Google launches Gemini CLI, an open-source agentic AI tool for terminals
Google has unveiled a new tool designed to put the power of its Gemini AI models directly into the hands of developers — right from the command line. The company announced the release of Gemini CLI, a locally running, agentic AI tool that brings conversational intelligence to where developers work most: their terminal.
With Gemini CLI, developers can use natural language to interact with their codebases. Tasks like debugging, writing new features, running terminal commands, and even deciphering complex or legacy code become easier and faster. The tool supports a wide range of capabilities beyond coding, including generating videos with Google’s Veo 3 model, conducting research using the Deep Research agent, and retrieving real-time data through Google Search.
Competing in the Command Line Arena
The launch of Gemini CLI marks a strategic move by Google to capture more developer mindshare in an increasingly crowded AI coding space. The tool is aimed at direct competition with OpenAI’s Codex CLI and Anthropic’s Claude Code — both of which have become known for their speed and seamless integration into developer workflows.
What sets Gemini CLI apart is its deep integration with Google's broader AI ecosystem and its open-source foundation. By releasing it under the Apache 2.0 license, Google is encouraging community collaboration and transparency, hoping to build a robust ecosystem around the tool.
Riding the Gemini 2.5 Wave
This launch follows the success of Gemini 2.5 Pro, Google’s flagship AI model released in April, which quickly gained traction among developers. Tools like Cursor and GitHub Copilot — both powered in part by Gemini — have exploded in popularity, prompting Google to deepen its relationship with developers through in-house offerings like Gemini Code Assist and Jules, its asynchronous AI coding assistant.
Gemini CLI represents a natural extension of that effort, bringing AI closer to developers in a lightweight and easily adoptable form.
Generous Limits and Broad Applications
To encourage widespread adoption, Google is offering 60 model requests per minute and up to 1,000 daily requests for free users — a limit the company claims is twice the average developer usage.
Although its primary use case is for software development, Gemini CLI is flexible enough for a range of tasks. Developers can use it to interact with external databases via MCP servers or produce content using other tools in Google’s AI suite. This positions Gemini CLI as more than just a coding assistant — it’s a multi-purpose AI agent built for technical users.
Proceed with Caution
Despite the excitement, AI coding tools still face skepticism. A 2024 Stack Overflow survey revealed that only 43% of developers trust the accuracy of AI-generated code. Studies have shown that these tools can introduce bugs, overlook security vulnerabilities, or produce code that doesn’t align with best practices.
Google will need to address these concerns through ongoing updates, clear documentation, and community engagement — all of which its open-source approach and GitHub presence may help facilitate.
The Takeaway
With Gemini CLI, Google is positioning itself at the heart of the developer AI workflow. By combining local flexibility, open-source transparency, and deep integration with Google’s expanding AI toolkit, Gemini CLI could become a cornerstone tool for modern software development — if it can earn developers' trust along the way.
