Is it possible to work with .xlsx files via the API?
They work pretty well in AI Studio but I haven’t figured out how to upload them effectively via the API. I’ve tried a few mime types, text/plain, text/csv, text/xml. None seem to work.
What is best practice for working with these file types?
Hi @eanna
Currently, Gemini cannot process .xlsx files directly using files API. If you’re working with Excel data, consider converting it to a pandas DataFrame. You can then provide the DataFrame as input to Gemini and extract the necessary information.
Thanks
Is it possible in the meantime to process xlsx and other Sheet file formats directly?
And how would I provide the DataFrame directly as input to Gemini?
Hi,
the MIME type of spreadsheet documents is not listed as supported.
Right now, I’d try to convert / export the sheets to CSV, XML, HTML or JSON and feed it to the API.
Cheers
OK, so that means converting to one of several text-based formats … Is there any difference to be expected between just including that CSV, HTML or JSON directly in the prompt text or upload it separately as a file?
I mean ultimately it will all end up in a prompt, but does Gemini have any special tokens to enclose the uploaded files in which would make that approach preferable?
I assume it would depend on your data and your preference.
See here: Explore document processing capabilities with the Gemini API | Google AI for Developers regarding what’s supported.
Cheers