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Build a Gemini-Powered PaperQA2 Agent for Deep Scientific Literature Analysis

'Step-by-step guide to create a Gemini-powered PaperQA2 agent that can query, compare and cite multiple research papers with example code and best practices.'

Overview

This tutorial shows how to assemble an advanced PaperQA2 research agent that uses Google Gemini to analyze scientific literature. The agent processes multiple PDFs, retrieves evidence, answers complex questions, runs multi-question workflows, and performs comparative analyses across papers.

Setup and configuration

Install dependencies and configure the Gemini API key, either in Google Colab or a local notebook. The example below sets environment variables and configures the Google Generative AI SDK.

!pip install paper-qa>=5 google-generativeai requests pypdf2 -q
import os
import asyncio
import tempfile
import requests
from pathlib import Path
from paperqa import Settings, ask, agent_query
from paperqa.settings import AgentSettings
import google.generativeai as genai
 
 
GEMINI_API_KEY = "Use Your Own API Key Here"
os.environ["GEMINI_API_KEY"] = GEMINI_API_KEY
 
 
genai.configure(api_key=GEMINI_API_KEY)
print(" Gemini API key configured successfully!")

Download sample papers

For demonstration we download several well-known AI/ML papers into a sample_papers folder so the agent has documents to index and query.

def download_sample_papers():
   """Download sample AI/ML research papers for demonstration"""
   papers = {
       "attention_is_all_you_need.pdf": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762.pdf",
       "bert_paper.pdf": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/1810.04805.pdf",
       "gpt3_paper.pdf": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.14165.pdf"
   }
  
   papers_dir = Path("sample_papers")
   papers_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
  
   print(" Downloading sample research papers...")
   for filename, url in papers.items():
       filepath = papers_dir / filename
       if not filepath.exists():
           try:
               response = requests.get(url, stream=True, timeout=30)
               response.raise_for_status()
               with open(filepath, 'wb') as f:
                   for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=8192):
                       f.write(chunk)
               print(f" Downloaded: {filename}")
           except Exception as e:
               print(f" Failed to download {filename}: {e}")
       else:
           print(f" Already exists: {filename}")
  
   return str(papers_dir)
 
 
papers_directory = download_sample_papers()

Create Gemini-specific settings

Define optimized PaperQA2 Settings to use Gemini for the LLM, summary generation and embeddings. Tweak search_count, evidence_k and parsing parameters for your workload.

def create_gemini_settings(paper_dir: str, temperature: float = 0.1):
   """Create optimized settings for PaperQA2 with Gemini models"""
  
   return Settings(
       llm="gemini/gemini-1.5-flash",
       summary_llm="gemini/gemini-1.5-flash",
      
       agent=AgentSettings(
           agent_llm="gemini/gemini-1.5-flash",
           search_count=6, 
           timeout=300.0, 
       ),
      
       embedding="gemini/text-embedding-004",
      
       temperature=temperature,
       paper_directory=paper_dir,
      
       answer=dict(
           evidence_k=8,            
           answer_max_sources=4,      
           evidence_summary_length="about 80 words",
           answer_length="about 150 words, but can be longer",
           max_concurrent_requests=2,
       ),
      
       parsing=dict(
           chunk_size=4000,
           overlap=200,
       ),
      
       verbosity=1,
   )

Agent implementation

The PaperQAAgent class encapsulates the settings and provides async methods to ask questions, run multi-question analyses and comparative workflows. It prints answers and cited sources.

class PaperQAAgent:
   """Advanced AI Agent for scientific literature analysis using PaperQA2"""
  
   def __init__(self, papers_directory: str, temperature: float = 0.1):
       self.settings = create_gemini_settings(papers_directory, temperature)
       self.papers_dir = papers_directory
       print(f" PaperQA Agent initialized with papers from: {papers_directory}")
      
   async def ask_question(self, question: str, use_agent: bool = True):
       """Ask a question about the research papers"""
       print(f"\n Question: {question}")
       print(" Searching through research papers...")
      
       try:
           if use_agent:
               response = await agent_query(query=question, settings=self.settings)
           else:
               response = ask(question, settings=self.settings)
              
           return response
          
       except Exception as e:
           print(f" Error processing question: {e}")
           return None
  
   def display_answer(self, response):
       """Display the answer with formatting"""
       if response is None:
           print(" No response received")
           return
          
       print("\n" + "="*60)
       print(" ANSWER:")
       print("="*60)
      
       answer_text = getattr(response, 'answer', str(response))
       print(f"\n{answer_text}")
      
       contexts = getattr(response, 'contexts', getattr(response, 'context', []))
       if contexts:
           print("\n" + "-"*40)
           print(" SOURCES USED:")
           print("-"*40)
           for i, context in enumerate(contexts[:3], 1):
               context_name = getattr(context, 'name', getattr(context, 'doc', f'Source {i}'))
               context_text = getattr(context, 'text', getattr(context, 'content', str(context)))
               print(f"\n{i}. {context_name}")
               print(f"   Text preview: {context_text[:150]}...")
  
   async def multi_question_analysis(self, questions: list):
       """Analyze multiple questions in sequence"""
       results = {}
       for i, question in enumerate(questions, 1):
           print(f"\n Processing question {i}/{len(questions)}")
           response = await self.ask_question(question)
           results = response
          
           if response:
               print(f" Completed: {question[:50]}...")
           else:
               print(f" Failed: {question[:50]}...")
              
       return results
  
   async def comparative_analysis(self, topic: str):
       """Perform comparative analysis across papers"""
       questions = [
           f"What are the key innovations in {topic}?",
           f"What are the limitations of current {topic} approaches?",
           f"What future research directions are suggested for {topic}?",
       ]
      
       print(f"\n Starting comparative analysis on: {topic}")
       return await self.multi_question_analysis(questions)

Demos and workflows

The tutorial includes basic, advanced multi-question and comparative demos. Each demo initializes the agent and runs queries to illustrate common research tasks.

async def basic_demo():
   """Demonstrate basic PaperQA functionality"""
   agent = PaperQAAgent(papers_directory)
  
   question = "What is the transformer architecture and why is it important?"
   response = await agent.ask_question(question)
   agent.display_answer(response)
 
 
print(" Running basic demonstration...")
await basic_demo()
 
 
async def advanced_demo():
   """Demonstrate advanced multi-question analysis"""
   agent = PaperQAAgent(papers_directory, temperature=0.2)
  
   questions = [
       "How do attention mechanisms work in transformers?",
       "What are the computational challenges of large language models?",
       "How has pre-training evolved in natural language processing?"
   ]
  
   print(" Running advanced multi-question analysis...")
   results = await agent.multi_question_analysis(questions)
  
   for question, response in results.items():
       print(f"\n{'='*80}")
       print(f"Q: {question}")
       print('='*80)
       if response:
           answer_text = getattr(response, 'answer', str(response))
           display_text = answer_text[:300] + "..." if len(answer_text) > 300 else answer_text
           print(display_text)
       else:
           print(" No answer available")
 
 
print("\n Running advanced demonstration...")
await advanced_demo()
 
 
async def research_comparison_demo():
   """Demonstrate comparative research analysis"""
   agent = PaperQAAgent(papers_directory)
  
   results = await agent.comparative_analysis("attention mechanisms in neural networks")
  
   print("\n" + "="*80)
   print(" COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS RESULTS")
   print("="*80)
  
   for question, response in results.items():
       print(f"\n {question}")
       print("-" * 50)
       if response:
           answer_text = getattr(response, 'answer', str(response))
           print(answer_text)
       else:
           print(" Analysis unavailable")
       print()
 
 
print(" Running comparative research analysis...")
await research_comparison_demo()

Interactive agent and utilities

An interactive query helper allows ad-hoc questions and optional source display. The tutorial also prints usage tips and provides a saver to persist results.

def create_interactive_agent():
   """Create an interactive agent for custom queries"""
   agent = PaperQAAgent(papers_directory)
  
   async def query(question: str, show_sources: bool = True):
       """Interactive query function"""
       response = await agent.ask_question(question)
      
       if response:
           answer_text = getattr(response, 'answer', str(response))
           print(f"\n Answer:\n{answer_text}")
          
           if show_sources:
               contexts = getattr(response, 'contexts', getattr(response, 'context', []))
               if contexts:
                   print(f"\n Based on {len(contexts)} sources:")
                   for i, ctx in enumerate(contexts[:3], 1):
                       ctx_name = getattr(ctx, 'name', getattr(ctx, 'doc', f'Source {i}'))
                       print(f"  {i}. {ctx_name}")
       else:
           print(" Sorry, I couldn't find an answer to that question.")
          
       return response
  
   return query
 
 
interactive_query = create_interactive_agent()
 
 
print("\n Interactive agent ready! You can now ask custom questions:")
print("Example: await interactive_query('How do transformers handle long sequences?')")
 
 
def print_usage_tips():
   """Print helpful usage tips"""
   tips = """
    USAGE TIPS FOR PAPERQA2 WITH GEMINI:
  
   1.  Question Formulation:
      - Be specific about what you want to know
      - Ask about comparisons, mechanisms, or implications
      - Use domain-specific terminology
  
   2.  Model Configuration:
      - Gemini 1.5 Flash is free and reliable
      - Adjust temperature (0.0-1.0) for creativity vs precision
      - Use smaller chunk_size for better processing
  
   3.  Document Management:
      - Add PDFs to the papers directory
      - Use meaningful filenames
      - Mix different types of papers for better coverage
  
   4.  Performance Optimization:
      - Limit concurrent requests for free tier
      - Use smaller evidence_k values for faster responses
      - Cache results by saving the agent state
  
   5.  Advanced Usage:
      - Chain multiple questions for deeper analysis
      - Use comparative analysis for research reviews
      - Combine with other tools for complete workflows
  
    Example Questions to Try:
   - "Compare the attention mechanisms in BERT vs GPT models"
   - "What are the computational bottlenecks in transformer training?"
   - "How has pre-training evolved from word2vec to modern LLMs?"
   - "What are the key innovations that made transformers successful?"
   """
   print(tips)
 
 
print_usage_tips()
 
 
def save_analysis_results(results: dict, filename: str = "paperqa_analysis.txt"):
   """Save analysis results to a file"""
   with open(filename, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
       f.write("PaperQA2 Analysis Results\n")
       f.write("=" * 50 + "\n\n")
      
       for question, response in results.items():
           f.write(f"Question: {question}\n")
           f.write("-" * 30 + "\n")
           if response:
               answer_text = getattr(response, 'answer', str(response))
               f.write(f"Answer: {answer_text}\n")
              
               contexts = getattr(response, 'contexts', getattr(response, 'context', []))
               if contexts:
                   f.write(f"\nSources ({len(contexts)}):\n")
                   for i, ctx in enumerate(contexts, 1):
                       ctx_name = getattr(ctx, 'name', getattr(ctx, 'doc', f'Source {i}'))
                       f.write(f"  {i}. {ctx_name}\n")
           else:
               f.write("Answer: No response available\n")
           f.write("\n" + "="*50 + "\n\n")
  
   print(f" Results saved to: {filename}")
 
 
print(" Tutorial complete! You now have a fully functional PaperQA2 AI Agent with Gemini.")

What you get

By following this tutorial you get a ready-to-run agent that: indexes PDFs, runs Gemini-powered retrieval and generation, cites sources, supports multi-step analyses and comparative queries, and saves results for later review. Use the settings and usage tips to tune performance and fidelity for your research corpus.

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