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Explain and fix errors with Gemini assistance
This document describes how you can use
Gemini in Colab Enterprise, which is a product
in the Gemini for Google Cloud portfolio,
to help you explain and fix errors in a Colab Enterprise notebook.
This document is intended for data analysts, data scientists, and
data developers who work with Colab Enterprise. It assumes you have
knowledge of how to write code in a notebook environment.
Overview
When you run code that generates an error, Gemini in
Colab Enterprise can suggest a fix or explain the error to help you
resolve the issue.
Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to
Google Cloud,
create an account to evaluate how our products perform in
real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to
run, test, and deploy workloads.
Enable the Vertex AI, Cloud AI Companion, Dataform, and Compute Engine APIs.
In the Region menu, select the region that contains your notebook.
Click the notebook that you want to open.
In a code cell of your notebook, enter code that contains an error,
and then run the cell. For example, you might enter
print(a + random()) without defining a.
After your code cell runs, Colab Enterprise prints an
error message below your code cell. If
Gemini in Colab Enterprise has an explanation
for this error, an Explain error button appears.
Click the Explain error button.
Colab Enterprise opens a chat dialog that contains an
explanation of the error. The dialog might also include recommendations
and suggested changes for how to resolve the problem.
After evaluating the content, you can do any of the following:
If Gemini provides a suggested code edit in its
response, you can click:
Accept to update the code in your notebook.
Accept and run to update and run the code.
Cancel to reject the edit.
Use the chat dialog to discuss the error with
Gemini.
To close the chat dialog, click
closeClose.
Turn off Gemini in Colab Enterprise
To turn off Gemini in Colab Enterprise for a
Google Cloud project, an administrator must turn off the
Gemini for Google Cloud API. See
Disabling services.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-25 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Explain and fix errors with Gemini assistance\n=============================================\n\n|\n| **Preview**\n|\n|\n| This feature is subject to the \"Pre-GA Offerings Terms\" in the General Service Terms section\n| of the [Service Specific Terms](/terms/service-terms#1).\n|\n| Pre-GA features are available \"as is\" and might have limited support.\n|\n| For more information, see the\n| [launch stage descriptions](/products#product-launch-stages).\n\nThis document describes how you can use\nGemini in Colab Enterprise, which is a product\nin the [Gemini for Google Cloud](/gemini/docs/overview) portfolio,\nto help you explain and fix errors in a Colab Enterprise notebook.\n\nLearn [how and when Gemini\nfor Google Cloud uses your data](/gemini/docs/discover/data-governance).\n\nThis document is intended for data analysts, data scientists, and\ndata developers who work with Colab Enterprise. It assumes you have\nknowledge of how to write code in a notebook environment.\n\nOverview\n--------\n\nWhen you run code that generates an error, Gemini in\nColab Enterprise can suggest a fix or explain the error to help you\nresolve the issue.\n\nBefore you begin\n----------------\n\n| As an early-stage technology, Gemini for Google Cloud\n| products can generate output that seems plausible but is factually incorrect. We recommend that you\n| validate all output from Gemini for Google Cloud products before you use it.\n| For more information, see\n| [Gemini for Google Cloud and responsible AI](/gemini/docs/discover/responsible-ai).\n\n1. [Ensure that\n Gemini in Colab Enterprise is set up for your\n Google Cloud user account and project.](/gemini/docs/colab/set-up-gemini)\n- Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to Google Cloud, [create an account](https://console.cloud.google.com/freetrial) to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.\n-\n\n\n Enable the Vertex AI, Cloud AI Companion, Dataform, and Compute Engine APIs.\n\n\n [Enable the APIs](https://console.cloud.google.com/flows/enableapi?apiid=aiplatform.googleapis.com, cloudaicompanion.googleapis.com, dataform.googleapis.com, compute.googleapis.com)\n\n-\n\n\n Enable the Vertex AI, Cloud AI Companion, Dataform, and Compute Engine APIs.\n\n\n [Enable the APIs](https://console.cloud.google.com/flows/enableapi?apiid=aiplatform.googleapis.com, cloudaicompanion.googleapis.com, dataform.googleapis.com, compute.googleapis.com)\n\n### Required roles\n\n\nTo get the permissions that\nyou need to use Gemini in Colab Enterprise,\n\nask your administrator to grant you the\nfollowing IAM roles on the project:\n\n- [Colab Enterprise User](/iam/docs/roles-permissions/aiplatform#aiplatform.colabEnterpriseUser) (`roles/aiplatform.colabEnterpriseUser`)\n- [Gemini for Google Cloud User](/iam/docs/roles-permissions/cloudaicompanion#cloudaicompanion.user) (`roles/cloudaicompanion.user`)\n\n\nFor more information about granting roles, see [Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations](/iam/docs/granting-changing-revoking-access).\n\n\nYou might also be able to get\nthe required permissions through [custom\nroles](/iam/docs/creating-custom-roles) or other [predefined\nroles](/iam/docs/roles-overview#predefined).\n| One or more of the required roles includes the `dataform.repositories.list` permission. Users who are granted the `dataform.repositories.list` permission or the [Code Creator\n| (`roles/dataform.codeCreator`)](/iam/docs/understanding-roles#dataform.codeCreator) role in a project can list the names of code assets in that project by using the Dataform API or the Dataform command-line interface (CLI). Non-administrators using BigQuery Studio can only see code assets that they created or that were shared with them.\n\nExplain and fix an error\n------------------------\n\nTo use Gemini for Google Cloud to explain and fix\nan error in your code, do the following:\n\n1. In the Google Cloud console, go to\n the Colab Enterprise **My notebooks** page.\n\n [Go to My notebooks](https://console.cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/colab/notebooks)\n2. In the **Region** menu, select the region that contains your notebook.\n\n3. Click the notebook that you want to open.\n\n4. In a code cell of your notebook, enter code that contains an error,\n and then run the cell. For example, you might enter\n `print(a + random())` without defining `a`.\n\n After your code cell runs, Colab Enterprise prints an\n error message below your code cell. If\n Gemini in Colab Enterprise has an explanation\n for this error, an **Explain error** button appears.\n5. Click the **Explain error** button.\n\n Colab Enterprise opens a chat dialog that contains an\n explanation of the error. The dialog might also include recommendations\n and suggested changes for how to resolve the problem.\n6. After evaluating the content, you can do any of the following:\n\n - If Gemini provides a suggested code edit in its response, you can click:\n - **Accept** to update the code in your notebook.\n - **Accept and run** to update and run the code.\n - **Cancel** to reject the edit.\n - Use the chat dialog to discuss the error with Gemini.\n7. To close the chat dialog, click\n close **Close**.\n\nTurn off Gemini in Colab Enterprise\n-----------------------------------\n\n\nTo turn off Gemini in Colab Enterprise for a\nGoogle Cloud project, an administrator must turn off the\nGemini for Google Cloud API. See\n[Disabling services](/service-usage/docs/enable-disable#disabling).\n\n\nTo turn off Gemini in Colab Enterprise for a specific user, an\nadministrator needs to revoke the\n[Gemini for\nGoogle Cloud User](/iam/docs/understanding-roles#cloudaicompanion.user) (`roles/cloudaicompanion.user`) role for that user. See\n[Revoke\na single IAM role](/iam/docs/granting-changing-revoking-access#revoke-single-role).\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- Read the [Gemini for Google Cloud\n overview](/gemini/docs/overview).\n\n- For more ways to write and edit code with Gemini\n assistance, see the following:\n\n - [Chat about your notebook with Gemini](/colab/docs/chat)\n - [Use code completion and code generation](/colab/docs/use-code-completion)\n - [Explain code cells](/colab/docs/explain-cells)\n - [Use the Data Science Agent](/colab/docs/use-data-science-agent)\n- Learn [how Gemini for Google Cloud uses\n your data](/gemini/docs/discover/data-governance)."]]