Starting April 29, 2025, Gemini 1.5 Pro and Gemini 1.5 Flash models are not available in projects that have no prior usage of these models, including new projects. For details, see Model versions and lifecycle .

Update a context cache

You can update when a context cache expires. The default expiration time of a context cache is 60 minutes after its creation time. An expired context cache is deleted during a garbage collection process and can't be used or updated. To update the time when an unexpired context cache expires, update one of its following properties:

ttl - The number of seconds and nanoseconds that the cache lives after it's created or after the ttl is updated before it expires. When you set the ttl , the expireTime of the cache is updated.
expire_time - A Timestamp that specifies the absolute date and time when the context cache expires.

Update the context cache using its `ttl` parameter

The following is an example of a curl command that updates its expiration time by 3,600 seconds.

Python

Install

pip install --upgrade google-genai

To learn more, see the SDK reference documentation .

Set environment variables to use the Gen AI SDK with Vertex AI:

 # Replace the `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT` and `GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION` values 
 # with appropriate values for your project. 
 export 
  
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT 
 = 
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT 
 export 
  
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION 
 = 
 us-central1 
 export 
  
 GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI 
 = 
True

  from 
  
 datetime 
  
 import 
 datetime 
 as 
 dt 
 from 
  
 datetime 
  
 import 
 timezone 
 as 
 tz 
 from 
  
 datetime 
  
 import 
 timedelta 
 from 
  
 google 
  
 import 
 genai 
 from 
  
 google.genai.types 
  
 import 
 HttpOptions 
 , 
 UpdateCachedContentConfig 
 client 
 = 
 genai 
 . 
 Client 
 ( 
 http_options 
 = 
 HttpOptions 
 ( 
 api_version 
 = 
 "v1" 
 )) 
 # Get content cache by name 
 # cache_name = "projects/111111111111/locations/us-central1/cachedContents/1111111111111111111" 
 content_cache 
 = 
 client 
 . 
 caches 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 name 
 = 
 cache_name 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 "Expire time" 
 , 
 content_cache 
 . 
 expire_time 
 ) 
 # Example response 
 #   Expire time 2025-02-20 15:50:18.434482+00:00 
 # Update expire time using TTL 
 content_cache 
 = 
 client 
 . 
 caches 
 . 
 update 
 ( 
 name 
 = 
 cache_name 
 , 
 config 
 = 
 UpdateCachedContentConfig 
 ( 
 ttl 
 = 
 "36000s" 
 ) 
 ) 
 time_diff 
 = 
 content_cache 
 . 
 expire_time 
 - 
 dt 
 . 
 now 
 ( 
 tz 
 . 
 utc 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 "Expire time(after update):" 
 , 
 content_cache 
 . 
 expire_time 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 "Expire time(in seconds):" 
 , 
 time_diff 
 . 
 seconds 
 ) 
 # Example response 
 #   Expire time(after update): 2025-02-14 01:51:42.571696+00:00 
 #   Expire time(in seconds): 35999 
 # Update expire time using specific time stamp 
 next_week_utc 
 = 
 dt 
 . 
 now 
 ( 
 tz 
 . 
 utc 
 ) 
 + 
 timedelta 
 ( 
 days 
 = 
 7 
 ) 
 content_cache 
 = 
 client 
 . 
 caches 
 . 
 update 
 ( 
 name 
 = 
 cache_name 
 , 
 config 
 = 
 UpdateCachedContentConfig 
 ( 
 expireTime 
 = 
 next_week_utc 
 ) 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 "Expire time(after update):" 
 , 
 content_cache 
 . 
 expire_time 
 ) 
 # Example response 
 #   Expire time(after update): 2025-02-20 15:51:42.614968+00:00

Go

Learn how to install or update the Go .

To learn more, see the SDK reference documentation .

Set environment variables to use the Gen AI SDK with Vertex AI:

 # Replace the `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT` and `GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION` values 
 # with appropriate values for your project. 
 export 
  
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT 
 = 
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT 
 export 
  
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION 
 = 
 us-central1 
 export 
  
 GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI 
 = 
True

  import 
  
 ( 
 "context" 
 "fmt" 
 "io" 
 "time" 
 genai 
 "google.golang.org/genai" 
 ) 
 // 
 updateContentCache 
 shows 
 how 
 to 
 update 
 content 
 cache 
 expiration 
 time 
 . 
 func 
 updateContentCache 
 ( 
 w 
 io 
 . 
 Writer 
 , 
 cacheName 
 string 
 ) 
 error 
 { 
 ctx 
 := 
 context 
 . 
 Background 
 () 
 client 
 , 
 err 
 := 
 genai 
 . 
 NewClient 
 ( 
 ctx 
 , 
& genai 
 . 
 ClientConfig 
 { 
 HTTPOptions 
 : 
 genai 
 . 
 HTTPOptions 
 { 
 APIVersion 
 : 
 "v1" 
 }, 
 }) 
 if 
 err 
 != 
 nil 
 { 
 return 
 fmt 
 . 
 Errorf 
 ( 
 "failed to create genai client: %w" 
 , 
 err 
 ) 
 } 
 // 
 Update 
 expire 
 time 
 using 
 TTL 
 resp 
 , 
 err 
 := 
 client 
 . 
 Caches 
 . 
 Update 
 ( 
 ctx 
 , 
 cacheName 
 , 
& genai 
 . 
 UpdateCachedContentConfig 
 { 
 TTL 
 : 
 time 
 . 
 Duration 
 ( 
 time 
 . 
 Duration 
 . 
 Seconds 
 ( 
 36000 
 )), 
 }) 
 if 
 err 
 != 
 nil 
 { 
 return 
 fmt 
 . 
 Errorf 
 ( 
 "failed to update content cache exp. time with TTL: %w" 
 , 
 err 
 ) 
 } 
 fmt 
 . 
 Fprintf 
 ( 
 w 
 , 
 "Cache expires in: 
 %s 
 \n 
 " 
 , 
 time 
 . 
 Until 
 ( 
 resp 
 . 
 ExpireTime 
 )) 
 // 
 Example 
 response 
 : 
 // 
 Cache 
 expires 
 in 
 : 
 10 
 h0m0 
 .005875 
 s 
 // 
 Update 
 expire 
 time 
 using 
 specific 
 time 
 stamp 
 inSevenDays 
 := 
 time 
 . 
 Now 
 () 
 . 
 Add 
 ( 
 7 
 * 
 24 
 * 
 time 
 . 
 Hour 
 ) 
 resp 
 , 
 err 
 = 
 client 
 . 
 Caches 
 . 
 Update 
 ( 
 ctx 
 , 
 cacheName 
 , 
& genai 
 . 
 UpdateCachedContentConfig 
 { 
 ExpireTime 
 : 
 inSevenDays 
 , 
 }) 
 if 
 err 
 != 
 nil 
 { 
 return 
 fmt 
 . 
 Errorf 
 ( 
 "failed to update content cache expire time: %w" 
 , 
 err 
 ) 
 } 
 fmt 
 . 
 Fprintf 
 ( 
 w 
 , 
 "Cache expires in: 
 %s 
 \n 
 " 
 , 
 time 
 . 
 Until 
 ( 
 resp 
 . 
 ExpireTime 
 )) 
 // 
 Example 
 response 
 : 
 // 
 Cache 
 expires 
 in 
 : 
 167 
 h59m59 
 .80327 
 s 
 return 
 nil 
 }

Java

Learn how to install or update the Java .

To learn more, see the SDK reference documentation .

Set environment variables to use the Gen AI SDK with Vertex AI:

 # Replace the `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT` and `GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION` values 
 # with appropriate values for your project. 
 export 
  
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT 
 = 
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT 
 export 
  
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION 
 = 
 us-central1 
 export 
  
 GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI 
 = 
True

  import 
  
 com.google.genai.Client 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.genai.types.CachedContent 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.genai.types.HttpOptions 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.genai.types.UpdateCachedContentConfig 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.time.Duration 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.time.Instant 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit 
 ; 
 public 
 class 
  
 ContentCacheUpdate 
 { 
 public 
 static 
 void 
 main 
 ( 
 String 
 [] 
 args 
 ) 
 { 
 // 
 TODO 
 ( 
 developer 
 ): 
 Replace 
 these 
 variables 
 before 
 running 
 the 
 sample 
 . 
 // 
 E 
 . 
 g 
 cacheName 
 = 
 "projects/111111111111/locations/global/cachedContents/1111111111111111111" 
 String 
 cacheName 
 = 
 "your-cache-name" 
 ; 
 contentCacheUpdate 
 ( 
 cacheName 
 ); 
 } 
 // 
 Updates 
 the 
 cache 
 using 
 the 
 specified 
 cache 
 resource 
 name 
 public 
 static 
 void 
 contentCacheUpdate 
 ( 
 String 
 cacheName 
 ) 
 { 
 // 
 Initialize 
 client 
 that 
 will 
 be 
 used 
 to 
 send 
 requests 
 . 
 This 
 client 
 only 
 needs 
 to 
 be 
 created 
 // 
 once 
 , 
 and 
 can 
 be 
 reused 
 for 
 multiple 
 requests 
 . 
 try 
 ( 
 Client 
 client 
 = 
 Client 
 . 
 builder 
 () 
 . 
 location 
 ( 
 "global" 
 ) 
 . 
 vertexAI 
 ( 
 true 
 ) 
 . 
 httpOptions 
 ( 
 HttpOptions 
 . 
 builder 
 () 
 . 
 apiVersion 
 ( 
 "v1" 
 ) 
 . 
 build 
 ()) 
 . 
 build 
 ()) 
 { 
 // 
 Get 
 info 
 of 
 the 
 cached 
 content 
 CachedContent 
 cachedContent 
 = 
 client 
 . 
 caches 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 cacheName 
 , 
 null 
 ); 
 cachedContent 
 . 
 expireTime 
 () 
 . 
 ifPresent 
 ( 
 expireTime 
 - 
> System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Expire time: " 
 + 
 expireTime 
 )); 
 // 
 Example 
 response 
 // 
 Expire 
 time 
 : 
 2025 
 - 
 07 
 - 
 29 
 T23 
 : 
 39 
 : 
 49.227291 
 Z 
 // 
 Update 
 expire 
 time 
 using 
 TTL 
 CachedContent 
 updatedCachedContent 
 = 
 client 
 . 
 caches 
 . 
 update 
 ( 
 cacheName 
 , 
 UpdateCachedContentConfig 
 . 
 builder 
 () 
 . 
 ttl 
 ( 
 Duration 
 . 
 ofSeconds 
 ( 
 36000 
 )) 
 . 
 build 
 ()); 
 updatedCachedContent 
 . 
 expireTime 
 () 
 . 
 ifPresent 
 ( 
 expireTime 
 - 
> System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Expire time after update: " 
 + 
 expireTime 
 )); 
 // 
 Example 
 response 
 // 
 Expire 
 time 
 after 
 update 
 : 
 2025 
 - 
 07 
 - 
 30 
 T08 
 : 
 40 
 : 
 33.537205 
 Z 
 // 
 Update 
 expire 
 time 
 using 
 specific 
 time 
 stamp 
 Instant 
 nextWeek 
 = 
 Instant 
 . 
 now 
 () 
 . 
 plus 
 ( 
 7 
 , 
 ChronoUnit 
 . 
 DAYS 
 ); 
 updatedCachedContent 
 = 
 client 
 . 
 caches 
 . 
 update 
 ( 
 cacheName 
 , 
 UpdateCachedContentConfig 
 . 
 builder 
 () 
 . 
 expireTime 
 ( 
 nextWeek 
 ) 
 . 
 build 
 ()); 
 updatedCachedContent 
 . 
 expireTime 
 () 
 . 
 ifPresent 
 ( 
 expireTime 
 - 
> System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Expire time after update: " 
 + 
 expireTime 
 )); 
 // 
 Example 
 response 
 // 
 Expire 
 time 
 after 
 update 
 : 
 2025 
 - 
 08 
 - 
 05 
 T22 
 : 
 40 
 : 
 33.713988900 
 Z 
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Updated cache: " 
 + 
 cacheName 
 ); 
 } 
 } 
 }

REST

You can use REST to create a update the context cache by using the Vertex AI API to send a PATCH request to the publisher model endpoint. The following example shows how to update the expiration date using the ttl parameter.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

PROJECT_ID : Your project ID .
LOCATION : The region where the request to create the context cache was processed.
CACHE_ID : The ID of the context cache. The context cache ID is returned when you create the context cache. You can also find context cache IDs by listing the context caches for a Google Cloud project using. For more information, see create a context cache and list context caches .
SECONDS : A float that specifies the seconds component of the duration before the cache expires.
NANOSECONDS : A float that specifies the nanoseconds component of the duration before the cache expires.

HTTP method and URL:

PATCH https:// LOCATION 
-aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/locations/ LOCATION 
/cachedContents/ CACHE_ID

Request JSON body:

{
  "seconds":" SECONDS 
",
  "nanos":" NANOSECONDS 
"
}

To send your request, choose one of these options:

curl

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login , or by using Cloud Shell , which automatically logs you into the gcloud CLI . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list .

Save the request body in a file named request.json , and execute the following command:

curl -X PATCH \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d @request.json \
"https:// LOCATION 
-aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/locations/ LOCATION 
/cachedContents/ CACHE_ID 
"

PowerShell

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list .

Save the request body in a file named request.json , and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
-Method PATCH `
-Headers $headers `
-ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
-InFile request.json `
-Uri "https:// LOCATION 
-aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/locations/ LOCATION 
/cachedContents/ CACHE_ID 
" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

Response

{
  "name": "projects/ PROJECT_NUMBER 
/locations/us-central1/cachedContents/ CACHE_ID 
",
  "model": "projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/locations/us-central1/publishers/google/models/gemini-2.0-flash-001",
  "createTime": "2024-05-30T21:14:39.880235Z",
  "updateTime": "2024-05-31T00:21:15.350969Z",
  "expireTime": "2024-05-31T01:21:15.348014Z"
}

Example curl command

  PROJECT_ID 
 = 
 " PROJECT_ID 
" 
 LOCATION 
 = 
 "us-central1" 
 CACHE_ID 
 = 
 " CACHE_ID 
" 
curl  
 \ 
-X  
PATCH  
 \ 
-H  
 "Authorization: Bearer 
 $( 
gcloud  
auth  
print-access-token ) 
 " 
  
 \ 
-H  
 "Content-Type: application/json" 
 \ 
 "https:// 
 ${ 
 LOCATION 
 } 
 -aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/ 
 ${ 
 PROJECT_ID 
 } 
 /locations/ 
 ${ 
 LOCATION 
 } 
 /cachedContents/ 
 ${ 
 CACHE_ID 
 } 
 " 
  
-d  
 \ 
 '{ 
 "ttl": {"seconds":"3600","nanos":"0"} 
 }'

Update the context cache using its `expire_time` parameter

The following is an example of a curl command that uses the expire_time parameter to update its expiration time to 9 AM on June 30, 2024.

REST

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

PROJECT_ID : .
LOCATION : The region where the request to create the context cache was processed.
CACHE_ID : The ID of the context cache. You can find the ID in the response when you create the context cache .
EXPIRE_TIME : A Timestamp that specifies the time when the context cache expires.

HTTP method and URL:

PATCH https:// LOCATION 
-aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/locations/ LOCATION 
/cachedContents/ CACHE_ID

Request JSON body:

{
   "expire_time":" EXPIRE_TIME 
"
}

To send your request, choose one of these options:

curl

Save the request body in a file named request.json , and execute the following command:

curl -X PATCH \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d @request.json \
"https:// LOCATION 
-aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/locations/ LOCATION 
/cachedContents/ CACHE_ID 
"

PowerShell

Save the request body in a file named request.json , and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
-Method PATCH `
-Headers $headers `
-ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
-InFile request.json `
-Uri "https:// LOCATION 
-aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/locations/ LOCATION 
/cachedContents/ CACHE_ID 
" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

Response

{
  "name": "projects/ PROJECT_NUMBER 
/locations/us-central1/cachedContents/ CACHE_ID 
",
  "model": "projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/locations/us-central1/publishers/google/models/gemini-2.0-flash-001",
  "createTime": "2024-05-30T21:14:39.880235Z",
  "updateTime": "2024-05-31T00:20:24.296585Z",
  "expireTime": "2024-06-30T09:00:00Z"
}

Example curl command

  PROJECT_ID 
 = 
 " PROJECT_ID 
" 
 LOCATION 
 = 
 "us-central1" 
 CACHE_ID 
 = 
 " CACHE_ID 
" 
curl  
 \ 
-X  
PATCH  
 \ 
-H  
 "Authorization: Bearer 
 $( 
gcloud  
auth  
print-access-token ) 
 " 
  
 \ 
-H  
 "Content-Type: application/json" 
 \ 
 "https:// 
 ${ 
 LOCATION 
 } 
 -aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/ 
 ${ 
 PROJECT_ID 
 } 
 /locations/ 
 ${ 
 LOCATION 
 } 
 /cachedContents/ 
 ${ 
 CACHE_ID 
 } 
 " 
  
-d  
 \ 
 '{ 
 "expire_time":"2024-06-30T09:00:00.000000Z" 
 }'

What's next

Learn how to use a context cache .
Learn how to get information about all context caches associated with a Google Cloud project .

Update a context cache Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Update the context cache using its ttl parameter

Python

Install

Go

Java

REST

curl

PowerShell

Response

Example curl command

Update the context cache using its expire_time parameter

REST

curl

PowerShell

Response

Example curl command

What's next

Update a context cache

Update the context cache using its `ttl` parameter

Update the context cache using its `expire_time` parameter