How to Call Google Gemini API from Next.js (Free Tier, No Backend Needed)

Here's how I integrated Google Gemini's free API into a Next.js app - calling it directly from the client with zero backend cost. Why Client-Side? I initially used a serverless function (API route) to call Gemini. But on Netlify's free tier, functions have a 10-second timeout . Gemini sometimes takes 5-8 seconds, and with cold starts, it was hitting 502 errors. Solution: Call the Gemini API directly from the browser. Since I'm using the free tier API key (rate-limited by Google), there's no secu