diff --git a/src/utils/gemini-spam-check.ts b/src/utils/gemini-spam-check.ts
index 6213534..fbf5721 100644
--- a/src/utils/gemini-spam-check.ts
+++ b/src/utils/gemini-spam-check.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,29 @@ import { GoogleGenerativeAI } from "@google/generative-ai";
 
 const GEMINI_API_KEY = process.env.GEMINI_API_KEY;
 if (!GEMINI_API_KEY) {
+  console.error("[Gemini] GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable is not set.");
   throw new Error("GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable is not set.");
 }
 const genAI = new GoogleGenerativeAI(GEMINI_API_KEY);
 
 export async function isSpamWithGemini(message: string): Promise<boolean> {
-  const model = genAI.getGenerativeModel({ model: "gemini-1.5-flash" });
-  const prompt = `Is the following message spam? Reply with only 'yes' or 'no'.\n\nMessage:\n${message}`;
-  const result = await model.generateContent(prompt);
-  const response = result.response.text().trim().toLowerCase();
-  return response.startsWith("yes");
+  try {
+    console.log('[Gemini] Attempting spam check...');
+    const model = genAI.getGenerativeModel({ model: "gemini-1.5-flash" });
+    const prompt = `Is the following message spam? Reply with only 'yes' or 'no'.\n\nMessage:\n${message}`;
+    const result = await model.generateContent(prompt);
+    const response = result.response.text().trim().toLowerCase();
+    console.log(`[Gemini] Spam check result: ${response}`);
+    return response.startsWith("yes");
+  } catch (err: any) {
+    if (err?.response?.status === 401) {
+      console.error('[Gemini] API key expired or invalid.');
+    } else if (err?.code === 'ENOTFOUND' || err?.code === 'ECONNREFUSED') {
+      console.error('[Gemini] Service not reachable:', err.message);
+    } else {
+      console.error('[Gemini] Error during spam check:', err);
+    }
+    // Fail open: if Gemini is not reachable, do not block the message as spam
+    return false;
+  }
 } 
\ No newline at end of file