Gemini CLI Configuration

Note on Configuration Format, 9/17/25: The format of the settings.json file has been updated to a new, more organized structure.

The new format will be supported in the stable release starting [09/10/25].

Automatic migration from the old format to the new format will begin on [09/17/25].

For details on the previous format, please see the v1 Configuration documentation.

Gemini CLI offers several ways to configure its behavior, including environment variables, command-line arguments, and settings files. This document outlines the different configuration methods and available settings.

Configuration layers

Configuration is applied in the following order of precedence (lower numbers are overridden by higher numbers):

Default values: Hardcoded defaults within the application.
System defaults file: System-wide default settings that can be overridden by other settings files.
User settings file: Global settings for the current user.
Project settings file: Project-specific settings.
System settings file: System-wide settings that override all other settings files.
Environment variables: System-wide or session-specific variables, potentially loaded from .env files.
Command-line arguments: Values passed when launching the CLI.

Settings files

Gemini CLI uses JSON settings files for persistent configuration. There are four locations for these files:

Tip: JSON-aware editors can use autocomplete and validation by pointing to the generated schema at schemas/settings.schema.json in this repository. When working outside the repo, reference the hosted schema at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/main/schemas/settings.schema.json.

System defaults file:
- Location: /etc/gemini-cli/system-defaults.json (Linux), C:\ProgramData\gemini-cli\system-defaults.json (Windows) or /Library/Application Support/GeminiCli/system-defaults.json (macOS). The path can be overridden using the GEMINI_CLI_SYSTEM_DEFAULTS_PATH environment variable.
- Scope: Provides a base layer of system-wide default settings. These settings have the lowest precedence and are intended to be overridden by user, project, or system override settings.
User settings file:
- Location: ~/.gemini/settings.json (where ~ is your home directory).
- Scope: Applies to all Gemini CLI sessions for the current user. User settings override system defaults.
Project settings file:
- Location: .gemini/settings.json within your project’s root directory.
- Scope: Applies only when running Gemini CLI from that specific project. Project settings override user settings and system defaults.
System settings file:
- Location: /etc/gemini-cli/settings.json (Linux), C:\ProgramData\gemini-cli\settings.json (Windows) or /Library/Application Support/GeminiCli/settings.json (macOS). The path can be overridden using the GEMINI_CLI_SYSTEM_SETTINGS_PATH environment variable.
- Scope: Applies to all Gemini CLI sessions on the system, for all users. System settings act as overrides, taking precedence over all other settings files. May be useful for system administrators at enterprises to have controls over users’ Gemini CLI setups.

Note on environment variables in settings: String values within your settings.json and gemini-extension.json files can reference environment variables using either $VAR_NAME or ${VAR_NAME} syntax. These variables will be automatically resolved when the settings are loaded. For example, if you have an environment variable MY_API_TOKEN, you could use it in settings.json like this: "apiKey": "$MY_API_TOKEN". Additionally, each extension can have its own .env file in its directory, which will be loaded automatically.

Note for Enterprise Users: For guidance on deploying and managing Gemini CLI in a corporate environment, please see the Enterprise Configuration documentation.

The `.gemini` directory in your project

In addition to a project settings file, a project’s .gemini directory can contain other project-specific files related to Gemini CLI’s operation, such as:

Custom sandbox profiles (e.g., .gemini/sandbox-macos-custom.sb, .gemini/sandbox.Dockerfile).

Available settings in `settings.json`

Settings are organized into categories. All settings should be placed within their corresponding top-level category object in your settings.json file.

`general`

general.previewFeatures (boolean):
- Description: Enable preview features (e.g., preview models).
- Default: false
general.preferredEditor (string):
- Description: The preferred editor to open files in.
- Default: undefined
general.vimMode (boolean):
- Description: Enable Vim keybindings
- Default: false
general.disableAutoUpdate (boolean):
- Description: Disable automatic updates
- Default: false
general.disableUpdateNag (boolean):
- Description: Disable update notification prompts.
- Default: false
general.checkpointing.enabled (boolean):
- Description: Enable session checkpointing for recovery
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
general.enablePromptCompletion (boolean):
- Description: Enable AI-powered prompt completion suggestions while typing.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
general.retryFetchErrors (boolean):
- Description: Retry on “exception TypeError: fetch failed sending request” errors.
- Default: false
general.debugKeystrokeLogging (boolean):
- Description: Enable debug logging of keystrokes to the console.
- Default: false
general.sessionRetention.enabled (boolean):
- Description: Enable automatic session cleanup
- Default: false
general.sessionRetention.maxAge (string):
- Description: Maximum age of sessions to keep (e.g., “30d”, “7d”, “24h”, “1w”)
- Default: undefined
general.sessionRetention.maxCount (number):
- Description: Alternative: Maximum number of sessions to keep (most recent)
- Default: undefined
general.sessionRetention.minRetention (string):
- Description: Minimum retention period (safety limit, defaults to “1d”)
- Default: "1d"

`output`

output.format (enum):
- Description: The format of the CLI output.
- Default: "text"
- Values: "text", "json"

`ui`

ui.theme (string):
- Description: The color theme for the UI. See the CLI themes guide for available options.
- Default: undefined
ui.customThemes (object):
- Description: Custom theme definitions.
- Default: {}
ui.hideWindowTitle (boolean):
- Description: Hide the window title bar
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
ui.showStatusInTitle (boolean):
- Description: Show Gemini CLI status and thoughts in the terminal window title
- Default: false
ui.hideTips (boolean):
- Description: Hide helpful tips in the UI
- Default: false
ui.hideBanner (boolean):
- Description: Hide the application banner
- Default: false
ui.hideContextSummary (boolean):
- Description: Hide the context summary (GEMINI.md, MCP servers) above the input.
- Default: false
ui.footer.hideCWD (boolean):
- Description: Hide the current working directory path in the footer.
- Default: false
ui.footer.hideSandboxStatus (boolean):
- Description: Hide the sandbox status indicator in the footer.
- Default: false
ui.footer.hideModelInfo (boolean):
- Description: Hide the model name and context usage in the footer.
- Default: false
ui.footer.hideContextPercentage (boolean):
- Description: Hides the context window remaining percentage.
- Default: true
ui.hideFooter (boolean):
- Description: Hide the footer from the UI
- Default: false
ui.showMemoryUsage (boolean):
- Description: Display memory usage information in the UI
- Default: false
ui.showLineNumbers (boolean):
- Description: Show line numbers in the chat.
- Default: true
ui.showCitations (boolean):
- Description: Show citations for generated text in the chat.
- Default: false
ui.showModelInfoInChat (boolean):
- Description: Show the model name in the chat for each model turn.
- Default: false
ui.useFullWidth (boolean):
- Description: Use the entire width of the terminal for output.
- Default: true
ui.useAlternateBuffer (boolean):
- Description: Use an alternate screen buffer for the UI, preserving shell history.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
ui.incrementalRendering (boolean):
- Description: Enable incremental rendering for the UI. This option will reduce flickering but may cause rendering artifacts. Only supported when useAlternateBuffer is enabled.
- Default: true
- Requires restart: Yes
ui.customWittyPhrases (array):
- Description: Custom witty phrases to display during loading. When provided, the CLI cycles through these instead of the defaults.
- Default: []
ui.accessibility.disableLoadingPhrases (boolean):
- Description: Disable loading phrases for accessibility
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
ui.accessibility.screenReader (boolean):
- Description: Render output in plain-text to be more screen reader accessible
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes

`ide`

ide.enabled (boolean):
- Description: Enable IDE integration mode
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
ide.hasSeenNudge (boolean):
- Description: Whether the user has seen the IDE integration nudge.
- Default: false

`privacy`

privacy.usageStatisticsEnabled (boolean):
- Description: Enable collection of usage statistics
- Default: true
- Requires restart: Yes

`model`

model.name (string):
- Description: The Gemini model to use for conversations.
- Default: undefined
model.maxSessionTurns (number):
- Description: Maximum number of user/model/tool turns to keep in a session. -1 means unlimited.
- Default: -1
model.summarizeToolOutput (object):
- Description: Enables or disables summarization of tool output. Configure per-tool token budgets (for example {“run_shell_command”: {“tokenBudget”: 2000}}). Currently only the run_shell_command tool supports summarization.
- Default: undefined
model.compressionThreshold (number):
- Description: The fraction of context usage at which to trigger context compression (e.g. 0.2, 0.3).
- Default: 0.5
- Requires restart: Yes
model.skipNextSpeakerCheck (boolean):
- Description: Skip the next speaker check.
- Default: true

`modelConfigs`

modelConfigs.aliases (object):

Description: Named presets for model configs. Can be used in place of a model name and can inherit from other aliases using an extends property.

Default:

{
  "base": {
    "modelConfig": {
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "temperature": 0,
        "topP": 1
      }
    }
  },
  "chat-base": {
    "extends": "base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "thinkingConfig": {
          "includeThoughts": true
        },
        "temperature": 1,
        "topP": 0.95,
        "topK": 64
      }
    }
  },
  "chat-base-2.5": {
    "extends": "chat-base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "thinkingConfig": {
          "thinkingBudget": 8192
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "chat-base-3": {
    "extends": "chat-base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "thinkingConfig": {
          "thinkingLevel": "HIGH"
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "gemini-3-pro-preview": {
    "extends": "chat-base-3",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-3-pro-preview"
    }
  },
  "gemini-2.5-pro": {
    "extends": "chat-base-2.5",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-pro"
    }
  },
  "gemini-2.5-flash": {
    "extends": "chat-base-2.5",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash"
    }
  },
  "gemini-2.5-flash-lite": {
    "extends": "chat-base-2.5",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash-lite"
    }
  },
  "gemini-2.5-flash-base": {
    "extends": "base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash"
    }
  },
  "classifier": {
    "extends": "base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash-lite",
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "maxOutputTokens": 1024,
        "thinkingConfig": {
          "thinkingBudget": 512
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "prompt-completion": {
    "extends": "base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash-lite",
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "temperature": 0.3,
        "maxOutputTokens": 16000,
        "thinkingConfig": {
          "thinkingBudget": 0
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "edit-corrector": {
    "extends": "base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash-lite",
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "thinkingConfig": {
          "thinkingBudget": 0
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "summarizer-default": {
    "extends": "base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash-lite",
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "maxOutputTokens": 2000
      }
    }
  },
  "summarizer-shell": {
    "extends": "base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash-lite",
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "maxOutputTokens": 2000
      }
    }
  },
  "web-search": {
    "extends": "gemini-2.5-flash-base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "tools": [
          {
            "googleSearch": {}
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "web-fetch": {
    "extends": "gemini-2.5-flash-base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "generateContentConfig": {
        "tools": [
          {
            "urlContext": {}
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "web-fetch-fallback": {
    "extends": "gemini-2.5-flash-base",
    "modelConfig": {}
  },
  "loop-detection": {
    "extends": "gemini-2.5-flash-base",
    "modelConfig": {}
  },
  "loop-detection-double-check": {
    "extends": "base",
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-pro"
    }
  },
  "llm-edit-fixer": {
    "extends": "gemini-2.5-flash-base",
    "modelConfig": {}
  },
  "next-speaker-checker": {
    "extends": "gemini-2.5-flash-base",
    "modelConfig": {}
  },
  "chat-compression-3-pro": {
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-3-pro-preview"
    }
  },
  "chat-compression-2.5-pro": {
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-pro"
    }
  },
  "chat-compression-2.5-flash": {
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash"
    }
  },
  "chat-compression-2.5-flash-lite": {
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash-lite"
    }
  },
  "chat-compression-default": {
    "modelConfig": {
      "model": "gemini-2.5-pro"
    }
  }
}

modelConfigs.customAliases (object):
- Description: Custom named presets for model configs. These are merged with (and override) the built-in aliases.
- Default: {}
modelConfigs.overrides (array):
- Description: Apply specific configuration overrides based on matches, with a primary key of model (or alias). The most specific match will be used.
- Default: []

`context`

context.fileName (string | string[]):
- Description: The name of the context file or files to load into memory. Accepts either a single string or an array of strings.
- Default: undefined
context.importFormat (string):
- Description: The format to use when importing memory.
- Default: undefined
context.discoveryMaxDirs (number):
- Description: Maximum number of directories to search for memory.
- Default: 200
context.includeDirectories (array):
- Description: Additional directories to include in the workspace context. Missing directories will be skipped with a warning.
- Default: []
context.loadMemoryFromIncludeDirectories (boolean):
- Description: Controls how /memory refresh loads GEMINI.md files. When true, include directories are scanned; when false, only the current directory is used.
- Default: false
context.fileFiltering.respectGitIgnore (boolean):
- Description: Respect .gitignore files when searching
- Default: true
- Requires restart: Yes
context.fileFiltering.respectGeminiIgnore (boolean):
- Description: Respect .geminiignore files when searching
- Default: true
- Requires restart: Yes
context.fileFiltering.enableRecursiveFileSearch (boolean):
- Description: Enable recursive file search functionality when completing @ references in the prompt.
- Default: true
- Requires restart: Yes
context.fileFiltering.disableFuzzySearch (boolean):
- Description: Disable fuzzy search when searching for files.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes

`tools`

tools.sandbox (boolean | string):
- Description: Sandbox execution environment. Set to a boolean to enable or disable the sandbox, or provide a string path to a sandbox profile.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.shell.enableInteractiveShell (boolean):
- Description: Use node-pty for an interactive shell experience. Fallback to child_process still applies.
- Default: true
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.shell.pager (string):
- Description: The pager command to use for shell output. Defaults to cat.
- Default: "cat"
tools.shell.showColor (boolean):
- Description: Show color in shell output.
- Default: false
tools.shell.inactivityTimeout (number):
- Description: The maximum time in seconds allowed without output from the shell command. Defaults to 5 minutes.
- Default: 300
tools.autoAccept (boolean):
- Description: Automatically accept and execute tool calls that are considered safe (e.g., read-only operations).
- Default: false
tools.core (array):
- Description: Restrict the set of built-in tools with an allowlist. Match semantics mirror tools.allowed; see the built-in tools documentation for available names.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.allowed (array):
- Description: Tool names that bypass the confirmation dialog. Useful for trusted commands (for example [“run_shell_command(git)”, “run_shell_command(npm test)”]). See shell tool command restrictions for matching details.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.exclude (array):
- Description: Tool names to exclude from discovery.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.discoveryCommand (string):
- Description: Command to run for tool discovery.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.callCommand (string):
- Description: Defines a custom shell command for invoking discovered tools. The command must take the tool name as the first argument, read JSON arguments from stdin, and emit JSON results on stdout.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.useRipgrep (boolean):
- Description: Use ripgrep for file content search instead of the fallback implementation. Provides faster search performance.
- Default: true
tools.enableToolOutputTruncation (boolean):
- Description: Enable truncation of large tool outputs.
- Default: true
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.truncateToolOutputThreshold (number):
- Description: Truncate tool output if it is larger than this many characters. Set to -1 to disable.
- Default: 4000000
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.truncateToolOutputLines (number):
- Description: The number of lines to keep when truncating tool output.
- Default: 1000
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.enableMessageBusIntegration (boolean):
- Description: Enable policy-based tool confirmation via message bus integration. When enabled, tools automatically respect policy engine decisions (ALLOW/DENY/ASK_USER) without requiring individual tool implementations.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
tools.enableHooks (boolean):
- Description: Enable the hooks system for intercepting and customizing Gemini CLI behavior. When enabled, hooks configured in settings will execute at appropriate lifecycle events (BeforeTool, AfterTool, BeforeModel, etc.). Requires MessageBus integration.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes

`mcp`

mcp.serverCommand (string):
- Description: Command to start an MCP server.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
mcp.allowed (array):
- Description: A list of MCP servers to allow.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
mcp.excluded (array):
- Description: A list of MCP servers to exclude.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes

`useSmartEdit`

useSmartEdit (boolean):
- Description: Enable the smart-edit tool instead of the replace tool.
- Default: true

`useWriteTodos`

useWriteTodos (boolean):
- Description: Enable the write_todos tool.
- Default: true

`security`

security.disableYoloMode (boolean):
- Description: Disable YOLO mode, even if enabled by a flag.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
security.blockGitExtensions (boolean):
- Description: Blocks installing and loading extensions from Git.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
security.folderTrust.enabled (boolean):
- Description: Setting to track whether Folder trust is enabled.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
security.auth.selectedType (string):
- Description: The currently selected authentication type.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
security.auth.enforcedType (string):
- Description: The required auth type. If this does not match the selected auth type, the user will be prompted to re-authenticate.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
security.auth.useExternal (boolean):
- Description: Whether to use an external authentication flow.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes

`advanced`

advanced.autoConfigureMemory (boolean):
- Description: Automatically configure Node.js memory limits
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
advanced.dnsResolutionOrder (string):
- Description: The DNS resolution order.
- Default: undefined
- Requires restart: Yes
advanced.excludedEnvVars (array):
- Description: Environment variables to exclude from project context.
- Default:
```
["DEBUG", "DEBUG_MODE"]
```
advanced.bugCommand (object):
- Description: Configuration for the bug report command.
- Default: undefined

`experimental`

experimental.extensionManagement (boolean):
- Description: Enable extension management features.
- Default: true
- Requires restart: Yes
experimental.extensionReloading (boolean):
- Description: Enables extension loading/unloading within the CLI session.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
experimental.isModelAvailabilityServiceEnabled (boolean):
- Description: Enable model routing using new availability service.
- Default: false
- Requires restart: Yes
experimental.codebaseInvestigatorSettings.enabled (boolean):
- Description: Enable the Codebase Investigator agent.
- Default: true
- Requires restart: Yes
experimental.codebaseInvestigatorSettings.maxNumTurns (number):
- Description: Maximum number of turns for the Codebase Investigator agent.
- Default: 10
- Requires restart: Yes
experimental.codebaseInvestigatorSettings.maxTimeMinutes (number):
- Description: Maximum time for the Codebase Investigator agent (in minutes).
- Default: 3
- Requires restart: Yes
experimental.codebaseInvestigatorSettings.thinkingBudget (number):
- Description: The thinking budget for the Codebase Investigator agent.
- Default: 8192
- Requires restart: Yes
experimental.codebaseInvestigatorSettings.model (string):
- Description: The model to use for the Codebase Investigator agent.
- Default: "gemini-2.5-pro"
- Requires restart: Yes

`hooks`

hooks (object):
- Description: Hook configurations for intercepting and customizing agent behavior.
- Default: {}

`mcpServers`

Configures connections to one or more Model-Context Protocol (MCP) servers for discovering and using custom tools. Gemini CLI attempts to connect to each configured MCP server to discover available tools. If multiple MCP servers expose a tool with the same name, the tool names will be prefixed with the server alias you defined in the configuration (e.g., serverAlias__actualToolName) to avoid conflicts. Note that the system might strip certain schema properties from MCP tool definitions for compatibility. At least one of command, url, or httpUrl must be provided. If multiple are specified, the order of precedence is httpUrl, then url, then command.

mcpServers.<SERVER_NAME> (object): The server parameters for the named server.
- command (string, optional): The command to execute to start the MCP server via standard I/O.
- args (array of strings, optional): Arguments to pass to the command.
- env (object, optional): Environment variables to set for the server process.
- cwd (string, optional): The working directory in which to start the server.
- url (string, optional): The URL of an MCP server that uses Server-Sent Events (SSE) for communication.
- httpUrl (string, optional): The URL of an MCP server that uses streamable HTTP for communication.
- headers (object, optional): A map of HTTP headers to send with requests to url or httpUrl.
- timeout (number, optional): Timeout in milliseconds for requests to this MCP server.
- trust (boolean, optional): Trust this server and bypass all tool call confirmations.
- description (string, optional): A brief description of the server, which may be used for display purposes.
- includeTools (array of strings, optional): List of tool names to include from this MCP server. When specified, only the tools listed here will be available from this server (allowlist behavior). If not specified, all tools from the server are enabled by default.
- excludeTools (array of strings, optional): List of tool names to exclude from this MCP server. Tools listed here will not be available to the model, even if they are exposed by the server. Note: excludeTools takes precedence over includeTools - if a tool is in both lists, it will be excluded.

`telemetry`

Configures logging and metrics collection for Gemini CLI. For more information, see Telemetry.

Properties:
- enabled (boolean): Whether or not telemetry is enabled.
- target (string): The destination for collected telemetry. Supported values are local and gcp.
- otlpEndpoint (string): The endpoint for the OTLP Exporter.
- otlpProtocol (string): The protocol for the OTLP Exporter (grpc or http).
- logPrompts (boolean): Whether or not to include the content of user prompts in the logs.
- outfile (string): The file to write telemetry to when target is local.
- useCollector (boolean): Whether to use an external OTLP collector.

Example `settings.json`

Here is an example of a settings.json file with the nested structure, new as of v0.3.0:

{
  "general": {
    "vimMode": true,
    "preferredEditor": "code",
    "sessionRetention": {
      "enabled": true,
      "maxAge": "30d",
      "maxCount": 100
    }
  },
  "ui": {
    "theme": "GitHub",
    "hideBanner": true,
    "hideTips": false,
    "customWittyPhrases": [
      "You forget a thousand things every day. Make sure this is one of ’em",
      "Connecting to AGI"
    ]
  },
  "tools": {
    "sandbox": "docker",
    "discoveryCommand": "bin/get_tools",
    "callCommand": "bin/call_tool",
    "exclude": ["write_file"]
  },
  "mcpServers": {
    "mainServer": {
      "command": "bin/mcp_server.py"
    },
    "anotherServer": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["mcp_server.js", "--verbose"]
    }
  },
  "telemetry": {
    "enabled": true,
    "target": "local",
    "otlpEndpoint": "http://localhost:4317",
    "logPrompts": true
  },
  "privacy": {
    "usageStatisticsEnabled": true
  },
  "model": {
    "name": "gemini-1.5-pro-latest",
    "maxSessionTurns": 10,
    "summarizeToolOutput": {
      "run_shell_command": {
        "tokenBudget": 100
      }
    }
  },
  "context": {
    "fileName": ["CONTEXT.md", "GEMINI.md"],
    "includeDirectories": ["path/to/dir1", "~/path/to/dir2", "../path/to/dir3"],
    "loadFromIncludeDirectories": true,
    "fileFiltering": {
      "respectGitIgnore": false
    }
  },
  "advanced": {
    "excludedEnvVars": ["DEBUG", "DEBUG_MODE", "NODE_ENV"]
  }
}

Shell History

The CLI keeps a history of shell commands you run. To avoid conflicts between different projects, this history is stored in a project-specific directory within your user’s home folder.

Location: ~/.gemini/tmp/<project_hash>/shell_history
- <project_hash> is a unique identifier generated from your project’s root path.
- The history is stored in a file named shell_history.

Environment Variables & `.env` Files

Environment variables are a common way to configure applications, especially for sensitive information like API keys or for settings that might change between environments. For authentication setup, see the Authentication documentation which covers all available authentication methods.

The CLI automatically loads environment variables from an .env file. The loading order is:

.env file in the current working directory.
If not found, it searches upwards in parent directories until it finds an .env file or reaches the project root (identified by a .git folder) or the home directory.
If still not found, it looks for ~/.env (in the user’s home directory).

Environment Variable Exclusion: Some environment variables (like DEBUG and DEBUG_MODE) are automatically excluded from being loaded from project .env files to prevent interference with gemini-cli behavior. Variables from .gemini/.env files are never excluded. You can customize this behavior using the advanced.excludedEnvVars setting in your settings.json file.

GEMINI_API_KEY:
- Your API key for the Gemini API.
- One of several available authentication methods.
- Set this in your shell profile (e.g., ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc) or an .env file.
GEMINI_MODEL:
- Specifies the default Gemini model to use.
- Overrides the hardcoded default
- Example: export GEMINI_MODEL="gemini-2.5-flash"
GOOGLE_API_KEY:
- Your Google Cloud API key.
- Required for using Vertex AI in express mode.
- Ensure you have the necessary permissions.
- Example: export GOOGLE_API_KEY="YOUR_GOOGLE_API_KEY".
GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT:
- Your Google Cloud Project ID.
- Required for using Code Assist or Vertex AI.
- If using Vertex AI, ensure you have the necessary permissions in this project.
- Cloud Shell Note: When running in a Cloud Shell environment, this variable defaults to a special project allocated for Cloud Shell users. If you have GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT set in your global environment in Cloud Shell, it will be overridden by this default. To use a different project in Cloud Shell, you must define GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT in a .env file.
- Example: export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT="YOUR_PROJECT_ID".
GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS (string):
- Description: The path to your Google Application Credentials JSON file.
- Example: export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="/path/to/your/credentials.json"
OTLP_GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT:
- Your Google Cloud Project ID for Telemetry in Google Cloud
- Example: export OTLP_GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT="YOUR_PROJECT_ID".
GEMINI_TELEMETRY_ENABLED:
- Set to true or 1 to enable telemetry. Any other value is treated as disabling it.
- Overrides the telemetry.enabled setting.
GEMINI_TELEMETRY_TARGET:
- Sets the telemetry target (local or gcp).
- Overrides the telemetry.target setting.
GEMINI_TELEMETRY_OTLP_ENDPOINT:
- Sets the OTLP endpoint for telemetry.
- Overrides the telemetry.otlpEndpoint setting.
GEMINI_TELEMETRY_OTLP_PROTOCOL:
- Sets the OTLP protocol (grpc or http).
- Overrides the telemetry.otlpProtocol setting.
GEMINI_TELEMETRY_LOG_PROMPTS:
- Set to true or 1 to enable or disable logging of user prompts. Any other value is treated as disabling it.
- Overrides the telemetry.logPrompts setting.
GEMINI_TELEMETRY_OUTFILE:
- Sets the file path to write telemetry to when the target is local.
- Overrides the telemetry.outfile setting.
GEMINI_TELEMETRY_USE_COLLECTOR:
- Set to true or 1 to enable or disable using an external OTLP collector. Any other value is treated as disabling it.
- Overrides the telemetry.useCollector setting.
GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION:
- Your Google Cloud Project Location (e.g., us-central1).
- Required for using Vertex AI in non-express mode.
- Example: export GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION="YOUR_PROJECT_LOCATION".
GEMINI_SANDBOX:
- Alternative to the sandbox setting in settings.json.
- Accepts true, false, docker, podman, or a custom command string.
SEATBELT_PROFILE (macOS specific):
- Switches the Seatbelt (sandbox-exec) profile on macOS.
- permissive-open: (Default) Restricts writes to the project folder (and a few other folders, see packages/cli/src/utils/sandbox-macos-permissive-open.sb) but allows other operations.
- strict: Uses a strict profile that declines operations by default.
- <profile_name>: Uses a custom profile. To define a custom profile, create a file named sandbox-macos-<profile_name>.sb in your project’s .gemini/ directory (e.g., my-project/.gemini/sandbox-macos-custom.sb).
DEBUG or DEBUG_MODE (often used by underlying libraries or the CLI itself):
- Set to true or 1 to enable verbose debug logging, which can be helpful for troubleshooting.
- Note: These variables are automatically excluded from project .env files by default to prevent interference with gemini-cli behavior. Use .gemini/.env files if you need to set these for gemini-cli specifically.
NO_COLOR:
- Set to any value to disable all color output in the CLI.
CLI_TITLE:
- Set to a string to customize the title of the CLI.
CODE_ASSIST_ENDPOINT:
- Specifies the endpoint for the code assist server.
- This is useful for development and testing.

Command-Line Arguments

Arguments passed directly when running the CLI can override other configurations for that specific session.

--model <model_name> (-m <model_name>):
- Specifies the Gemini model to use for this session.
- Example: npm start -- --model gemini-1.5-pro-latest
--prompt <your_prompt> (-p <your_prompt>):
- Used to pass a prompt directly to the command. This invokes Gemini CLI in a non-interactive mode.
- For scripting examples, use the --output-format json flag to get structured output.
--prompt-interactive <your_prompt> (-i <your_prompt>):
- Starts an interactive session with the provided prompt as the initial input.
- The prompt is processed within the interactive session, not before it.
- Cannot be used when piping input from stdin.
- Example: gemini -i "explain this code"
--output-format <format>:
- Description: Specifies the format of the CLI output for non-interactive mode.
- Values:
  - text: (Default) The standard human-readable output.
  - json: A machine-readable JSON output.
  - stream-json: A streaming JSON output that emits real-time events.
- Note: For structured output and scripting, use the --output-format json or --output-format stream-json flag.
--sandbox (-s):
- Enables sandbox mode for this session.
--debug (-d):
- Enables debug mode for this session, providing more verbose output.
--help (or -h):
- Displays help information about command-line arguments.
--yolo:
- Enables YOLO mode, which automatically approves all tool calls.
--approval-mode <mode>:
- Sets the approval mode for tool calls. Available modes:
  - default: Prompt for approval on each tool call (default behavior)
  - auto_edit: Automatically approve edit tools (replace, write_file) while prompting for others
  - yolo: Automatically approve all tool calls (equivalent to --yolo)
- Cannot be used together with --yolo. Use --approval-mode=yolo instead of --yolo for the new unified approach.
- Example: gemini --approval-mode auto_edit
--allowed-tools <tool1,tool2,...>:
- A comma-separated list of tool names that will bypass the confirmation dialog.
- Example: gemini --allowed-tools "ShellTool(git status)"
--extensions <extension_name ...> (-e <extension_name ...>):
- Specifies a list of extensions to use for the session. If not provided, all available extensions are used.
- Use the special term gemini -e none to disable all extensions.
- Example: gemini -e my-extension -e my-other-extension
--list-extensions (-l):
- Lists all available extensions and exits.
--resume [session_id] (-r [session_id]):
- Resume a previous chat session. Use “latest” for the most recent session, provide a session index number, or provide a full session UUID.
- If no session_id is provided, defaults to “latest”.
- Example: gemini --resume 5 or gemini --resume latest or gemini --resume a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890 or gemini --resume
- See Session Management for more details.
--list-sessions:
- List all available chat sessions for the current project and exit.
- Shows session indices, dates, message counts, and preview of first user message.
- Example: gemini --list-sessions
--delete-session <identifier>:
- Delete a specific chat session by its index number or full session UUID.
- Use --list-sessions first to see available sessions, their indices, and UUIDs.
- Example: gemini --delete-session 3 or gemini --delete-session a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890
--include-directories <dir1,dir2,...>:
- Includes additional directories in the workspace for multi-directory support.
- Can be specified multiple times or as comma-separated values.
- 5 directories can be added at maximum.
- Example: --include-directories /path/to/project1,/path/to/project2 or --include-directories /path/to/project1 --include-directories /path/to/project2
--screen-reader:
- Enables screen reader mode, which adjusts the TUI for better compatibility with screen readers.
--version:
- Displays the version of the CLI.
--experimental-acp:
- Starts the agent in ACP mode.
--allowed-mcp-server-names:
- Allowed MCP server names.
--fake-responses:
- Path to a file with fake model responses for testing.
--record-responses:
- Path to a file to record model responses for testing.

Context Files (Hierarchical Instructional Context)

While not strictly configuration for the CLI’s behavior, context files (defaulting to GEMINI.md but configurable via the context.fileName setting) are crucial for configuring the instructional context (also referred to as “memory”) provided to the Gemini model. This powerful feature allows you to give project-specific instructions, coding style guides, or any relevant background information to the AI, making its responses more tailored and accurate to your needs. The CLI includes UI elements, such as an indicator in the footer showing the number of loaded context files, to keep you informed about the active context.

Purpose: These Markdown files contain instructions, guidelines, or context that you want the Gemini model to be aware of during your interactions. The system is designed to manage this instructional context hierarchically.

Example Context File Content (e.g., `GEMINI.md`)

Here’s a conceptual example of what a context file at the root of a TypeScript project might contain:

# Project: My Awesome TypeScript Library

## General Instructions:

- When generating new TypeScript code, please follow the existing coding style.
- Ensure all new functions and classes have JSDoc comments.
- Prefer functional programming paradigms where appropriate.
- All code should be compatible with TypeScript 5.0 and Node.js 20+.

## Coding Style:

- Use 2 spaces for indentation.
- Interface names should be prefixed with `I` (e.g., `IUserService`).
- Private class members should be prefixed with an underscore (`_`).
- Always use strict equality (`===` and `!==`).

## Specific Component: `src/api/client.ts`

- This file handles all outbound API requests.
- When adding new API call functions, ensure they include robust error handling
  and logging.
- Use the existing `fetchWithRetry` utility for all GET requests.

## Regarding Dependencies:

- Avoid introducing new external dependencies unless absolutely necessary.
- If a new dependency is required, please state the reason.

This example demonstrates how you can provide general project context, specific coding conventions, and even notes about particular files or components. The more relevant and precise your context files are, the better the AI can assist you. Project-specific context files are highly encouraged to establish conventions and context.

Hierarchical Loading and Precedence: The CLI implements a sophisticated hierarchical memory system by loading context files (e.g., GEMINI.md) from several locations. Content from files lower in this list (more specific) typically overrides or supplements content from files higher up (more general). The exact concatenation order and final context can be inspected using the /memory show command. The typical loading order is:
1. Global Context File:
  - Location: ~/.gemini/<configured-context-filename> (e.g., ~/.gemini/GEMINI.md in your user home directory).
  - Scope: Provides default instructions for all your projects.
2. Project Root & Ancestors Context Files:
  - Location: The CLI searches for the configured context file in the current working directory and then in each parent directory up to either the project root (identified by a .git folder) or your home directory.
  - Scope: Provides context relevant to the entire project or a significant portion of it.
3. Sub-directory Context Files (Contextual/Local):
  - Location: The CLI also scans for the configured context file in subdirectories below the current working directory (respecting common ignore patterns like node_modules, .git, etc.). The breadth of this search is limited to 200 directories by default, but can be configured with the context.discoveryMaxDirs setting in your settings.json file.
  - Scope: Allows for highly specific instructions relevant to a particular component, module, or subsection of your project.
Concatenation & UI Indication: The contents of all found context files are concatenated (with separators indicating their origin and path) and provided as part of the system prompt to the Gemini model. The CLI footer displays the count of loaded context files, giving you a quick visual cue about the active instructional context.
Importing Content: You can modularize your context files by importing other Markdown files using the @path/to/file.md syntax. For more details, see the Memory Import Processor documentation.
Commands for Memory Management:
- Use /memory refresh to force a re-scan and reload of all context files from all configured locations. This updates the AI’s instructional context.
- Use /memory show to display the combined instructional context currently loaded, allowing you to verify the hierarchy and content being used by the AI.
- See the Commands documentation for full details on the /memory command and its sub-commands (show and refresh).

By understanding and utilizing these configuration layers and the hierarchical nature of context files, you can effectively manage the AI’s memory and tailor the Gemini CLI’s responses to your specific needs and projects.

Sandboxing

The Gemini CLI can execute potentially unsafe operations (like shell commands and file modifications) within a sandboxed environment to protect your system.

Sandboxing is disabled by default, but you can enable it in a few ways:

Using --sandbox or -s flag.
Setting GEMINI_SANDBOX environment variable.
Sandbox is enabled when using --yolo or --approval-mode=yolo by default.

By default, it uses a pre-built gemini-cli-sandbox Docker image.

For project-specific sandboxing needs, you can create a custom Dockerfile at .gemini/sandbox.Dockerfile in your project’s root directory. This Dockerfile can be based on the base sandbox image:

FROM gemini-cli-sandbox

# Add your custom dependencies or configurations here
# For example:
# RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y some-package
# COPY ./my-config /app/my-config

When .gemini/sandbox.Dockerfile exists, you can use BUILD_SANDBOX environment variable when running Gemini CLI to automatically build the custom sandbox image:

BUILD_SANDBOX=1 gemini -s

Usage Statistics

To help us improve the Gemini CLI, we collect anonymized usage statistics. This data helps us understand how the CLI is used, identify common issues, and prioritize new features.

What we collect:

Tool Calls: We log the names of the tools that are called, whether they succeed or fail, and how long they take to execute. We do not collect the arguments passed to the tools or any data returned by them.
API Requests: We log the Gemini model used for each request, the duration of the request, and whether it was successful. We do not collect the content of the prompts or responses.
Session Information: We collect information about the configuration of the CLI, such as the enabled tools and the approval mode.

What we DON’T collect:

Personally Identifiable Information (PII): We do not collect any personal information, such as your name, email address, or API keys.
Prompt and Response Content: We do not log the content of your prompts or the responses from the Gemini model.
File Content: We do not log the content of any files that are read or written by the CLI.

How to opt out:

You can opt out of usage statistics collection at any time by setting the usageStatisticsEnabled property to false under the privacy category in your settings.json file:

{
  "privacy": {
    "usageStatisticsEnabled": false
  }
}

Gemini CLI Configuration

Configuration layers

Settings files

The .gemini directory in your project

Available settings in settings.json

general

output

ui

ide

privacy

model

modelConfigs

context

tools

mcp

useSmartEdit

useWriteTodos

security

advanced

experimental

hooks

mcpServers

telemetry

Example settings.json

Shell History

Environment Variables & .env Files

Command-Line Arguments

Context Files (Hierarchical Instructional Context)

Example Context File Content (e.g., GEMINI.md)

Sandboxing

Usage Statistics

The `.gemini` directory in your project

Available settings in `settings.json`

`general`

`output`

`ui`

`ide`

`privacy`

`model`

`modelConfigs`

`context`

`tools`

`mcp`

`useSmartEdit`

`useWriteTodos`

`security`

`advanced`

`experimental`

`hooks`

`mcpServers`

`telemetry`

Example `settings.json`

Environment Variables & `.env` Files

Example Context File Content (e.g., `GEMINI.md`)