Should I retry Google Gemini API RECITATION?

No. Fix the cause first: Make the prompt or context more specific to your own content, and try a higher temperature.

AI API errors / Google Gemini API

Google Gemini API · finish reason · checked Oct 24, 2026

Google Gemini API RECITATION: what it means and how to fix it

Do not retry: fix it first

RECITATION

What it meansThe request succeeded but the answer was stopped because it resembled existing text (for example song lyrics or book passages).

How to fix it

Make the prompt or context more specific to your own content, and try a higher temperature.

Handle it in code

import random, time
from google import genai
from google.genai import errors

client = genai.Client()

def generate(prompt, tries=6):
    for i in range(tries):
        try:
            return client.models.generate_content(model="gemini-flash-latest", contents=prompt)
        except errors.APIError as e:
            # 429 RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED, 503 UNAVAILABLE, 500, 504: transient. 400/402/403: fix, do not retry.
            if e.code not in (429, 500, 503, 504) or i == tries - 1:
                raise
            time.sleep(min(60, 2 ** i) + random.random())  # exponential backoff + jitter

Google lists 429 RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED, 503 UNAVAILABLE, 408 and 5xx as transient: retry with exponential backoff and jitter. 400, 402 and 403 are not.

Same kind of error at other providers

Other Google Gemini API errors

Source

Google Gemini API error documentation: ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/api-errors (checked Oct 24, 2026)

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