Gemini Data Analytics API (Conversational Analytics) with Looker

This skill enables agents to assist users in building AI-powered chat interfaces (data agents) that query Looker data using natural language via the Gemini Data Analytics API (formerly Conversational Analytics API).

Overview

The Gemini Data Analytics API (geminidataanalytics.googleapis.com) allows developers to build "data agents" that can answer natural language questions about structured data in Looker Explores. It leverages Gemini to translate user questions into Looker queries.

1. Prerequisites & Setup

Enable APIs

• cloudaicompanion API
• Gemini Data Analytics API
• Vertex AI API

Required IAM Roles

• Gemini Data Analytics Data Agent Creator (roles/geminidataanalytics.dataAgentCreator): To create and manage agents.
• Gemini for Google Cloud User (roles/cloudaicompanion.user): To interact with agents.
• Looker Instance User (roles/looker.instanceUser): For Google Cloud Core instances.
• Looker Role: The user must have a Looker role with the geminiinlooker permission for the relevant models.

2. Connecting to Looker Data Source

A data agent needs a connection to one or more Looker Explores.

Authentication Methods

1. OAuth Client Credentials: Recommended for service-to-service communication.
2. Access Token: Useful for short-lived sessions or specific user contexts.

Client Initialization

from google.cloud import geminidataanalytics_v1beta as geminidataanalytics

data_agent_client = geminidataanalytics.DataAgentServiceClient()
data_chat_client = geminidataanalytics.DataChatServiceClient()

Data Source Configuration (Python SDK Example)

# Define Looker Explore Reference
looker_explore = geminidataanalytics.LookerExploreReference()
looker_explore.looker_instance_uri = "https://your_company.looker.com"
looker_explore.lookml_model = "sales_model"
looker_explore.explore = "orders"

# Configure Credentials
credentials = geminidataanalytics.Credentials()
credentials.oauth.secret.client_id = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID"
credentials.oauth.secret.client_secret = "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"

# Set Datasource References
datasource_references = geminidataanalytics.DatasourceReferences()
datasource_references.looker.explore_references = [looker_explore]

3. Creating a Data Agent

A data agent combines the data source with instructions and context.

Key Components

• System Instructions: Define business logic, response formatting, and persona (see section 5).
• Golden Queries (Authored Context): Provide examples of natural language questions paired with their correct Looker queries to improve accuracy.

Looker Golden Query Example

looker_golden_queries = [
    geminidataanalytics.LookerGoldenQuery(
        natural_language_questions=[
            "What are the major airport codes and cities in CA?",
            "Can you list the cities and airport codes of airports in CA?",
        ],
        looker_query=geminidataanalytics.LookerQuery(
            model="airports",
            explore="airports",
            fields=["airports.city", "airports.code"],
            filters=[
                geminidataanalytics.LookerQuery.Filter(field="airports.major", value="Y"),
                geminidataanalytics.LookerQuery.Filter(field="airports.state", value="CA"),
            ],
        ),
    )
]

Published Context & Creation

published_context = geminidataanalytics.Context(
    system_instruction="Think like an Analyst",
    datasource_references=datasource_references,
    looker_golden_queries=looker_golden_queries, # Optional
)

data_agent = geminidataanalytics.DataAgent(
    data_analytics_agent=geminidataanalytics.DataAnalyticsAgent(
        published_context=published_context
    ),
)

request = geminidataanalytics.CreateDataAgentRequest(
    parent="projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION",
    data_agent_id="my-looker-agent",
    data_agent=data_agent,
)
operation = data_agent_client.create_data_agent(request=request)

4. Interaction (Chat)

Users interact with the agent via the Chat method.

[Stateful] Chat with Conversation Reference

Maintains history and uses a pre-created conversation.

conversation_reference = geminidataanalytics.ConversationReference(
    conversation=data_chat_client.conversation_path(PROJECT_ID, LOCATION, CONVERSATION_ID),
    data_agent_context=geminidataanalytics.DataAgentContext(
        data_agent=data_chat_client.data_agent_path(PROJECT_ID, LOCATION, AGENT_ID),
        credentials=credentials, # Required for Looker
    ),
)

request = geminidataanalytics.ChatRequest(
    parent=f"projects/{PROJECT_ID}/locations/{LOCATION}",
    messages=[geminidataanalytics.Message(user_message=geminidataanalytics.UserMessage(text="Sales in CA?"))],
    conversation_reference=conversation_reference,
)
stream = data_chat_client.chat(request=request)

[Stateless] Chat with Inline Context

Useful for testing or one-off queries without a persistent agent.

request = geminidataanalytics.ChatRequest(
    inline_context=published_context,
    parent=f"projects/{PROJECT_ID}/locations/{LOCATION}",
    messages=[geminidataanalytics.Message(user_message=geminidataanalytics.UserMessage(text="Total orders?"))],
)
# Note: For Looker with Inline Context, pass credentials inside datasource_references
request.inline_context.datasource_references.looker.credentials = credentials

5. System Instructions (Analyst Persona)

Using a YAML template for system_instruction is highly recommended to guide the agent.

- system_instruction: >-
    You are an expert sales analyst for an e-commerce store.
- tables:
    - table:
        - name: sales_model.orders
        - description: orders data.
        - fields:
            - field:
                - name: status
                - description: order status (complete, shipped, etc.)
        - measures:
            - measure:
                - name: profit
                - description: raw profit
                - exp: cost - earnings

6. Best Practices & Optimization

• Robust LookML: Ensure Explores have clear description, label, and view_label tags.
• Use Golden Queries: Provide 5-10 examples of complex questions.
• Analysis Options: Enable python in AnalysisOptions for advanced data processing (e.g., forecasting).
• IAM Management: Use dataagentclient.setiampolicy to share agents with specific users or groups.

7. Troubleshooting

• Permission Denied: Check Google Cloud IAM roles and Looker geminiinlooker permissions.
• Low Accuracy: Refine systeminstruction or add more lookergolden_queries.
• Connection Errors: Verify lookerinstanceuri and ensure network connectivity (e.g., PSC/VPC-SC).

8. Processing the API Response

The Gemini Data Analytics API streams responses as structured messages. The response object contains a systemMessage field, which can hold different types of content as the conversation progresses.

API Response Structure

The systemMessage typically contains one of the following:

1. Text Messages (systemMessage.text)

Used for thoughts, progress updates, and the final response.

• parts: An array of strings containing the message content.
• textType: An enum indicating the type of text:

- THOUGHT: The agent's reasoning process. - PROGRESS: Background steps being taken (e.g., "Fetching data"). - FINAL_RESPONSE: The final answer to the user's question.

[!TIP]
To improve UI readability, it is recommended to group sequential THOUGHT and PROGRESS messages in the UI to avoid clutter.

2. Data Messages (systemMessage.data)

Used to return query definitions and data results.

A. Query Reference

When the agent determines a query to run, it emits a query object:

{
  "query": {
    "name": "top_selling_products",
    "looker": {
      "model": "basic_ecomm",
      "explore": "basic_order_items",
      "fields": ["basic_products.name", "basic_order_items.count"],
      "sorts": ["basic_order_items.count desc"],
      "limit": "10",
      "filters": [
        {
          "field": "basic_users.state",
          "value": "California"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

[!IMPORTANT]
Note that filters is an Array of objects (with field or name and value properties). When generating Looker Explore URLs from this data, ensure you iterate over the array and construct the URL parameters as &f[field_name]=value.

B. Data Results

When the query completes, the agent emits the result data:

{
  "result": {
    "data": [
      {
        "basic_products.name": "Product A",
        "basic_order_items.count": 5.0
      }
    ],
    "name": "top_selling_products",
    "schema": {
      "fields": [
        {
          "name": "basic_products.name",
          "type": "string",
          "displayName": "Name"
        },
        {
          "name": "basic_order_items.count",
          "type": "count",
          "displayName": "# of Order Items",
          "value_format": "$#,##0.00"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

3. Chart Messages (systemMessage.chart)

Contains visualization configurations.

• vegaConfig: A JSON object with the Vega-Lite specification for rendering the chart.
• image: May contain a generated PNG image of the chart.

Data Processing Best Practices

• Schema-aware Formatting: The schema.fields array in the data result may contain value_format strings (e.g., for currency or percentages). Production applications should use these format strings to render table values correctly.
• Heuristic Fallback: If value_format is missing, fall back to checking the field name for keywords like "price", "revenue", or "cost" to apply currency formatting.