Implementation:Googleapis Python genai Chats Create

Knowledge Sources	googleapis/python-genai Google Gen AI Python SDK
Domains	NLP, Conversational_AI
Last Updated	2026-02-15 00:00 GMT

Overview

Concrete tool for creating multi-turn chat sessions with automatic history management provided by the google-genai chats module.

Description

Chats.create instantiates a Chat session bound to a specific model. The session stores shared configuration (system instruction, tools, safety settings) and conversation history. Each subsequent send_message call automatically appends user and model turns to the history. Optional history parameter allows seeding the session with prior conversation turns for continuity.

Usage

Call client.chats.create to start a new chat session. Pass model (required), optional config for shared settings, and optional history for pre-existing conversation context. Use the returned Chat object for all subsequent message exchanges.

Code Reference

Source Location

• Repository: googleapis/python-genai
• File: google/genai/chats.py
• Lines: L337-365 (Chats class and create method)

Signature

class Chats:
    def create(
        self,
        *,
        model: str,
        config: Optional[GenerateContentConfigOrDict] = None,
        history: Optional[list[ContentOrDict]] = None,
    ) -> Chat:
        """Creates a new chat session.

        Args:
            model: Model resource ID (e.g., 'gemini-2.0-flash').
            config: Shared generation config for all messages.
            history: Optional initial conversation history.
        """

Import

from google import genai

I/O Contract

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Description
model	str	Yes	Model resource ID
config	Optional[GenerateContentConfigOrDict]	No	Shared config for all messages (system_instruction, tools, etc.)
history	Optional[list[ContentOrDict]]	No	Initial conversation history to seed the session

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
Chat	Chat	Stateful chat session with send_message, send_message_stream, get_history methods

Usage Examples

Basic Chat Session

from google import genai
from google.genai import types

client = genai.Client(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

chat = client.chats.create(
    model="gemini-2.0-flash",
    config=types.GenerateContentConfig(
        system_instruction="You are a helpful coding assistant."
    )
)

# First turn
response = chat.send_message("What is a Python decorator?")
print(response.text)

# Second turn (history is automatic)
response = chat.send_message("Can you show me an example?")
print(response.text)

Chat with Pre-seeded History

chat = client.chats.create(
    model="gemini-2.0-flash",
    history=[
        types.Content(
            parts=[types.Part.from_text(text="What is Python?")],
            role="user"
        ),
        types.Content(
            parts=[types.Part.from_text(text="Python is a programming language.")],
            role="model"
        ),
    ]
)

# Continue the conversation
response = chat.send_message("What are its best features?")
print(response.text)

Related Pages

Implements Principle

• Principle:Googleapis_Python_genai_Chat_Session_Creation