Gemini API : The recitation problem is annoying

[ImadSaddik]

When attempting to use the Gemini API in Android, I encountered the error Content generation stopped. Reason: RECITATION. This error is particularly frustrating as it occurs randomly without any apparent cause.

The most recent occurrence of this issue was when I raised #249, regarding streaming not functioning properly in Android. David Motson provided temporary assistance in resolving this problem. I used a prompt to test if the streaming would work - Give me a Java program that uses Jsoup -. Initially, I was successfully receiving chunks of data, but then suddenly encountered the RECITATION problem.

Below are the logs:

2024-02-11 08:15:05.409 13579-13741 GeminiPro               com.example.streaminggeminiapp       D  onNext: .nodes.Document;
                                                                                                    import org.jsoup.nodes.Element;
                                                                                                    import org.jsoup.select.Elements;
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    public class JsoupExample {
2024-02-11 08:15:06.284 13579-13741 GeminiPro               com.example.streaminggeminiapp       D  onNext: 

                                                                                                    
                                                                                                        public static void main(String[] args) {
                                                                                                            // Parse HTML from a URL
                                                                                                            String url = "https://www.example.com";
                                                                                                            Document doc = Jsoup.connect(url).get();
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                            // Get the title of the page
                                                                                                            String title = doc.
2024-02-11 08:15:08.039 13579-13741 GeminiPro               com.example.streaminggeminiapp       D  onError: Content generation stopped. Reason: RECITATION
--------- beginning of crash
2024-02-11 08:15:08.055 13579-13741 AndroidRuntime          com.example.streaminggeminiapp       E  FATAL EXCEPTION: DefaultDispatcher-worker-2
                                                                                                    Process: com.example.streaminggeminiapp, PID: 13579
                                                                                                    com.google.ai.client.generativeai.type.ResponseStoppedException: Content generation stopped. Reason: RECITATION
                                                                                                    	at com.google.ai.client.generativeai.GenerativeModel.validate(GenerativeModel.kt:182)
                                                                                                    	at com.google.ai.client.generativeai.GenerativeModel.access$validate(GenerativeModel.kt:49)
                                                                                                    	at com.google.ai.client.generativeai.GenerativeModel$generateContentStream$$inlined$map$1$2.emit(Emitters.kt:224)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.flow.FlowKt__ChannelsKt.emitAllImpl$FlowKt__ChannelsKt(Channels.kt:37)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.flow.FlowKt__ChannelsKt.access$emitAllImpl$FlowKt__ChannelsKt(Channels.kt:1)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.flow.FlowKt__ChannelsKt$emitAllImpl$1.invokeSuspend(Unknown Source:14)
                                                                                                    	at kotlin.coroutines.jvm.internal.BaseContinuationImpl.resumeWith(ContinuationImpl.kt:33)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.DispatchedTask.run(DispatchedTask.kt:108)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.EventLoop.processUnconfinedEvent(EventLoop.common.kt:68)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.internal.DispatchedContinuation.resumeWith(DispatchedContinuation.kt:347)
                                                                                                    	at io.ktor.utils.io.internal.CancellableReusableContinuation.resumeWith(CancellableReusableContinuation.kt:93)
                                                                                                    	at io.ktor.utils.io.ByteBufferChannel.resumeReadOp(ByteBufferChannel.kt:2098)
                                                                                                    	at io.ktor.utils.io.ByteBufferChannel.flushImpl(ByteBufferChannel.kt:186)
                                                                                                    	at io.ktor.utils.io.ByteBufferChannel.flush(ByteBufferChannel.kt:196)
                                                                                                    	at io.ktor.utils.io.ByteBufferChannel.copyDirect$ktor_io(ByteBufferChannel.kt:1262)
                                                                                                    	at io.ktor.utils.io.ByteBufferChannel$copyDirect$1.invokeSuspend(Unknown Source:18)
                                                                                                    	at kotlin.coroutines.jvm.internal.BaseContinuationImpl.resumeWith(ContinuationImpl.kt:33)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.DispatchedTask.run(DispatchedTask.kt:108)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.internal.LimitedDispatcher$Worker.run(LimitedDispatcher.kt:115)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.TaskImpl.run(Tasks.kt:103)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.CoroutineScheduler.runSafely(CoroutineScheduler.kt:584)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.CoroutineScheduler$Worker.executeTask(CoroutineScheduler.kt:793)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.CoroutineScheduler$Worker.runWorker(CoroutineScheduler.kt:697)
                                                                                                    	at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.CoroutineScheduler$Worker.run(CoroutineScheduler.kt:684)
                                                                                                    	Suppressed: java.lang.NullPointerException: Can't toast on a thread that has not called Looper.prepare()
                                                                                                    		at com.android.internal.util.Preconditions.checkNotNull(Preconditions.java:167)
                                                                                                    		at android.widget.Toast.getLooper(Toast.java:212)
                                                                                                    		at android.widget.Toast.<init>(Toast.java:197)
                                                                                                    		at android.widget.Toast.makeText(Toast.java:583)
                                                                                                    		at android.widget.Toast.makeText(Toast.java:570)
                                                                                                    		at android.widget.Toast.makeText(Toast.java:544)
                                                                                                    		at com.example.streaminggeminiapp.MainActivity$1.onError(MainActivity.java:57)
                                                                                                    		at com.example.streaminggeminiapp.GeminiPro$1.onError(GeminiPro.java:56)
                                                                                                    		at kotlinx.coroutines.reactive.FlowSubscription.flowProcessing(ReactiveFlow.kt:215)
                                                                                                    		at kotlinx.coroutines.reactive.FlowSubscription.access$flowProcessing(ReactiveFlow.kt:187)
                                                                                                    		at kotlinx.coroutines.reactive.FlowSubscription$flowProcessing$1.invokeSuspend(Unknown Source:14)
                                                                                                    		at kotlin.coroutines.jvm.internal.BaseContinuationImpl.resumeWith(ContinuationImpl.kt:33)
                                                                                                    		at kotlinx.coroutines.DispatchedTask.run(DispatchedTask.kt:106)
                                                                                                    		... 16 more
                                                                                                    	Suppressed: kotlinx.coroutines.internal.DiagnosticCoroutineContextException: [FlowSubscription{Active}@c97cec2, Dispatchers.Unconfined]

[hsuperman]

I'm getting this as well

[natapol2547]

Me too. I am getting RECITATION error while implementing RAG with gemini api. I am guessing that the generation will stop if the system detects that the model is repeating the prompt. In my case the model basically repeats part of the retrieved documents and the generation stops. I might be totally wrong about the cause though.
In any case, it would be wonderful if the api has a parameter to turn off recitation checking.

[davidmotson]

The recitation stop reason is used whenever the model begins to recite training data, especially copyrighted material.

For example, if you ask the model to tell you the first chapter of harry potter you will run into this error.

By its nature, when it pops up is difficult to predict, since its based on model output more than prompt

[rakotomandimby]

I also face this problem, reported here: https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/AI-ML/Gemini-API-finishReason-RECITATION/m-p/709738 (still held for moderation)

[rakotomandimby]

If I prompt Gemini via the API with this, I hit the RECITATION issue:

There is a database that can be reached at the following address:
host: localhost
username: root
password: root
database: test
Write a PHP function that connects to that database and create a table called "users" with the following fields:
id (int, auto increment, primary key)
username (varchar, 255)
password (varchar, 255)
email (varchar, 255)

But if I paste it in the Gemini website, I get my answer : https://gemini.google.com/app/11a4c6b2bdcf6b7f

I think this is unfair...

[hsuperman]

Not sure how this is being considered as closed. To be clear, it happens often when not requesting training data, or anything remotely resembling copyrighted or training data. In my case, I'm analyzing and classifying text.

[marlinspike]

I'm seeing this sporadically as well.

[JeevansSP]

Was using vision api to do some ocr on some basic guideline documents (publically available) and I would randomly get this error too on pages like preface, etc.