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Overview

The HttpOptions class allows you to customize HTTP client behavior for both synchronous and asynchronous requests. You can configure API versions, custom endpoints, headers, timeouts, and choose between httpx and aiohttp clients.

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API Version Selection

By default, the SDK uses the beta API endpoints to support preview features. You can switch to stable API endpoints by setting the API version to v1.

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Vertex AI with v1 API

from google import genai
from google.genai import types

client = genai.Client(
    vertexai=True,
    project='your-project-id',
    location='us-central1',
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(api_version='v1')
)

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Gemini Developer API with v1alpha

from google import genai
from google.genai import types

client = genai.Client(
    api_key='GEMINI_API_KEY',
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(api_version='v1alpha')
)

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Custom Base URL

Use a custom base URL when working with API gateway proxy servers or custom endpoints. This bypasses standard authentication checks for project, location, or API key. 
from google import genai
from google.genai import types

base_url = 'https://test-api-gateway-proxy.com'
client = genai.Client(
    vertexai=True,  # Currently only vertexai=True is supported
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(
        base_url=base_url,
        headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer test_token'}
    )
)

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Custom Headers

Add custom HTTP headers to all requests: 
from google import genai
from google.genai import types

client = genai.Client(
    api_key='GEMINI_API_KEY',
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(
        headers={
            'X-Custom-Header': 'custom-value',
            'User-Agent': 'MyApp/1.0'
        }
    )
)

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Timeout Configuration

Set request timeout in milliseconds: 
from google import genai
from google.genai import types

# Set 30 second timeout
client = genai.Client(
    api_key='GEMINI_API_KEY',
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(timeout=30000)
)

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Extra Body Parameters

Add extra parameters to the request body. The structure must match the backend API’s request structure. 
from google import genai
from google.genai import types

client = genai.Client(
    vertexai=True,
    project='your-project-id',
    location='us-central1',
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(
        extra_body={
            'customParam': 'value',
            'debugMode': True
        }
    )
)
Refer to the backend API documentation for available parameters:

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Aiohttp for Async Performance

By default, the SDK uses httpx for both sync and async clients. For better async performance, install the aiohttp extra: 
pip install google-genai[aiohttp]
The SDK configures trust_env=True to match httpx’s default behavior. Pass additional arguments to aiohttp.ClientSession.request() using async_client_args: 
import ssl
from google import genai
from google.genai import types

# Configure SSL context
ssl_context = ssl.create_default_context()
ssl_context.load_cert_chain('client.crt', 'client.key')

client = genai.Client(
    api_key='GEMINI_API_KEY',
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(
        async_client_args={
            'cookies': {'session': 'abc123'},
            'ssl': ssl_context,
            'connector': None,  # Custom connector
            'trust_env': True
        }
    )
)

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Available Aiohttp Arguments

Common async_client_args options include:
  • cookies: HTTP cookies
  • ssl: SSL context for HTTPS connections
  • connector: Custom aiohttp connector
  • trust_env: Use environment variables for proxy configuration (default: True)
  • timeout: aiohttp-specific timeout settings

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Httpx Client Arguments

Pass custom arguments to the httpx client for both sync and async: 
from google import genai
from google.genai import types
import httpx

client = genai.Client(
    api_key='GEMINI_API_KEY',
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(
        client_args={
            'http2': True,
            'limits': httpx.Limits(max_keepalive_connections=5)
        },
        async_client_args={
            'http2': True,
            'limits': httpx.Limits(max_keepalive_connections=5)
        }
    )
)

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Custom Client Instances

Provide your own pre-configured client instances: 
import httpx
from google import genai
from google.genai import types

# Custom httpx clients
sync_client = httpx.Client(http2=True)
async_client = httpx.AsyncClient(http2=True)

client = genai.Client(
    api_key='GEMINI_API_KEY',
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(
        httpx_client=sync_client,
        httpx_async_client=async_client
    )
)

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Complete Configuration Example

from google import genai
from google.genai import types

client = genai.Client(
    vertexai=True,
    project='your-project-id',
    location='us-central1',
    http_options=types.HttpOptions(
        api_version='v1',
        headers={'X-Custom-Header': 'value'},
        timeout=60000,  # 60 seconds
        extra_body={'debugMode': False},
        retry_options=types.HttpRetryOptions(
            attempts=5,
            initial_delay=1.0,
            max_delay=60.0
        ),
        async_client_args={
            'ssl': None,
            'trust_env': True
        }
    )
)

​
Per-Request HTTP Options

You can also override HTTP options for individual requests: 
from google import genai
from google.genai import types

client = genai.Client(api_key='GEMINI_API_KEY')

# Override timeout for this specific request
response = client.models.generate_content(
    model='gemini-2.0-flash-exp',
    contents='Tell me a story',
    config=types.GenerateContentConfig(
        http_options=types.HttpOptions(timeout=120000)  # 2 minutes
    )
)

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