Is Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite a stable release or a preview?
This introduces the stable release Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, with the invocation ID gemini-3.1-flash-lite. Do not change the name to a form containing preview, and do not confuse it with Gemini 3.1 Pro or image generation models; these models have different task positioning and capability boundaries.
Can it read PDFs? How should they be submitted?
Prepare document text, table data, or clear page screenshots relevant to the question, and specify whether you need a summary, comparison, or extraction of particular information. Submit them in content formats supported by the selected public interface; a PDF URL cannot be used as image_url. Require the results to retain original-text locations, field basis, and unconfirmed items, and verify key figures against the source materials.
Can it view images and return JSON at the same time?
You can design structured extraction tasks around image-and-text input: combine text requirements with image_url in messages, then use response_format to specify a JSON Schema. This is suitable for extracting page fields or image content labels; the application side should still check field types, missing values, and key figures, and must not equate correct formatting with factual correctness.
When should Thinking be used?
Thinking is supported natively and is suitable for tasks requiring step-by-step judgment and comparison of conditions. For simple translation or label processing, you should usually clarify the rules first, then consider adding thinking. Chat Completions provides the reasoning_effort field, whose name differs from the native thinking_level; do not directly copy the native configuration object.
How can I continue a document Q&A from the previous turn?
The application maintains the Chat Completions messages history, including relevant user and assistant messages, the latest materials, and feedback. For longer tasks, periodically consolidate interim conclusions and conditions that must be retained before continuing the questions; continuous conversation does not mean unlimited memory.