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AI Chat Importer

How to Get a Google Gemini API Key (and Use It in AI Chat Importer)

Step-by-step guide to creating a Google Gemini API key via Google AI Studio and using it with AI Chat Importer's Auto-Sort feature.

RM
By R. Miller · AI Chat Importer

AI Chat Importer's Auto-Sort feature can use Google's Gemini API to automatically categorise and organise your imported conversations into folders. This guide walks through getting a Gemini API key and configuring it in the app.

One thing worth noting upfront: while Gemini's API is available and works well for Auto-Sort, Google does not currently offer a way to export your Gemini conversation history. So you can use Gemini to power Auto-Sort, but you cannot import Gemini conversations into AI Chat Importer. For the full explanation see Why AI Chat Importer Doesn't Support Gemini.

What You'll Need

Step 1 — Go to Google AI Studio

Go to aistudio.google.com and sign in with your Google account. Google AI Studio is where you create and manage Gemini API keys.

Step 2 — Create an API Key

  1. Click Get API Key in the left sidebar
  2. Click Create API key
  3. Select an existing Google Cloud project or create a new one when prompted
  4. Copy the API key that is generated

Unlike OpenAI and Anthropic, Gemini has a generous free tier — you may not need to add a payment method at all for typical Auto-Sort usage.

Step 3 — Enter the Key in AI Chat Importer

  1. Open the AI Chat Importer desktop app
  2. Go to Settings → Auto-Sort
  3. Select Gemini as the provider
  4. Paste your API key into the API Key field
  5. Set the model to gemini-1.5-flash — it is fast, accurate, and covered by the free tier for most usage levels
  6. Click Test Connection — you should see a green confirmation

Step 4 — Run Auto-Sort

With your key configured, go to Settings → Auto-Sort Conversations. AI Chat Importer will scan your imported conversations and suggest a folder structure. Review the suggestions and confirm — your conversations are sorted automatically.

Troubleshooting

"Invalid API key" error Double-check you copied the full key with no spaces. Return to AI Studio and create a new key if needed.

Rate limit errors The Gemini free tier has rate limits. If you are sorting a very large archive and hit rate limits, wait a few minutes and try again, or add a payment method to your Google Cloud project to increase limits.

Test Connection passes but Auto-Sort produces nothing Make sure you have conversations imported. Check the model name is exactly gemini-1.5-flash — model names are case-sensitive.

For a full guide covering all supported providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, and OpenRouter, see the Cloud AI Auto-Sort setup guide.

Prefer to keep everything local with no API costs? See the Ollama setup guide.

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