DEV Community

Cover image for Getting to Know Gemini CLI: Your Terminal’s New AI Ally
Muskan Fatima
Muskan Fatima

Posted on

Getting to Know Gemini CLI: Your Terminal’s New AI Ally

#webdev #ai #gemini #cligemini

Whether you’re building a frontend interface, automating tasks, or just exploring how AI can ease your workflow — Gemini CLI is worth a look.

Introduction

For many frontend developers, most of our day is spent in the browser, code editor, or terminal.
What’s exciting about Gemini CLI is that it brings a powerful AI assistant directly into your command line — where we already live most of the time.

💡 Google describes Gemini CLI as “an open-source AI agent that brings the power of Gemini directly into your terminal.”

It’s not just another chatbot — it understands your code, helps debug and generate, and even connects to custom tools.

💡 Why Gemini CLI Was Built

Here are a few reasons why this tool was created:

  • 🧠 Developers spend tons of time in terminals and IDEs. Bringing AI there means less context switching.
  • 🧩 Generative AI should be part of workflows — not just “chat in a window,” but “tools we call from scripts.”
  • ⚙️ Flexibility to write code, fix bugs, generate content, or manage tasks — all from the CLI.

Brief History & Key Milestones

  • June 2025: Official launch by Google.
  • License: Open-source under Apache-2.0.

  • Early Features:

    • Large context window (1M tokens)
    • Free developer tier (60 requests/min, 1,000/day)

  • Later Additions:

    • Custom slash commands via .toml files
    • IDE companion and Model Context Protocol (MCP)

⚡ What Makes Gemini CLI Powerful

Here’s why developers are excited about it:

*Terminal-first design:*Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux — no heavy UI needed.

  • Integrations:*Supports shell commands, file ops, and web fetching.
  • MCP support:* Extend it with your own servers/tools.
  • Project-aware context: Reference files, directories, or even images and PDFs.
  • ⚡ Custom commands: Create /review, /plan, or any slash command using .toml.

Getting Started (Especially for Frontend Devs)

Here’s a quick setup guide:

1️⃣ Install

Make sure you have Node.js v20+ installed.

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

2️⃣ Authenticate

You can log in using your Google account or an API key.

Option 1: Google Login

Requires a Gemini Code Assist license (free tier available).

Option 2: API Key 

setx GEMINI_API_KEY "your_api_key_here"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

or on macOS/Linux:

export GEMINI_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

3️⃣ Run Gemini 

gemini
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

You’ll enter an interactive session — ready to chat, code, or automate.

Try Something Practical

Ask Gemini to explain a component from your codebase:

> Explain how this React component works. @src/components/Button.jsx
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Or create your own custom slash commands:

# .gemini/commands/plan.toml
[command]
description = "Generate a project plan"
prompt = "Create a detailed plan for this project"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Then simply type:

/plan
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Future Directions

Expect Gemini CLI to evolve with:

  • Deeper IDE integrations
  • More community-built MCP servers
  • Integration in CI/CD workflows (AI code review, automation)
  • Stronger connections with agent frameworks and metaverse tools

Conclusion

In short, Gemini CLI bridges the gap between AI models and your everyday dev workflow.

If you’re a frontend developer exploring new tech like AI and automation — this tool will fit perfectly into your learning and building journey.

💭 Try it. Experiment. Build. And most importantly — have fun with it!

Top comments (0)