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Get Started with Gemini CLI

Welcome to Gemini CLI! This guide will help you install, configure, and start using the Gemini CLI to enhance your workflow right from your terminal.

Quickstart: Install, authenticate, configure, and use Gemini CLI

Section titled “Quickstart: Install, authenticate, configure, and use Gemini CLI”

Gemini CLI brings the power of advanced language models directly to your command line interface. As an AI-powered assistant, Gemini CLI can help you with a variety of tasks, from understanding and generating code to reviewing and editing documents.

The standard method to install and run Gemini CLI uses npm:

Terminal window
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Once Gemini CLI is installed, run Gemini CLI from your command line:

Terminal window
gemini

For more deployment options, see Gemini CLI Execution and Deployment.

To begin using Gemini CLI, you must authenticate with a Google service. The most straightforward authentication method uses your existing Google account:

  1. Run Gemini CLI after installation:
    Terminal window
    gemini
  2. When asked “How would you like to authenticate for this project?” select 1. Login with Google.
  3. Select your Google account.
  4. Click on Sign in.

For other authentication options and information, see GeminI CLI Authentication Setup.

Gemini CLI offers several ways to configure its behavior, including environment variables, command-line arguments, and settings files.

To explore your configuration options, see Gemini CLI Configuration.

Once installed and authenticated, you can start using Gemini CLI by issuing commands and prompts in your terminal. Ask it to generate code, explain files, and more.

To explore the power of Gemini CLI, see Gemini CLI examples.