A Python Wrapper That Treats Bard Cookies as API Keys

What it does Bard-API is an unofficial Python wrapper that lets you query Google Bard by passing your browser’s __Secure-1PSID cookie as a token. It was built as a lightweight testing aid while waiting for an official API, and the README repeatedly warns that it is neither a free service nor a production solution.

The interesting bit The project opens with Development Status :: 7 - Inactive and immediately redirects you to the author’s newer python-gemini-api, because Bard has become Gemini. It is a refreshingly honest reverse-engineering tool that admits its own obsolescence from the first line.

Key highlights

• Reverse-engineered from Bard’s web interface, drawing on earlier work by acheong08
• Authenticates via the __Secure-1PSID cookie, which the README notes changes every 15–20 minutes
• Supports proxies, reusable sessions, async clients, image prompts, and text-to-speech responses
• Author explicitly recommends using official PaLM-2 or Google Generative AI APIs if you have access
• Now superseded by Gemini-API, reflecting Bard’s rebranding to Gemini

Caveats

• Cookie-based authentication is inherently fragile; sessions expire frequently and rate limits shift without warning
• The author discourages any use beyond testing, and notes that headless automation is challenging

Verdict Treat this as a historical artifact for studying pre-official-API LLM access, or follow the README’s own advice and skip straight to the official Gemini API.