Suresh Michael
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LLM Engineering

Getting Started with Gemini Function Calling

A hands-on workshop on function calling with the Gemini API: the basics, worked examples, schema design, and getting structured data back out of a model reliably.

Delivered
October 12, 2025
Format
Hands-on workshop
Audience
Developers new to the Gemini API
SlidesView on SlideShare →

What we covered

Function calling is the point where a model stops producing text and starts doing things. The workshop starts from first principles and ends with schemas that hold up against a model that is trying its best to misread them.

  • LLMs explained, at the depth you need to reason about what function calling is doing.
  • The Gemini ecosystem, and getting started with the Gemini API.
  • Function calling basics: the loop, and what the model is and isn't deciding.
  • A run of worked examples, each one adding a case the previous one didn't handle.
  • Schema design, which is where most function calling implementations quietly go wrong.
  • Getting structured data out, and what to do when the shape comes back not quite right.
  • Resources for continuing past the session.

Format

A hands-on workshop, built to be followed along with rather than watched. The example set is deliberately long — the concepts are quick, the edge cases are the session.

Who it's for

Developers writing their first tool-using LLM integration, and anyone whose function calling works in the demo and not in production.

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