Gemini 2.5 Flash Image Preview has shut down: clean up old references

The shutdown

Google shut down gemini-2.5-flash-image-preview on January 15, 2026, following its earlier retirement notice.

Look beyond the main application

After a migration, old model names often remain in documentation, saved requests, and dormant jobs. Search these surfaces and mark historical examples clearly. Otherwise a new colleague may copy an outdated request into an otherwise healthy integration.

Inspect scheduled jobs and queues that retain the model ID selected when the job was created. Decide whether an old job can be safely re-created with an available model or needs a new review of its output expectations.

Do not retry a retired identifier indefinitely

Classify this as a configuration problem that requires a decision. Repeatedly resending the same request will not restore a retired model. Present an actionable error to the operator and retain enough context to rebuild the job.

When selecting a replacement, check its request format and compare representative outputs. Changing a string without reviewing the resulting assets is not a complete migration.

Close the retirement task

A useful completion record includes the last known dependency, its replacement, and the checks performed. Link current documentation from old internal examples so future developers can tell which information remains safe to use.