Gemini translation fails after a few requests (both Local Mode and Cloud Mode)
B
Bao Long
When using Gemini as a translation service in Saladict, translations stop working after a small number of requests (~4–5).
After the failure:
Translation no longer works
Clicking “Test Service” results in failed after 3 attempts
No clear error message (rate limit / quota / blocked)
The issue recovers automatically after ~5–6 hours without changing any configuration.
What has been tested
Multiple Gemini API keys
New Google AI Studio projects
API keys verified to work correctly when tested manually
Local Mode (user-provided API key)
Cloud Mode (Saladict server)
The issue occurs in all cases, including Cloud Mode.
Expected behavior
Gemini should either:
Work consistently, or
Return a clear error indicating rate limiting / quota / unsupported usage
Actual behavior
Gemini silently fails after a few requests
Test Service fails
Service becomes usable again only after several hours
Suspected cause
This appears to be server-side throttling or anti-abuse blocking by Gemini, likely triggered by:
Dictionary-style short requests
High-frequency translation pattern
Browser extension / auto-translation use case
This blocking seems independent of API key, project, or user IP.
Impact
The behavior is confusing for users because:
The API key appears valid
No actionable error is shown
The issue resolves automatically after hours, making it hard to diagnose
allentown
- If you use a free API key, it is easy to be throttled by Google, the extension does not prompt this error, this needs to be improved
- I checked the logs that there were no Gemini call failures in the past two days. The server was briefly interrupted for about 50 minutes the day before yesterday, did you encounter an error at that time
- Cloud mode uses a paid API, and there is currently no evidence that Google will limit translation use cases