Welcome to Gemini CLI documentation

This documentation provides a comprehensive guide to installing, using, and developing Gemini CLI, a tool that lets you interact with Gemini models through a command-line interface.

Gemini CLI overview

Gemini CLI brings the capabilities of Gemini models to your terminal in an interactive Read-Eval-Print Loop (REPL) environment. Gemini CLI consists of a client-side application (packages/cli) that communicates with a local server (packages/core), which in turn manages requests to the Gemini API and its AI models. Gemini CLI also contains a variety of tools for tasks such as performing file system operations, running shells, and web fetching, which are managed by packages/core.

Navigating the documentation

This documentation is organized into the following sections:

Overview

• Architecture overview: Understand the high-level design of Gemini CLI, including its components and how they interact.
• Contribution guide: Information for contributors and developers, including setup, building, testing, and coding conventions.

Get started

• Gemini CLI quickstart: Let's get started with Gemini CLI.
• Gemini 3 Pro on Gemini CLI: Learn how to enable and use Gemini 3.
• Authentication: Authenticate to Gemini CLI.
• Configuration: Learn how to configure the CLI.
• Installation: Install and run Gemini CLI.
• Examples: Example usage of Gemini CLI.

CLI

• Introduction: Gemini CLI: Overview of the command-line interface.
• Commands: Description of available CLI commands.
• Checkpointing: Documentation for the checkpointing feature.
• Custom commands: Create your own commands and shortcuts for frequently used prompts.
• Enterprise: Gemini CLI for enterprise.
• Headless mode: Use Gemini CLI programmatically for scripting and automation.
• Keyboard shortcuts: A reference for all keyboard shortcuts to improve your workflow.
• Model selection: Select the model used to process your commands with /model.
• Sandbox: Isolate tool execution in a secure, containerized environment.
• Settings: Configure various aspects of the CLI's behavior and appearance with /settings.
• Telemetry: Overview of telemetry in the CLI.
• Themes: Themes for Gemini CLI.
• Token caching: Token caching and optimization.
• Trusted Folders: An overview of the Trusted Folders security feature.
• Tutorials: Tutorials for Gemini CLI.
• Uninstall: Methods for uninstalling the Gemini CLI.

Core

• Introduction: Gemini CLI core: Information about Gemini CLI core.
• Memport: Using the Memory Import Processor.
• Tools API: Information on how the core manages and exposes tools.
• Policy Engine: Use the Policy Engine for fine-grained control over tool execution.

Tools

• Introduction: Gemini CLI tools: Information about Gemini CLI's tools.
• File system tools: Documentation for the read_file and write_file tools.
• Shell tool: Documentation for the run_shell_command tool.
• Web fetch tool: Documentation for the web_fetch tool.
• Web search tool: Documentation for the google_web_search tool.
• Memory tool: Documentation for the save_memory tool.
• Todo tool: Documentation for the write_todos tool.
• MCP servers: Using MCP servers with Gemini CLI.

Extensions

• Introduction: Extensions: How to extend the CLI with new functionality.
• Get Started with extensions: Learn how to build your own extension.
• Extension releasing: How to release Gemini CLI extensions.

Hooks

• Hooks: Intercept and customize Gemini CLI behavior at key lifecycle points.
• Writing Hooks: Learn how to create your first hook with a comprehensive example.
• Best Practices: Security, performance, and debugging guidelines for hooks.

IDE integration

• Introduction to IDE integration: Connect the CLI to your editor.
• IDE companion extension spec: Spec for building IDE companion extensions.

Development

• NPM: Details on how the project's packages are structured.
• Releases: Information on the project's releases and deployment cadence.
• Changelog: Highlights and notable changes to Gemini CLI.
• Integration tests: Information about the integration testing framework used in this project.
• Issue and PR automation: A detailed overview of the automated processes we use to manage and triage issues and pull requests.

Support

• FAQ: Frequently asked questions.
• Troubleshooting guide: Find solutions to common problems.
• Quota and pricing: Learn about the free tier and paid options.
• Terms of service and privacy notice: Information on the terms of service and privacy notices applicable to your use of Gemini CLI.

We hope this documentation helps you make the most of Gemini CLI!