# Ideate with Idea Generation agent

> [!WARNING]
>
> **Preview
> --- Idea Generation**
>
>
> This feature is
>
> subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section of the
> [Service Specific
> Terms](https://docs.cloud.google.com/terms/service-terms#1).
>
> Pre-GA features are available "as is" and might have limited support.
>
> For more information, see the
> [launch stage descriptions](https://cloud.google.com/products/#product-launch-stages).

Idea Generation is a Made by Google agent that helps with innovation and
problem-solving for enterprise users. It combines advanced AI with a unique
tournament-style competition framework to generate and rank ideas.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Made by Google agents aren't available in the Gemini Enterprise Frontline edition.

## Overview

The Idea Generation agent is designed to:

- Generate novel ideas: Goes beyond brainstorming to produce unique concepts across various domains, such as marketing, product development, and engineering. The agent generates a large volume of ideas.
- Rank ideas effectively: Utilizes a tournament-style system and a user-defined criteria to evaluate and rank the generated ideas.
- Engage users: Empowers its users to actively participate in the ideation process because users can define and refine the criteria of the ideation session.
- Integrate with Gemini Enterprise: Functions as a standalone agent within the Gemini Enterprise app.
- Integrate with NotebookLM Enterprise: Lets you export your ideas to a [NotebookLM Enterprise](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini/enterprise/notebooklm-enterprise/docs/overview) notebook.

## Before you begin

Before you begin, consider the following regarding exporting your ideas to
NotebookLM Enterprise:

- The content in the Idea Generation agent persists for 60 days. If you want to store any of the generated ideas for longer than that, export them to NotebookLM Enterprise.
- Because of access control, the notebooks must not be shared before you export the ideas, and you can't share after you export the ideas. In other words, any notebook that contains exported ideas can't be shared. For more information, see [Share the notebooks](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini/enterprise/notebooklm-enterprise/docs/share-notebooks).

## Data residency security controls

The Idea Generation search services are centralized and operate
exclusively in the `global` region. Because you can't have the agent operate in
the US or EU multi-regions, the Idea Generation agent can't support data
residency (DRZ) security controls.

For more information about DRZ, see
[Security controls](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini/enterprise/docs/compliance-security-controls).

## Create an ideation session to generate research ideas

### App

To start an idea generation session, do the following:

1. In the app navigation menu, click **Agents**.
2. Click **View all agents**.
3. Click **Idea Generation**.
4. In the Idea Generation agent, click **Sources** to select the data sources that are available for the agent to work with.
5. Start typing your goal and press **Enter** or click **Submit**.

   - For best results, describe your goal as clearly as possible. For example, instead of "new app to track restaurant inventory", try elaborating as "new android app to track inventory in a mid-scale family-owned restaurant".
   - Specify what makes an idea "good". Include any constraints or
     requirements. For example:

     - "Novelty and feasibility are crucial."
     - "The idea must be testable with users within 2 weeks."
     - "The idea should align with the restaurant's sustainability goals"

   The Idea Generation agent processes your goal and drafts a list of requirements
   based on your goal.
6. To refine the suggested requirements, enter more details.
   The Idea Generation agent generates edits the set of requirements.

7. To let the agents start generating ideas based on
   the defined requirements, click **Start session**.

   Any session that's in progress is listed in your web app's **Chats**
   section.   

   The agent starts generating the ideas. After the ideas are
   generated, the agent conducts a tournament between the ideas.
8. To open the ideation session, click **Open**.

   It can take some time to generate the entire list containing
   all the generated ideas and their rating and ranking.

   The session details open with a list of ideas ordered according to their
   ranking---highest to lowest.
9. After the ideas are populated, select each idea to view its overview and
   description.

   The list might continue to grow until the tournament is finished.

   > [!NOTE]
   > **Note:** The content in the Idea Generation agent persists for 60 days. If you want to store any of the generated ideas for longer than that, export them to NotebookLM Enterprise.

10. To export the contents of an idea to a NotebookLM Enterprise
    notebook, hover over the idea in the list and click
    **Add to notebook**. You can either add the idea to an existing notebook or
    add a new notebook instance.

11. In the app navigation menu, click **NotebookLM** and select the notebook to which
    you exported the idea.

    The idea is added as a source to the selected notebook. You can interact
    with the notebook to understand the idea better, create an audio overview,
    and generate reports in collaboration with your other sources.

    > [!NOTE]
    > **Note:** Because of access control, the notebooks must not be shared before you export the ideas, and you can't share after you export the ideas. For more information, see [Share the notebooks](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini/enterprise/notebooklm-enterprise/docs/share-notebooks).