Gemini CLI — Google AI Coding Agent in Terminal

What is Gemini CLI?

Gemini CLI is Google's official command-line AI coding agent, powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro with 1 million token context. It is Google's answer to Claude Code and Codex CLI — a terminal-based AI that can read, write, and reason about code. Free for Google account holders with 60 requests/minute. Built-in MCP support and deep Google ecosystem integration.

Answer-Ready: Gemini CLI is Google's terminal AI coding agent. Powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro with 1M context window. Free 60 req/min for Google users. MCP server support, Google Workspace integration, multi-modal (images + code). Open-source under Apache 2.0. 50k+ GitHub stars.

Best for: Developers wanting a free, powerful CLI coding agent with Google integration. Works with: Any codebase, MCP servers, Google Workspace. Setup time: Under 2 minutes.

Core Features

1. Free Tier (Generous)

2. MCP Server Support

// ~/.gemini/settings.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "."]
    }
  }
}

3. Multi-Modal

# Analyze screenshots
gemini "what's wrong with this UI?" --image screenshot.png

# Read diagrams
gemini "explain this architecture" --image diagram.png

4. Google Integration

• Google Search grounding for up-to-date answers
• Google Workspace access via GWS MCP
• Vertex AI for enterprise deployment

5. Extensions System

# Install extensions
gemini extensions install togethercomputer/skills
gemini extensions install google-workspace-mcp

Gemini CLI vs Claude Code vs Codex CLI

FAQ

Q: Is it really free? A: Yes, 60 requests/minute with a Google account. No credit card needed. Paid tier available for higher limits via Vertex AI.

Q: How does the 1M context compare? A: Largest context window of any CLI coding agent. Can process entire large codebases in a single context.

Q: Can I use it with non-Google models? A: Gemini CLI is Gemini-only by default. Use Bifrost CLI to route to other providers.