How to prevent Gemini from calling deprecated functions from its memory?

Preventing Gemini from Invoking Deprecated Functions in Custom Libraries: Best Practices and Solutions

When integrating external libraries into your development environment, maintaining code accuracy and efficiency is crucial. Recent experiences have highlighted a common challenge: the Gemini IDE, specifically version 2.5 Pro, occasionally generates code that calls deprecated or outdated functions from libraries such as llama.cpp, even after those functions have been updated or replaced.

Understanding the Issue

In a typical setup, a developer clones the llama.cpp repository directly into their project directory to utilize its functions. Despite updating the cloned library with the latest functions, Gemini sometimes continues to invoke older, deprecated methods. This behavior suggests that the IDE might be referencing its internal historical memory or cached information rather than the current state of the library files.

Common Causes

• Internal Code Caching: The IDE may cache previous versions of the library, leading to outdated function calls being suggested during code generation.
• Incomplete or Incorrect Inclusion: The library may not be properly linked or recognized by Gemini, causing it to fall back on cached data.
• Prompt or Code Generation Patterns: Automated code suggestions might favor older functions based on prior patterns or templates.

Strategies to Address the Problem

1. Ensure Proper Library Integration

2. Confirm that the cloned llama.cpp repository is correctly integrated into your project’s include paths. Check your project settings to ensure that Gemini recognizes the latest library files.

3. Remove any previous versions or older copies of llama.cpp from your project’s directories to prevent confusion.

4. Clear IDE Cache and Reconfigure

5. Clear Gemini’s cache or restart the IDE to force it to re-index the library files.

6. Rebuild the project index or refresh the symbol database to update Gemini’s understanding of the current functions.

7. Use Explicit Prompts or Code Templates

8. When leveraging gemini’s code generation features, craft prompts that specify the exact functions to use, including their signatures.

9. For example, prompting with detailed instructions like “Use the latest llama.cpp function foo() defined in the included library directory” can guide the IDE towards current code.

10. Disable or Limit Code Completion and Autogeneration for Libraries

11. Configure Gemini to exclude certain directories from its code completion or suggestion systems, reducing the chances of outdated suggestions.

12. Manual Code Updates and Verification

13. Manually verify which functions are being called in auto-generated code.

14. Replace deprecated calls