diff --git a/extensions/void/package-lock.json b/extensions/void/package-lock.json
index 4d7d38aa..2c69af18 100644
--- a/extensions/void/package-lock.json
+++ b/extensions/void/package-lock.json
@@ -7,12 +7,10 @@
     "": {
       "name": "void",
       "version": "0.0.1",
-      "dependencies": {
-        "@google/generative-ai": "^0.21.0"
-      },
       "devDependencies": {
         "@anthropic-ai/sdk": "^0.29.2",
         "@eslint/js": "^9.9.1",
+        "@google/generative-ai": "^0.21.0",
         "@monaco-editor/react": "^4.6.0",
         "@rrweb/types": "^2.0.0-alpha.17",
         "@types/diff": "^5.2.2",
@@ -744,6 +742,7 @@
       "version": "0.21.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@google/generative-ai/-/generative-ai-0.21.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-7XhUbtnlkSEZK15kN3t+tzIMxsbKm/dSkKBFalj+20NvPKe1kBY7mR2P7vuijEn+f06z5+A8bVGKO0v39cr6Wg==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=18.0.0"
diff --git a/extensions/void/package.json b/extensions/void/package.json
index 0a0d3995..01edcf93 100644
--- a/extensions/void/package.json
+++ b/extensions/void/package.json
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@
   "devDependencies": {
     "@anthropic-ai/sdk": "^0.29.2",
     "@eslint/js": "^9.9.1",
+    "@google/generative-ai": "^0.21.0",
     "@monaco-editor/react": "^4.6.0",
     "@rrweb/types": "^2.0.0-alpha.17",
     "@types/diff": "^5.2.2",
@@ -151,8 +152,5 @@
     "typescript": "5.5.4",
     "typescript-eslint": "^8.3.0",
     "uuid": "^10.0.0"
-  },
-  "dependencies": {
-    "@google/generative-ai": "^0.21.0"
   }
 }
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts b/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts
index bb3377e6..8e4c59dd 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts
+++ b/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import Anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk';
 import OpenAI from 'openai';
 import { Ollama } from 'ollama/browser'
-import { GoogleGenerativeAI } from '@google/generative-ai';
+import { Content, GoogleGenerativeAI, GoogleGenerativeAIError, GoogleGenerativeAIFetchError } from '@google/generative-ai';
 import { VoidConfig } from '../webviews/common/contextForConfig'
 
 export type AbortRef = { current: (() => void) | null }
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ const sendAnthropicMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = ({ messages, onText, onFi
 		system: systemMessage,
 		messages: anthropicMessages,
 		model: voidConfig.anthropic.model,
-		max_tokens: parseInt(voidConfig.default.maxTokens),
+		max_tokens: parseMaxTokensStr(voidConfig.default.maxTokens)!, // this might be undefined, but it will just throw an error for the user
 	});
 
 	let did_abort = false
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ const sendAnthropicMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = ({ messages, onText, onFi
 
 // Gemini
 const sendGeminiMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = async ({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, onError, voidConfig, abortRef }) => {
+
 	let didAbort = false
 	let fullText = ''
 
@@ -111,63 +112,52 @@ const sendGeminiMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = async ({ messages, onText, o
 		didAbort = true
 	}
 
-	try {
-		const genAI = new GoogleGenerativeAI(voidConfig.Gemini.apikey);
-		// Force the model to be exactly what's configured
-		const modelName = voidConfig.Gemini.model;
-		const model = genAI.getGenerativeModel({ model: modelName });
+	const genAI = new GoogleGenerativeAI(voidConfig.gemini.apikey);
+	const model = genAI.getGenerativeModel({ model: voidConfig.gemini.model });
 
-		// Combine system messages with the first user message
-		let systemContent = messages
-			.filter(msg => msg.role === 'system')
-			.map(msg => msg.content)
-			.join('\n');
-		
-		// Filter out system messages and modify first user message if needed
-		let geminiMessages = messages.filter(msg => msg.role !== 'system');
-		if (systemContent && geminiMessages.length > 0 && geminiMessages[0].role === 'user') {
-			geminiMessages[0] = {
-				...geminiMessages[0],
-				content: `${systemContent}\n\n${geminiMessages[0].content}`
-			};
-		}
+	// remove system messages that get sent to Gemini
+	// str of all system messages
+	let systemMessage = messages
+		.filter(msg => msg.role === 'system')
+		.map(msg => msg.content)
+		.join('\n');
 
-		// Convert remaining messages to Gemini format
-		const history = geminiMessages.map(msg => ({
-			role: msg.role === 'assistant' ? 'model' : msg.role,
-			parts: [{ text: msg.content }]
-		}));
+	// Convert messages to Gemini format
+	const geminiMessages: Content[] = messages
+		.filter(msg => msg.role !== 'system')
+		.map((msg, i) => ({
+			parts: [{ text: msg.content }],
+			role: msg.role === 'assistant' ? 'model' : 'user'
+		}))
 
-		const chat = model.startChat({
-			history: history.slice(0, -1), // Exclude last message
-			generationConfig: {
-				maxOutputTokens: parseInt(voidConfig.default.maxTokens)
-				// Removed model from generationConfig since it's not a valid property
-				// Model is already set when creating the model instance above
+	model.generateContentStream({ contents: geminiMessages, systemInstruction: systemMessage, })
+		.then(async response => {
+			abortRef.current = () => {
+				// response.stream.return(fullText)
+				didAbort = true;
 			}
-		});
-
-		const lastMessage = messages[messages.length - 1].content;
-		const result = await chat.sendMessageStream(lastMessage);
-
-		for await (const chunk of result.stream) {
-			if (didAbort) return;
-			const newText = chunk.text();
-			fullText += newText;
-			onText(newText, fullText);
-		}
-
-		onFinalMessage(fullText);
-	} catch (error: unknown) {
-		if (error instanceof Error && error.message?.includes('API key')) {
-			onError('Invalid API key.');
-		} else if (error instanceof Error) {
-			onError(error.message || 'Error connecting to Gemini');
-		} else {
-			onError('Error connecting to Gemini');
-		}
-	}
-};
+			for await (const chunk of response.stream) {
+				if (didAbort) return;
+				const newText = chunk.text();
+				fullText += newText;
+				onText(newText, fullText);
+			}
+			onFinalMessage(fullText);
+		})
+		.catch((error) => {
+			if (error instanceof GoogleGenerativeAIFetchError) {
+				if (error.status === 400) {
+					onError('Invalid API key.');
+				}
+				else {
+					onError(`${error.name}:\n${error.message}`);
+				}
+			}
+			else {
+				onError(error);
+			}
+		})
+}
 
 // OpenAI, OpenRouter, OpenAICompatible
 const sendOpenAIMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = ({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, onError, voidConfig, abortRef }) => {
@@ -231,7 +221,7 @@ const sendOpenAIMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = ({ messages, onText, onFinal
 					onError('Invalid API key.');
 				}
 				else {
-					onError(error.message);
+					onError(`${error.name}:\n${error.message}`);
 				}
 			}
 			else {
@@ -258,7 +248,7 @@ export const sendOllamaMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = ({ messages, onText,
 		model: voidConfig.ollama.model,
 		messages: messages,
 		stream: true,
-		options: { num_predict: parseInt(voidConfig.default.maxTokens) } // this is max_tokens
+		options: { num_predict: parseMaxTokensStr(voidConfig.default.maxTokens) } // this is max_tokens
 	})
 		.then(async stream => {
 			abortRef.current = () => {
@@ -363,12 +353,12 @@ export const sendLLMMessage: SendLLMMessageFnTypeExternal = ({ messages, onText,
 		case 'openRouter':
 		case 'openAICompatible':
 			return sendOpenAIMsg({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, onError, voidConfig, abortRef });
+		case 'gemini':
+			return sendGeminiMsg({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, onError, voidConfig, abortRef });
 		case 'ollama':
 			return sendOllamaMsg({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, onError, voidConfig, abortRef });
 		case 'greptile':
 			return sendGreptileMsg({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, onError, voidConfig, abortRef });
-		case 'gemini':
-			return sendGeminiMsg({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, onError, voidConfig, abortRef });
 		default:
 			onError(`Error: whichApi was ${voidConfig.default.whichApi}, which is not recognized!`)
 	}
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/webviews/common/contextForConfig.tsx b/extensions/void/src/webviews/common/contextForConfig.tsx
index 51f9e515..5437bad5 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/webviews/common/contextForConfig.tsx
+++ b/extensions/void/src/webviews/common/contextForConfig.tsx
@@ -21,12 +21,12 @@ const configString = (description: string, defaultVal: string) => {
 export const configFields = [
 	'anthropic',
 	'openAI',
+	'gemini',
 	'greptile',
 	'ollama',
 	'openRouter',
 	'openAICompatible',
 	'azure',
-	'Gemini'
 ] as const
 
 
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ const voidConfigInfo: Record<
 		// 	}
 		// },
 	},
-	Gemini: {
+	gemini: {
 		apikey: configString('Google API key.', ''),
 		model: configEnum(
 			'Gemini model to use.',