Self-Taught Dev Catches Silent google-genai Version Downgrade During Flask-Migrate Setup

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A self-taught Python developer in Japan discovered a version mismatch in the google-genai library while preparing to integrate Flask-Migrate into a sales data application. Running pip install -r requirements.txt silently downgraded google-genai from version 2.10.0, used during local development, to the older 2.4.0 declared in requirements.txt. The discrepancy posed risks including missing methods, inconsistent API behavior, and unreliable deployments across environments. The developer resolved the issue by explicitly reinstalling version 2.10.0, updating requirements.txt to match, and verifying application behavior through manual Gemini API testing and automated pytest checks. The incident highlights how untracked dependency changes can quietly destabilize a project even when the application appears to be running normally.

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