Gemini CLI
Google's open-source terminal AI agent — Gemini 3, 1M context, free tier
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About Gemini CLI
Gemini CLI is an open-source AI coding agent for the terminal, built by Google and released under the Apache 2.0 license on June 25, 2025. Written in TypeScript and installable via npx or npm, it brings Gemini models directly into the command line for code understanding, generation, file manipulation, shell command execution, and automated workflows. It grew to 105,000+ GitHub stars and 14,000+ forks within a year — one of the fastest-growing open-source developer tools ever — with 6,000+ merged pull requests from external contributors before significant access changes in mid-2026.
Gemini CLI operates with a ReAct (reason and act) loop and built-in tools including Google Search grounding (live documentation and API reference retrieval during execution), file operations, shell commands, web fetching, and MCP (Model Context Protocol) support for custom integrations. A GEMINI.md file at the project root provides codebase structure and test commands to the agent — the same pattern that OpenAI Codex uses with AGENTS.md. The free tier originally offered 60 requests per minute and 1,000 requests per day via a personal Google account with access to Gemini 2.5 Pro and its 1M token context window.
On June 18, 2026, Google discontinued free, Google AI Pro, and Google AI Ultra access to Gemini CLI, redirecting individual users to Antigravity CLI (a closed-source Go rewrite). Enterprise customers with Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise licenses retain full Gemini CLI access with continued model updates and security patches. The repository remains an Apache 2.0-licensed open-source codebase and continues to receive daily nightly builds and weekly preview releases, though running a working fork without Google's backend requires an independent LLM endpoint. The project was donated to the Linux Foundation before the consumer access changes.
Key Features
- Open-source Apache 2.0 terminal agent installable via npx @google/gemini-cli or npm — no separate IDE required
- Gemini 3 with 1M token context window for understanding and reasoning over entire large codebases at once
- Google Search grounding built in — retrieves live documentation, API references, and technical answers during agent execution without extra configuration
- ReAct (reason and act) loop with built-in tools: file operations, shell command execution, web fetching, and extensible MCP server support
- GEMINI.md project file for persistent codebase context — define structure, test commands, and conventions the agent always follows
- VS Code companion extension — pairs the CLI with VS Code for shared context and richer IDE integration
- GitHub Action integration — runs PR reviews, issue triage, and @gemini-cli mentions directly in GitHub workflows
- Experimental Agent-to-Agent (A2A) server for multi-agent orchestration and programmatic SDK embedding
Pros
- 105,000+ GitHub stars in ~1 year — one of the fastest-growing open source developer tools in history
- Apache 2.0 license with source donated to Linux Foundation — maximum openness and community auditability
- Google Search grounding enables live documentation retrieval during execution — unique capability no other terminal agent has built-in
- 1M token context window with Gemini 3 — understands entire large codebases without chunking
- Daily nightly builds and weekly stable releases — most actively maintained open-source terminal agent
- Free for Gemini Code Assist Standard/Enterprise licensees — no additional per-seat cost for enterprise teams already on GCP
Cons
- Free consumer tier discontinued June 18, 2026 — individual users must migrate to Antigravity CLI or self-host a fork
- 28-day migration notice for shutting down a tool with 100K+ stars and 6K+ community contributors was widely criticized as too short
- Antigravity CLI replacement is closed-source — the open-source spirit of the original project was lost in the transition
- Self-hosting a working fork requires an independent LLM endpoint — non-trivial for most developers
- Gemini 3 model available in Preview only on enterprise tier — free tier was restricted to Flash models from March 2026 onward
- Enterprise-only access from June 2026 limits the product's relevance for individual developers
Pricing
Gemini CLI had a genuinely free tier from June 2025 to June 18, 2026: 60 model requests per minute and 1,000 requests per day via a personal Google account, providing access to Gemini 2.5 Pro and its 1M token context window at no cost. This made it the most generous free terminal coding agent in the market during that period.
Starting March 2026, Google restricted free-tier users to Flash models and prioritized enterprise traffic. On June 18, 2026, Google discontinued free, Google AI Pro, and Google AI Ultra access entirely. Existing enterprise customers with paid Gemini Code Assist Standard ($19/user/month annual) or Enterprise ($45/user/month annual) licenses retain full Gemini CLI access with model updates and security patches.
The Apache 2.0 source code remains publicly available. Individual users seeking free access are directed to Antigravity CLI (Google's closed-source Go-based replacement) or can self-host a fork with their own LLM API keys.
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Connect with Gemini CLI
Frequently Asked Questions
Google discontinued free, Google AI Pro, and Google AI Ultra access to Gemini CLI on June 18, 2026, redirecting consumer users to Antigravity CLI (a closed-source Go rewrite). Enterprise customers with paid Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise licenses retain full access with continued model updates and security patches. The Apache 2.0 source code remains public.
Antigravity CLI is Google's replacement for free-tier Gemini CLI users. Built in Go (faster startup, lower memory than the Node.js original), it retains core features including Agent Skills, Hooks, Subagents, and MCP support (as Antigravity Plugins). However, it is closed-source — unlike the Apache 2.0 Gemini CLI — and is available at antigravity.google/cli.
Yes. The Gemini CLI GitHub repository (github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli) remains an Apache 2.0 open-source project with daily nightly builds and weekly releases. However, without Google's backend serving model requests, the codebase functions only if you configure your own Gemini API key, connect to a compatible LLM endpoint, or wait for a community fork with an alternative backend.
Gemini CLI launched June 25, 2025 and reached 105,000+ GitHub stars and 14,000+ forks within roughly a year — making it one of the fastest-growing open-source developer tools in history, comparable to the early growth of tools like nvm and oh-my-zsh.
Gemini CLI still works for enterprise users with paid Gemini Code Assist Standard ($19/user/month annual) or Enterprise ($45/user/month annual) licenses. Individual developers without enterprise licenses can self-host a fork with their own Gemini API key (from Google AI Studio), or migrate to Antigravity CLI for the equivalent free experience.
