Google's open-source terminal agent with Gemini 3 models, 1M token context, built-in Google Search grounding, and the best free tier in the category (1K req/day). 97.9K stars, 444 contributors. SWE-bench Pro standardized 43.30% (#2 behind Claude Code).
86/100
Trust
98K+ ↑15%
Stars
8
Evidence
59.0 MB
Repo size
Product screenshot
Videos
Reviews, tutorials, and comparisons from the community.
Introducing Gemini CLI
Gemini CLI Tutorial #1 - Introduction & Setup
Gemini CLI - 11 PRO TIPS in 25 Minutes
Repo health
14h ago
Last push
2,996
Open issues
12,416
Forks
587
Contributors
Editorial verdict
#3 coding CLI — best free entry point. 1K req/day free tier is unmatched, 1M context is the largest. SWE-bench Pro standardized 43.30% (#2, only 2.59pp behind Claude Code). File deletion incident (AI Incident Database #1178) and tool-calling weaknesses are real concerns.
Source
GitHub: google-gemini/gemini-cli
Docs: developers.google.com
Public evidence
Praise for free tier and easy setup. Major criticism: privacy policy (free-tier data used for training), npm packaging. Hit 17K stars within 24 hours.
30 pro-tips for agentic coding. HN discussion was skeptical: multiple commenters reported tool-calling loops, several preferred Claude Code for complex tasks.
Called it 'very good.' Praised million-token context and decision-making taste. Flagged free-tier training data concern. Noted it's open-source unlike Claude Code.
Covers Conductor extension adding automated code reviews, test validation, and security scanning. Shows Gemini CLI evolving into a full development workflow tool.
Scores 86/100 vs Claude Code's 98/100. Excels at terminal-first workflows and free-tier access. Notes Gemini 3 Flash achieves 78% SWE-bench.
Gemini CLI scores 43.30% on SWE-bench Pro standardized, placing #2 behind Claude Code (45.89%) and ahead of Codex CLI (41.04%). The gap narrowed significantly with Gemini 3 Pro — trajectory is strong.
Gemini CLI took 2h02m with multiple retries to complete a React project vs Claude Code's 1h17m single-shot. Practical performance gap is wider than SWE-bench Pro spread suggests.
File deletion pattern is not isolated — cataloged as AI Incident Database entry #1178 with multiple GitHub issues. 'I have failed you completely and catastrophically' (Gemini's own admission). Trust-breaking for production use.
How does this compare?
See side-by-side metrics against other skills in the same category.
Growth
GitHub stars over time.
GitHub Stars
Where it wins
Best free tier: 1K req/day with personal Google account — unmatched in category
1M token native context window — largest in category
SWE-bench Pro standardized 43.30% — #2 behind Claude Code (45.89%), ahead of Codex CLI (41.04%). Gap narrowed significantly with Gemini 3 Pro
Native Google Search grounding mid-task — unique among coding CLIs
Open source (Apache 2.0), 444 contributors, extensions system + full MCP client (v0.31.0)
Where to be skeptical
File deletion incident catalogued in AI Incident Database (#1178) — trust-damaging event
Free tier throttles to Flash model after 10-15 Pro prompts (community-reported)
HN consensus: 'Gemini is really bad with tool calling' (158 pts thread)
No published SWE-bench scores from Google themselves — 76.2% comes from independent testing
CLI scaffolding acknowledged as behind the model's capabilities, even by Gemini enthusiasts
Ranking in categories
Featured in bundles
Know a better alternative?
Submit evidence and we'll run the full pipeline.
Similar skills
Aider
91Open-source AI pair programming CLI. The only tool in the coding CLI category with a fully verifiable, independent download number: 191,828/week PyPI installs, 5.7M lifetime, 15B tokens/week (homepage stat). Multi-model, git-native, no vendor lock-in. v0.86.2 released 2026-02-12.
Claude Code
90Anthropic's official agentic coding CLI. Terminal-native, tool-use-driven, with deep file system and shell access. #1 SWE-bench Pro standardized (45.89%), ~4% of GitHub public commits (SemiAnalysis), $2.5B annualized revenue (fastest enterprise SaaS to $1B ARR). 8M+ npm weekly downloads. Opus 4.6 with 1M context.
Codex CLI
85OpenAI's open-source coding agent built in Rust. Terminal-Bench 77.3% (GPT-5.3-Codex), SWE-bench Pro standardized 41.04%. 3-4x more token-efficient than Claude Code, 60-75% cheaper per task. Free with ChatGPT subscription, sandbox-first execution, 619 releases in 10 months.
OpenCode
83Open-source AI coding agent from SST. v1.2.27 active (2026-03-16) — development resumed after a gap. OpenAI official partnership following the Anthropic OAuth block controversy. 124,766 GitHub stars (largest AI coding repo by star count). Known unauthenticated RCE fixed in v1.1.10+ (CVE, 432 HN pts).
Raw GitHub source
Constrained peek so you can sanity-check the source material without leaving the site.
Gemini CLI is an open-source AI agent that brings the power of Gemini directly into your terminal. It provides lightweight access to Gemini, giving you the most direct path from your prompt to our model.
Learn all about Gemini CLI in our documentation.
See Gemini CLI installation, execution, and releases for recommended system specifications and a detailed installation guide.
# Using npx (no installation required)
npx @google/gemini-cli
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
brew install gemini-cli
sudo port install gemini-cli
# Create and activate a new environment
conda create -y -n gemini_env -c conda-forge nodejs
conda activate gemini_env
# Install Gemini CLI globally via npm (inside the environment)
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
See Releases for more details.
New preview releases will be published each week at UTC 23:59 on Tuesdays. These
releases will not have been fully vetted and may contain regressions or other
outstanding issues. Please help us test and install with preview tag.
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli@preview
preview release + any bug fixes
and validations. Use latest tag.npm install -g @google/gemini-cli@latest
nightly tag.npm install -g @google/gemini-cli@nightly
Integrate Gemini CLI directly into your GitHub workflows with Gemini CLI GitHub Action:
@gemini-cli in issues and pull requests
for help with debugging, explanations, or task delegation