTTP connection limits.

Retrieve results

Obtain background interaction results using either polling or streaming.

Polling pattern (non-blocking)

Polling checks the interaction status periodically using non-blocking GET requests until it reaches a terminal state.

Python

import time
from google import genai

client = genai.Client()

interaction = client.interactions.get(id="YOUR_INTERACTION_ID")

while interaction.status == "in_progress":
    time.sleep(5)
    interaction = client.interactions.get(id=interaction.id)

if interaction.status == "completed":
    print(interaction.output_text)
else:
    print(f"Finished with status: {interaction.status}")

JavaScript

import { GoogleGenAI } from "@google/genai";

const client = new GoogleGenAI({});

let interaction = await client.interactions.get("YOUR_INTERACTION_ID");

while (interaction.status === "in_progress") {
    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
    interaction = await client.interactions.get(interaction.id);
}

if (interaction.status === "completed") {
    console.log(interaction.output_text);
} else {
    console.log(`Finished with status: ${interaction.status}`);
}

REST

curl -X GET "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/interactions/YOUR_INTERACTION_ID" \
  -H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Api-Revision: 2026-05-20"

Streaming pattern

If a network interruption disconnects a stream, streaming can resume from the last received event. Each delta contains a unique event_id in its payload. Passing this ID as last_event_id resumes the stream from that event.

Python

import time
from google import genai

client = genai.Client()
interaction_id = "YOUR_INTERACTION_ID"

def stream_with_reconnect(interaction_id: str):
    last_event_id = None
    while True:
        try:
            # Retrieve the stream. If resuming, pass last_event_id
            stream = client.interactions.get(
                id=interaction_id,
                stream=True,
                last_event_id=last_event_id
            )

            for event in stream:
                # Log event updates and capture event_id if present
                if event.event_id:
                    last_event_id = event.event_id

                if event.event_type == "step.delta" and event.delta.type == "text":
                    print(event.delta.text, end="", flush=True)

                if event.event_type == "interaction.completed":
                    return

        except Exception as e:
            print(f"\n[Connection lost: {e}. Reconnecting in 3s...]")
            time.sleep(3)

stream_with_reconnect(interaction_id)

JavaScript

import { GoogleGenAI } from "@google/genai";

const client = new GoogleGenAI({});
const interactionId = "YOUR_INTERACTION_ID";

async function streamWithReconnect(id) {
    let lastEventId = undefined;
    while (true) {
        try {
            // Retrieve the stream. If resuming, pass last_event_id in options
            const stream = await client.interactions.get(id, {
                stream: true,
                last_event_id: lastEventId
            });

            for await (const event of stream) {
                // Capture event_id if present
                const idVal = event.event_id || event.id;
                if (idVal) {
                    lastEventId = idVal;
                }

                if (event.event_type === "step.delta" && event.delta?.type === "text") {
                    process.stdout.write(event.delta.text);
                }

                if (event.event_type === "interaction.completed") {
                    return;
                }
            }
        } catch (error) {
            console.log(`\n[Connection lost: ${error.message}. Reconnecting in 3s...]`);
            await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 3000));
        }
    }
}

await streamWithReconnect(interactionId);

REST

curl -N -X GET "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/interactions/YOUR_INTERACTION_ID?stream=true&last_event_id=YOUR_LAST_EVENT_ID" \
  -H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Api-Revision: 2026-05-20"

Multi-turn conversations

Subsequent interactions can chain to a background conversation using previous_interaction_id, subject to these constraints:

  1. Active executions are blocked: Chaining a subsequent interaction to one with in_progress status returns a 400 Bad Request error. Wait for the interaction to reach the completed state before starting the next one.
  2. Environment Parameter for Managed Agents: When chaining interactions for Managed Agents (such as antigravity-preview-05-2026), requests must include both previous_interaction_id and environment.

The following examples show how to chain interactions:

Python

import time
from google import genai

client = genai.Client()
agent_model = "antigravity-preview-05-2026"

# First interaction: Provision sandbox environment and execute first instruction
interaction1 = client.interactions.create(
    model=agent_model,
    input="Create a folder named project/ and write hello.py inside.",
    environment="remote",
    background=True
)

# Wait for completion
while True:
    check = client.interactions.get(id=interaction1.id)
    if check.status != "in_progress":
        break
    time.sleep(2)

# Second interaction: Chain using previous_interaction_id and environment
interaction2 = client.interactions.create(
    model=agent_model,
    input="List all files in the project/ directory.",
    previous_interaction_id=interaction1.id,
    environment="remote",
    background=True
)

JavaScript

import { GoogleGenAI } from "@google/genai";

const client = new GoogleGenAI({});
const agentModel = "antigravity-preview-05-2026";

// First interaction: Provision sandbox environment and execute first instruction
const interaction1 = await client.interactions.create({
    model: agentModel,
    input: "Create a folder named project/ and write hello.py inside.",
    environment: "remote",
    background: true
});

// Wait for completion
while (true) {
    const check = await client.interactions.get(interaction1.id);
    if (check.status !== "in_progress") {
        break;
    }
    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));
}

// Second interaction: Chain using previous_interaction_id and environment
const interaction2 = await client.interactions.create({
    model: agentModel,
    input: "List all files in the project/ directory.",
    previous_interaction_id: interaction1.id,
    environment: "remote",
    background: true
});

REST

# Chain second interaction (Make sure FIRST_INTERACTION_ID has status 'completed')
curl -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/interactions" \
  -H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Api-Revision: 2026-05-20" \
  -d '{
    "model": "antigravity-preview-05-2026",
    "input": "List all files in the project/ directory.",
    "previous_interaction_id": "FIRST_INTERACTION_ID",
    "environment": "remote",
    "background": true
  }'

Cancellation and deletion

Control running executions and manage storage using cancel and delete requests:

  • Cancel (POST /interactions/{id}/cancel): Stops the running task. The status transitions to cancelled. Clean-up actions on the server can cause a slight delay before the status updates in GET requests.

  • Delete (DELETE /interactions/{id}): Removes the interaction records from the server. Subsequent GET requests return a 404 Not Found error.

Python

from google import genai

client = genai.Client()

# Cancel a running interaction
client.interactions.cancel(id="YOUR_INTERACTION_ID")

# Delete the interaction record entirely
client.interactions.delete(id="YOUR_INTERACTION_ID")

JavaScript

import { GoogleGenAI } from "@google/genai";

const client = new GoogleGenAI({});

// Cancel a running interaction
await client.interactions.cancel("YOUR_INTERACTION_ID");

// Delete the interaction record entirely
await client.interactions.delete("YOUR_INTERACTION_ID");

REST

# Cancel the interaction
curl -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/interactions/YOUR_INTERACTION_ID/cancel" \
  -H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Api-Revision: 2026-05-20"

# Delete the interaction
curl -X DELETE "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/interactions/YOUR_INTERACTION_ID" \
  -H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Api-Revision: 2026-05-20"

Next steps