Gemini CLI brings Google’s AI agent to your terminal for free

Google’s latest AI tool for developers is Gemini CLI, which brings 2.5 Pro to your command line interface or terminal.

Currently in preview, this AI agent is open-sourced and provides “lightweight access to Gemini” on Mac, Windows, and Linux in your terminal of choice. Beyond code understanding, it offers file manipulation, command execution, and troubleshooting with a rich interface. Other built-in tools include:

• Ground prompts with Google Search so you can fetch web pages and provide real-time, external context to the model
• Extend Gemini CLI’s capabilities through built-in support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) or bundled extensions
• Customize prompts and instructions to tailor Gemini for your specific needs and workflows
• Automate tasks and integrate with existing workflows by invoking Gemini CLI non-interactively within your scripts

Google touts use cases like writing and explaining code, debugging issues, managing projects, and getting help from documentation using natural-language queries. Besides coding, this agent can be used for image and content generation, deep research, problem solving, and task management.

Gemini CLI is fully open-sourced (Apache 2.0) at github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli and Google invites developers to contribute by “reporting bugs, suggesting features, continuously improving security practices and submitting code improvements.”

• Post your issues or submit your ideas in our GitHub repo.

On the security front, Google also notes how users have to confirm actions initially, with multi-layered sandboxing leveraged.

Gemini CLI is available “free-of-charge” with a personal Google Account and free Gemini Code Assist license. This gives you access to Gemini 2.5 Pro and its 1 million token context window. Google touts the “industry’s largest allowance” with “60 model requests per minute and 1,000 requests per day at no charge.”

Professional developers can use a Google AI Studio or Vertex AI key for usage-based billing, as well as a Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise license. Google has also integrated Gemini CLI with Gemini Code Assist.

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