Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite on Vertex: does maxOutputTokens bound response + thinking?

Google Cloud Build with AI Generative AI & Foundational Models
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I was referred here from the Google AI Developers Forum because this question concerns the Vertex API:

For the managed gemini-3.5-flash-lite publisher model on Vertex/Agent Platform v1 generateContent (not the Developer API, Live API, or a tuned endpoint), could you clarify the provider-enforced token limit for this configuration?

  • generationConfig.maxOutputTokens = G
  • thinkingConfig.thinkingLevel = MINIMAL
  • Single-turn, non-streaming text/JSON response
  • Input: silent video plus text; no tools, grounding, or explicit cache
  1. Does this enforce usageMetadata.thoughtsTokenCount + usageMetadata.candidatesTokenCount <= G? Please cite the official specification applicable to this exact model and API.
  2. If thinking tokens are outside that limit, what provider-enforced maximum bounds all chargeable thinking tokens per request under this configuration?
  3. If the client times out or disconnects while generation continues server-side, does the same bound still apply, and how can the final billable usage be obtained?

We have not enabled inference to test this assumption. We need a documented per-request bound before enabling it, rather than relying on an observed sample or a client timeout as a spending limit. If any model or configuration identifier above is not applicable, please identify the supported equivalent explicitly.

Thank you.