Vertex AI_: Google Vertex AI is an integrated suite of machine learning tools and services for building and using ML models with AutoML or custom code. It offers both novices and experts the best workbench for the entire machine learning development lifecycle.

Client Library Documentation_
Product Documentation_

.. |GA| image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/support-ga-gold.svg :target: https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-python/blob/main/README.rst#general-availability .. |pypi| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/google-cloud-aiplatform.svg :target: https://pypi.org/project/google-cloud-aiplatform/ .. |versions| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/google-cloud-aiplatform.svg :target: https://pypi.org/project/google-cloud-aiplatform/ .. |unit-tests| image:: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-devrel-public/python-aiplatform/badges/sdk-unit-tests.svg :target: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-devrel-public/python-aiplatform/badges/sdk-unit-tests.html .. |system-tests| image:: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-devrel-public/python-aiplatform/badges/sdk-system-tests.svg :target: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-devrel-public/python-aiplatform/badges/sdk-system-tests.html .. |sample-tests| image:: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-devrel-public/python-aiplatform/badges/sdk-sample-tests.svg :target: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-devrel-public/python-aiplatform/badges/sdk-sample-tests.html .. _Vertex AI: https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/docs .. _Client Library Documentation: https://cloud.google.com/python/docs/reference/aiplatform/latest .. _Product Documentation: https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/docs

Installation


.. code-block:: console

    pip install google-cloud-aiplatform


With :code:`uv`:

.. code-block:: console

    uv pip install google-cloud-aiplatform

Generative AI in the Vertex AI SDK

To use Gen AI features from the Vertex AI SDK, you can instantiate a Gen AI client with the following:

.. code-block:: Python

import vertexai
from vertexai import types

# Instantiate GenAI client from Vertex SDK
# Replace with your project ID and location
client = vertexai.Client(project='my-project', location='us-central1')

See the examples below for guidance on how to use specific features supported by the Gen AI SDK client.

Gen AI Evaluation ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To run evaluation, first generate model responses from a set of prompts.

.. code-block:: Python

import pandas as pd

prompts_df = pd.DataFrame({
    "prompt": [
        "What is the capital of France?",
        "Write a haiku about a cat.",
        "Write a Python function to calculate the factorial of a number.",
        "Translate 'How are you?' to French.",
    ],

    "reference": [
        "Paris",
        "Sunbeam on the floor,\nA furry puddle sleeping,\nTwitching tail tells tales.",
        "def factorial(n):\n    if n < 0:\n        return 'Factorial does not exist for negative numbers'\n    elif n == 0:\n        return 1\n    else:\n        fact = 1\n        i = 1\n        while i <= n:\n            fact *= i\n            i += 1\n        return fact",
        "Comment ça va ?",
    ]
})

inference_results = client.evals.run_inference(
    model="gemini-2.5-flash-preview-05-20",
    src=prompts_df
)

Then run evaluation by providing the inference results and specifying the metric types.

.. code-block:: Python

eval_result = client.evals.evaluate(
    dataset=inference_results,
    metrics=[
        types.Metric(name='exact_match'),
        types.Metric(name='rouge_l_sum'),
        types.RubricMetric.TEXT_QUALITY,
    ]
)

Agent Engine with Agent Development Kit (ADK) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

First, define a function that looks up the exchange rate:

.. code-block:: Python

def get_exchange_rate(
    currency_from: str = "USD",
    currency_to: str = "EUR",
    currency_date: str = "latest",
):
    """Retrieves the exchange rate between two currencies on a specified date.

    Uses the Frankfurter API (https://api.frankfurter.app/) to obtain
    exchange rate data.

    Returns:
        dict: A dictionary containing the exchange rate information.
            Example: {"amount": 1.0, "base": "USD", "date": "2023-11-24",
                "rates": {"EUR": 0.95534}}
    """
    import requests
    response = requests.get(
        f"https://api.frankfurter.app/{currency_date}",
        params={"from": currency_from, "to": currency_to},
    )
    return response.json()

Next, define an ADK Agent:

.. code-block:: Python

from google.adk.agents import Agent
from vertexai.agent_engines import AdkApp

app = AdkApp(agent=Agent(
    model="gemini-2.0-flash",        # Required.
    name='currency_exchange_agent',  # Required.
    tools=[get_exchange_rate],       # Optional.
))

Test the agent locally using US dollars and Swedish Krona:

.. code-block:: Python

async for event in app.async_stream_query(
    user_id="user-id",
    message="What is the exchange rate from US dollars to SEK today?",
):
    print(event)

To deploy the agent to Agent Engine:

.. code-block:: Python

remote_app = client.agent_engines.create(
    agent=app,
    config={
        "requirements": ["google-cloud-aiplatform[agent_engines,adk]"],
    },
)

You can also run queries against the deployed agent:

.. code-block:: Python

async for event in remote_app.async_stream_query(
    user_id="user-id",
    message="What is the exchange rate from US dollars to SEK today?",
):
    print(event)

Prompt optimization ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To do a zero-shot prompt optimization, use the optimize_prompt method.

.. code-block:: Python

prompt = "Generate system instructions for a question-answering assistant"
response = client.prompt_optimizer.optimize_prompt(prompt=prompt)
print(response.raw_text_response)
if response.parsed_response:
  print(response.parsed_response.suggested_prompt)

To call the data-driven prompt optimization, call the optimize method. In this case however, we need to provide vapo_config. This config needs to have either service account or project number and the config path. Please refer to this tutorial for more details on config parameter.

.. code-block:: Python

from vertexai import types

project_number = PROJECT_NUMBER # replace with your project number
service_account = f"{project_number}-compute@developer.gserviceaccount.com"

vapo_config = vertexai.types.PromptOptimizerVAPOConfig(
    config_path="gs://your-bucket/config.json",
    service_account_project_number=project_number,
    wait_for_completion=False
)

# Set up logging to see the progress of the optimization job
logging.basicConfig(encoding='utf-8', level=logging.INFO, force=True)

result = client.prompt_optimizer.optimize(method="vapo", config=vapo_config)

If you want to use the project number instead of the service account, you can instead use the following config:

.. code-block:: Python

vapo_config = vertexai.types.PromptOptimizerVAPOConfig(
    config_path="gs://your-bucket/config.json",
    service_account_project_number=project_number,
    wait_for_completion=False
)

We can also call optimize method async.

.. code-block:: Python

await client.aio.prompt_optimizer.optimize(method="vapo", config=vapo_config)

.. note::

The following Generative AI modules in the Vertex AI SDK are deprecated as of June 24, 2025 and will be removed on June 24, 2026: vertexai.generative_models, vertexai.language_models, vertexai.vision_models, vertexai.tuning, vertexai.caching. Please use the Google Gen AI SDK to access these features. See the migration guide for details. You can continue using all other Vertex AI SDK modules, as they are the recommended way to use the API.

Quick Start

In order to use this library, you first need to go through the following steps:

Select or create a Cloud Platform project._
Enable billing for your project._
Enable the Vertex AI API._
Setup Authentication._

.. _Select or create a Cloud Platform project.: https://console.cloud.google.com/project .. _Enable billing for your project.: https://cloud.google.com/billing/docs/how-to/modify-project#enable_billing_for_a_project .. _Enable the Vertex AI API.: https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/docs/start/use-vertex-ai-python-sdk .. _Setup Authentication.: https://googleapis.dev/python/google-api-core/latest/auth.html

Supported Python Versions ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Python >= 3.9

Deprecated Python Versions ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Python <= 3.8.

The last version of this library compatible with Python 3.8 is google-cloud-aiplatform==1.90.0.

The last version of this library compatible with Python 3.7 is google-cloud-aiplatform==1.31.1.

The last version of this library compatible with Python 3.6 is google-cloud-aiplatform==1.12.1.

Overview

This section provides a brief overview of the Vertex AI SDK for Python. You can also reference the notebooks in `vertex-ai-samples`_ for examples.

.. _vertex-ai-samples: https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/vertex-ai-samples/tree/main/notebooks/community/sdk

All publicly available SDK features can be found in the :code:`google/cloud/aiplatform` directory.
Under the hood, Vertex SDK builds on top of GAPIC, which stands for Google API CodeGen.
The GAPIC library code sits in :code:`google/cloud/aiplatform_v1` and :code:`google/cloud/aiplatform_v1beta1`,
and it is auto-generated from Google's service proto files.

For most developers' programmatic needs, they can follow these steps to figure out which libraries to import:

1. Look through :code:`google/cloud/aiplatform` first -- Vertex SDK's APIs will almost always be easier to use and more concise comparing with GAPIC
2. If the feature that you are looking for cannot be found there, look through :code:`aiplatform_v1` to see if it's available in GAPIC
3. If it is still in beta phase, it will be available in :code:`aiplatform_v1beta1`

If none of the above scenarios could help you find the right tools for your task, please feel free to open a github issue and send us a feature request.

Importing
^^^^^^^^^
Vertex AI SDK resource based functionality can be used by importing the following namespace:

.. code-block:: Python

    from google.cloud import aiplatform

Initialization
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Initialize the SDK to store common configurations that you use with the SDK.

.. code-block:: Python

    aiplatform.init(
        # your Google Cloud Project ID or number
        # environment default used is not set
        project='my-project',

        # the Vertex AI region you will use
        # defaults to us-central1
        location='us-central1',

        # Google Cloud Storage bucket in same region as location
        # used to stage artifacts
        staging_bucket='gs://my_staging_bucket',

        # custom google.auth.credentials.Credentials
        # environment default credentials used if not set
        credentials=my_credentials,

        # customer managed encryption key resource name
        # will be applied to all Vertex AI resources if set
        encryption_spec_key_name=my_encryption_key_name,

        # the name of the experiment to use to track
        # logged metrics and parameters
        experiment='my-experiment',

        # description of the experiment above
        experiment_description='my experiment description'
    )

Datasets
^^^^^^^^
Vertex AI provides managed tabular, text, image, and video datasets. In the SDK, datasets can be used downstream to
train models.

To create a tabular dataset:

.. code-block:: Python

    my_dataset = aiplatform.TabularDataset.create(
        display_name="my-dataset", gcs_source=['gs://path/to/my/dataset.csv'])

You can also create and import a dataset in separate steps:

.. code-block:: Python

    from google.cloud import aiplatform

    my_dataset = aiplatform.TextDataset.create(
        display_name="my-dataset")

    my_dataset.import_data(
        gcs_source=['gs://path/to/my/dataset.csv'],
        import_schema_uri=aiplatform.schema.dataset.ioformat.text.multi_label_classification
    )

To get a previously created Dataset:

.. code-block:: Python

  dataset = aiplatform.ImageDataset('projects/my-project/location/us-central1/datasets/{DATASET_ID}')

Vertex AI supports a variety of dataset schemas. References to these schemas are available under the
:code:`aiplatform.schema.dataset` namespace. For more information on the supported dataset schemas please refer to the
`Preparing data docs`_.

.. _Preparing data docs: https://cloud.google.com/ai-platform-unified/docs/datasets/prepare

Training
^^^^^^^^
The Vertex AI SDK for Python allows you train Custom and AutoML Models.

You can train custom models using a custom Python script, custom Python package, or container.

**Preparing Your Custom Code**

Vertex AI custom training enables you to train on Vertex AI datasets and produce Vertex AI models. To do so your
script must adhere to the following contract:

It must read datasets from the environment variables populated by the training service:

.. code-block:: Python

  os.environ['AIP_DATA_FORMAT']  # provides format of data
  os.environ['AIP_TRAINING_DATA_URI']  # uri to training split
  os.environ['AIP_VALIDATION_DATA_URI']  # uri to validation split
  os.environ['AIP_TEST_DATA_URI']  # uri to test split

Please visit `Using a managed dataset in a custom training application`_ for a detailed overview.

.. _Using a managed dataset in a custom training application: https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/docs/training/using-managed-datasets

It must write the model artifact to the environment variable populated by the training service:

.. code-block:: Python

  os.environ['AIP_MODEL_DIR']

**Running Training**

.. code-block:: Python

  job = aiplatform.CustomTrainingJob(
      display_name="my-training-job",
      script_path="training_script.py",
      container_uri="us-docker.pkg.dev/vertex-ai/training/tf-cpu.2-2:latest",
      requirements=["gcsfs==0.7.1"],
      model_serving_container_image_uri="us-docker.pkg.dev/vertex-ai/prediction/tf2-cpu.2-2:latest",
  )

  model = job.run(my_dataset,
                  replica_count=1,
                  machine_type="n1-standard-4",
                  accelerator_type='NVIDIA_TESLA_K80',
                  accelerator_count=1)

In the code block above `my_dataset` is managed dataset created in the `Dataset` section above. The `model` variable is a managed Vertex AI model that can be deployed or exported.


AutoMLs
-------
The Vertex AI SDK for Python supports AutoML tabular, image, text, video, and forecasting.

To train an AutoML tabular model:

.. code-block:: Python

  dataset = aiplatform.TabularDataset('projects/my-project/location/us-central1/datasets/{DATASET_ID}')

  job = aiplatform.AutoMLTabularTrainingJob(
    display_name="train-automl",
    optimization_prediction_type="regression",
    optimization_objective="minimize-rmse",
  )

  model = job.run(
      dataset=dataset,
      target_column="target_column_name",
      training_fraction_split=0.6,
      validation_fraction_split=0.2,
      test_fraction_split=0.2,
      budget_milli_node_hours=1000,
      model_display_name="my-automl-model",
      disable_early_stopping=False,
  )


Models
------
To get a model:


.. code-block:: Python

  model = aiplatform.Model('/projects/my-project/locations/us-central1/models/{MODEL_ID}')



To upload a model:

.. code-block:: Python

  model = aiplatform.Model.upload(
      display_name='my-model',
      artifact_uri="gs://python/to/my/model/dir",
      serving_container_image_uri="us-docker.pkg.dev/vertex-ai/prediction/tf2-cpu.2-2:latest",
  )



To deploy a model:


.. code-block:: Python

  endpoint = model.deploy(machine_type="n1-standard-4",
                          min_replica_count=1,
                          max_replica_count=5
                          machine_type='n1-standard-4',
                          accelerator_type='NVIDIA_TESLA_K80',
                          accelerator_count=1)


Please visit `Importing models to Vertex AI`_ for a detailed overview:

.. _Importing models to Vertex AI: https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/docs/general/import-model

Model Evaluation
----------------

The Vertex AI SDK for Python currently supports getting model evaluation metrics for all AutoML models.

To list all model evaluations for a model:

.. code-block:: Python

  model = aiplatform.Model('projects/my-project/locations/us-central1/models/{MODEL_ID}')

  evaluations = model.list_model_evaluations()


To get the model evaluation resource for a given model:

.. code-block:: Python

  model = aiplatform.Model('projects/my-project/locations/us-central1/models/{MODEL_ID}')

  # returns the first evaluation with no arguments, you can also pass the evaluation ID
  evaluation = model.get_model_evaluation()

  eval_metrics = evaluation.metrics


You can also create a reference to your model evaluation directly by passing in the resource name of the model evaluation:

.. code-block:: Python

  evaluation = aiplatform.ModelEvaluation(
    evaluation_name='projects/my-project/locations/us-central1/models/{MODEL_ID}/evaluations/{EVALUATION_ID}')

Alternatively, you can create a reference to your evaluation by passing in the model and evaluation IDs:

.. code-block:: Python

  evaluation = aiplatform.ModelEvaluation(
    evaluation_name={EVALUATION_ID},
    model_id={MODEL_ID})


Batch Prediction
----------------

To create a batch prediction job:

.. code-block:: Python

  model = aiplatform.Model('/projects/my-project/locations/us-central1/models/{MODEL_ID}')

  batch_prediction_job = model.batch_predict(
    job_display_name='my-batch-prediction-job',
    instances_format='csv',
    machine_type='n1-standard-4',
    gcs_source=['gs://path/to/my/file.csv'],
    gcs_destination_prefix='gs://path/to/my/batch_prediction/results/',
    service_account='my-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com'
  )

You can also create a batch prediction job asynchronously by including the `sync=False` argument:

.. code-block:: Python

  batch_prediction_job = model.batch_predict(..., sync=False)

  # wait for resource to be created
  batch_prediction_job.wait_for_resource_creation()

  # get the state
  batch_prediction_job.state

  # block until job is complete
  batch_prediction_job.wait()


Endpoints
---------

To create an endpoint:

.. code-block:: Python

  endpoint = aiplatform.Endpoint.create(display_name='my-endpoint')

To deploy a model to a created endpoint:

.. code-block:: Python

  model = aiplatform.Model('/projects/my-project/locations/us-central1/models/{MODEL_ID}')

  endpoint.deploy(model,
                  min_replica_count=1,
                  max_replica_count=5,
                  machine_type='n1-standard-4',
                  accelerator_type='NVIDIA_TESLA_K80',
                  accelerator_count=1)

To get predictions from endpoints:

.. code-block:: Python

  endpoint.predict(instances=[[6.7, 3.1, 4.7, 1.5], [4.6, 3.1, 1.5, 0.2]])

To undeploy models from an endpoint:

.. code-block:: Python

  endpoint.undeploy_all()

To delete an endpoint:

.. code-block:: Python

  endpoint.delete()


Pipelines
---------

To create a Vertex AI Pipeline run and monitor until completion:

.. code-block:: Python

  # Instantiate PipelineJob object
  pl = PipelineJob(
      display_name="My first pipeline",

      # Whether or not to enable caching
      # True = always cache pipeline step result
      # False = never cache pipeline step result
      # None = defer to cache option for each pipeline component in the pipeline definition
      enable_caching=False,

      # Local or GCS path to a compiled pipeline definition
      template_path="pipeline.json",

      # Dictionary containing input parameters for your pipeline
      parameter_values=parameter_values,

      # GCS path to act as the pipeline root
      pipeline_root=pipeline_root,
  )

  # Execute pipeline in Vertex AI and monitor until completion
  pl.run(
    # Email address of service account to use for the pipeline run
    # You must have iam.serviceAccounts.actAs permission on the service account to use it
    service_account=service_account,

    # Whether this function call should be synchronous (wait for pipeline run to finish before terminating)
    # or asynchronous (return immediately)
    sync=True
  )

To create a Vertex AI Pipeline without monitoring until completion, use `submit` instead of `run`:

.. code-block:: Python

  # Instantiate PipelineJob object
  pl = PipelineJob(
      display_name="My first pipeline",

      # Whether or not to enable caching
      # True = always cache pipeline step result
      # False = never cache pipeline step result
      # None = defer to cache option for each pipeline component in the pipeline definition
      enable_caching=False,

      # Local or GCS path to a compiled pipeline definition
      template_path="pipeline.json",

      # Dictionary containing input parameters for your pipeline
      parameter_values=parameter_values,

      # GCS path to act as the pipeline root
      pipeline_root=pipeline_root,
  )

  # Submit the Pipeline to Vertex AI
  pl.submit(
    # Email address of service account to use for the pipeline run
    # You must have iam.serviceAccounts.actAs permission on the service account to use it
    service_account=service_account,
  )


Explainable AI: Get Metadata
----------------------------

To get metadata in dictionary format from TensorFlow 1 models:

.. code-block:: Python

  from google.cloud.aiplatform.explain.metadata.tf.v1 import saved_model_metadata_builder

  builder = saved_model_metadata_builder.SavedModelMetadataBuilder(
            'gs://python/to/my/model/dir', tags=[tf.saved_model.tag_constants.SERVING]
        )
  generated_md = builder.get_metadata()

To get metadata in dictionary format from TensorFlow 2 models:

.. code-block:: Python

  from google.cloud.aiplatform.explain.metadata.tf.v2 import saved_model_metadata_builder

  builder = saved_model_metadata_builder.SavedModelMetadataBuilder('gs://python/to/my/model/dir')
  generated_md = builder.get_metadata()

To use Explanation Metadata in endpoint deployment and model upload:

.. code-block:: Python

  explanation_metadata = builder.get_metadata_protobuf()

  # To deploy a model to an endpoint with explanation
  model.deploy(..., explanation_metadata=explanation_metadata)

  # To deploy a model to a created endpoint with explanation
  endpoint.deploy(..., explanation_metadata=explanation_metadata)

  # To upload a model with explanation
  aiplatform.Model.upload(..., explanation_metadata=explanation_metadata)


Cloud Profiler
----------------------------

Cloud Profiler allows you to profile your remote Vertex AI Training jobs on demand and visualize the results in Vertex AI Tensorboard.

To start using the profiler with TensorFlow, update your training script to include the following:

.. code-block:: Python

    from google.cloud.aiplatform.training_utils import cloud_profiler
    ...
    cloud_profiler.init()

Next, run the job with with a Vertex AI TensorBoard instance. For full details on how to do this, visit https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/docs/experiments/tensorboard-overview

Finally, visit your TensorBoard in your Google Cloud Console, navigate to the "Profile" tab, and click the `Capture Profile` button. This will allow users to capture profiling statistics for the running jobs.


Next Steps

Read the Client Library Documentation_ for Vertex AI API to see other available methods on the client.
Read the Vertex AI API Product documentation_ to learn more about the product and see How-to Guides.
View this README_ to see the full list of Cloud APIs that we cover.

.. _Vertex AI API Product documentation: https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/docs .. _README: https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-python/blob/main/README.rst

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