gemini-cli README

The project's README from github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli. As one markdown file: README.md.

Gemini CLI

Gemini CLI CI Gemini CLI E2E (Chained) Version License View Code Wiki

Gemini CLI Screenshot

Gemini CLI is an open-source AI agent that brings the power of Gemini directly into your terminal. It provides lightweight access to Gemini, giving you the most direct path from your prompt to our model.

Learn all about Gemini CLI in our documentation.

🚀 Why Gemini CLI?

📦 Installation

See Gemini CLI installation, execution, and releases for recommended system specifications and a detailed installation guide.

Quick Install

Run instantly with npx

# Using npx (no installation required)
npx @google/gemini-cli

Install globally with npm

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Install globally with Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew install gemini-cli

Install globally with MacPorts (macOS)

sudo port install gemini-cli

Install with Anaconda (for restricted environments)

# Create and activate a new environment
conda create -y -n gemini_env -c conda-forge nodejs
conda activate gemini_env

# Install Gemini CLI globally via npm (inside the environment)
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Release Channels

See Releases for more details.

Preview

New preview releases will be published each week at UTC 23:59 on Tuesdays. These releases will not have been fully vetted and may contain regressions or other outstanding issues. Please help us test and install with preview tag.

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli@preview

Stable

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli@latest

Nightly

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli@nightly

📋 Key Features

Code Understanding & Generation

Automation & Integration

Advanced Capabilities

GitHub Integration

Integrate Gemini CLI directly into your GitHub workflows with Gemini CLI GitHub Action:

🔐 Authentication Options

Choose the authentication method that best fits your needs:

Option 1: Sign in with Google (OAuth login using your Google Account)

✨ Best for: Individual developers as well as anyone who has a Gemini Code Assist License. (see quota limits and terms of service for details)

Benefits:

Start Gemini CLI, then choose Sign in with Google and follow the browser authentication flow when prompted

gemini

If you are using a paid Code Assist License from your organization, remember to set the Google Cloud Project

# Set your Google Cloud Project
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT="YOUR_PROJECT_ID"
gemini

Option 2: Gemini API Key

✨ Best for: Developers who need specific model control or paid tier access

Benefits:

# Get your key from https://aistudio.google.com/apikey
export GEMINI_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
gemini

Option 3: Vertex AI

✨ Best for: Enterprise teams and production workloads

Benefits:

# Get your key from Google Cloud Console
export GOOGLE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
export GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI=true
gemini

For Google Workspace accounts and other authentication methods, see the authentication guide.

🚀 Getting Started

Basic Usage

Start in current directory

gemini

Include multiple directories

gemini --include-directories ../lib,../docs

Use specific model

gemini -m gemini-2.5-flash

Non-interactive mode for scripts

Get a simple text response:

gemini -p "Explain the architecture of this codebase"

For more advanced scripting, including how to parse JSON and handle errors, use the --output-format json flag to get structured output:

gemini -p "Explain the architecture of this codebase" --output-format json

For real-time event streaming (useful for monitoring long-running operations), use --output-format stream-json to get newline-delimited JSON events:

gemini -p "Run tests and deploy" --output-format stream-json

Quick Examples

Start a new project

cd new-project/
gemini
> Write me a Discord bot that answers questions using a FAQ.md file I will provide

Analyze existing code

git clone https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli
cd gemini-cli
gemini
> Give me a summary of all of the changes that went in yesterday

📚 Documentation

Getting Started

Core Features

Tools & Extensions

Advanced Topics

Troubleshooting & Support

Using MCP Servers

Configure MCP servers in ~/.gemini/settings.json to extend Gemini CLI with custom tools:

> @github List my open pull requests
> @slack Send a summary of today's commits to #dev channel
> @database Run a query to find inactive users

See the MCP Server Integration guide for setup instructions.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Gemini CLI is fully open source (Apache 2.0), and we encourage the community to:

See our Contributing Guide for development setup, coding standards, and how to submit pull requests.

Check our Official Roadmap for planned features and priorities.

📖 Resources

Uninstall

See the Uninstall Guide for removal instructions.

Star History Rank

Built with ❤️ by Google and the open source community

gemini-cli (google-gemini/gemini-cli)

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107.4K ·GitHub
Gemini-cli
What is this?Gemini CLI is an open-source AI agent that brings Google's Gemini models directly into your terminal, letting you chat, generate code, and run tools from the command line.
Is this a standalone terminal app or something I embed in my own code?It's a terminal-first CLI agent you run directly, not a library you import into another app.
How do I install and start it?Install via npx, npm install -g, Homebrew (macOS/Linux), MacPorts, or Anaconda, then just run the command to start chatting in your current directory.
Do I need an API key, or can I just sign in with Google?You can sign in with your Google account for the free tier, or use a Gemini API key, or connect via Vertex AI for enterprise workloads; no key management is needed with Google sign-in.
What's the catch with the free tier?Signing in with a personal Google account gives 60 requests/min and 1,000 requests/day; preview and nightly release channels may contain regressions, so stick to the stable 'latest' tag for reliability.
Can I extend it with custom tools or integrations?Yes, it supports MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers configured in ~/.gemini/settings.json, letting you add custom tools and even media generation via Imagen, Veo, or Lyria.
Does it integrate with GitHub?Yes, the Gemini CLI GitHub Action enables automated PR reviews, issue triage, and on-demand help by mentioning @gemini-cli in issues and pull requests.
Can I use it in scripts instead of interactively?Yes, non-interactive headless mode supports plain text, structured JSON, or streaming JSON output for automation workflows.
What model context window does it offer?Gemini 3 models provide a 1M token context window along with improved reasoning for large codebases and complex tasks.
What are similar projects?trae-agent, gitagent, Baize, copperhead, qwen-code, SystemOneHarness, docker-agent, turnstone
Which topics is it in?gemini-api, mcp-client, google, github-actions, model-context-protocol, agentic-ai, gemini, mcp-server, coding-agent, command-line-tool, agent, mcp
Creator
google-gemini
Size
101.7 MB
Stars
107.4K
Updated
CommitOct 16Releasev0.64.0Oct 13
Age
1y
Commits · 90 Days