microsoft/semantic-kernel · error · InvalidOperationException

Binary content does not contain any data or uri.

Error message

Binary content does not contain any data or uri.

What it means

Thrown by CreateGeminiPartFromBinary when a BinaryContent has neither usable Data (null or empty) nor a Uri. Gemini needs either inline bytes or a file URI, so the connector cannot build a part. This is the terminal fallback after both branches are skipped.

Source

Thrown at dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.Google/Core/Gemini/Models/GeminiRequest.cs:416

                    MimeType = GetMimeTypeFromBinaryContent(binaryContent),
                    InlineData = Convert.ToBase64String(binaryContent.Data.Value.ToArray())
                }
            };
        }

        if (binaryContent.Uri is not null)
        {
            return new GeminiPart
            {
                FileData = new GeminiPart.FileDataPart
                {
                    MimeType = GetMimeTypeFromBinaryContent(binaryContent),
                    FileUri = binaryContent.Uri ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Binary content URI is empty.")
                }
            };
        }

        throw new InvalidOperationException("Binary content does not contain any data or uri.");
    }

    private static string GetMimeTypeFromBinaryContent(BinaryContent binaryContent)
    {
        return binaryContent.MimeType
               ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Binary content MimeType is empty.");
    }

    private static void AddConfiguration(GeminiPromptExecutionSettings executionSettings, GeminiRequest request)
    {
        request.Configuration = new ConfigurationElement
        {
            Temperature = executionSettings.Temperature,
            TopP = executionSettings.TopP,
            TopK = executionSettings.TopK,
            MaxOutputTokens = executionSettings.MaxTokens,
            StopSequences = executionSettings.StopSequences,
            CandidateCount = executionSettings.CandidateCount,

View on GitHub (pinned to c028a0c7dc)

Solutions

1. Populate BinaryContent with either Data (bytes/stream) or a Uri before adding to the request.
2. Verify the data source (file/URL) loaded successfully before constructing the content.
3. Guard: check binaryContent.Data is non-empty or binaryContent.Uri is non-null before invoking.

Example fix

// before
var bin = new BinaryContent(mimeType: "application/pdf");  // no data, no uri

// after
var bytes = await File.ReadAllBytesAsync("doc.pdf");
var bin = new BinaryContent(bytes, mimeType: "application/pdf");
// or: var bin = new BinaryContent(uri: "https://.../doc.pdf", mimeType: "application/pdf");

static void EnsureBinaryUsable(BinaryContent c)
{
    if ((c.Data is null || c.Data.Value.IsEmpty) && c.Uri is null)
        throw new InvalidOperationException("BinaryContent needs Data or Uri before sending to Gemini.");
}

static bool HasBinaryPayload(BinaryContent c)
    => (c.Data is { IsEmpty: false }) || c.Uri is not null;

try { await kernel.InvokePromptAsync(prompt); }
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("Binary content does not contain any data or uri."))
{ logger.LogError(ex, "BinaryContent was empty; attach data or a URI."); throw; }

When it happens

Trigger: Adding a BinaryContent to a Gemini request that was constructed without Data and without Uri; e.g. a placeholder or one whose stream load failed leaving Data null.

Common situations: Deserializing a BinaryContent from JSON missing both fields; a media loader that returns an empty content object on error; forgetting to attach bytes/uri after construction.

Related errors

• Binary content MimeType is empty.
• MaxTokens {maxTokens} is not valid, the value must be greate
• Chat history can't contain only system messages.
• Auto-invocation of tool calls may only be used with a {nameo
• GeminiPart is invalid. One and only one property among Text,

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/semantic-kernel@c028a0c7dc (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7eefb911b861d9e7. Report an issue: GitHub.