How Google’s Gemini CLI Brings AI Coding To Your Terminal?

Google is slowly expanding its AI tools with something or other launches every other day. Now, developers have something new to explore – Gemini CLI. What it does? This new tool brings Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model straight to your terminal, whether you’re using a Mac, Windows, or Linux system. And the best part? It’s completely free to use, at least for now.

Yes, Gemini CLI is now available in preview, and it’s open-source too. This means you can actually download it, try it out, and even contribute if you’re into that. Built for developers, it lets you write, understand, and debug code using natural language. You type out what you want in plain English, and Gemini tries to do the heavy lifting.

What Can Gemini CLI Really Do?

A lot more than you’d expect from a command-line tool. Think of it like an AI assistant that lives in your terminal and helps you with everything from writing new code and explaining tricky lines to running commands and searching through documentation.

Google says it’s not just limited to coding either. You can use Gemini CLI for things like file management, generating content, or even doing in-depth research. It connects directly to your local codebase and works as a helpful assistant while you build stuff.

How Do You Use It?

To get started, all you need is a personal Google Account. Once that’s set up, you get access to Gemini 2.5 Pro with an usage limit of 60 requests per minute and 1,000 per day. That’s more than enough for most people. And if you’re working on something bigger, there’s also support for pro tools like Google AI Studio and Vertex AI for advanced features and paid access.

For security, Gemini CLI doesn’t just go off and do things. You’ll have to confirm actions, and it runs everything in a secure sandboxed setup. Even though it’s technically still in preview, Gemini CLI is very much usable. Google has open-sourced it under the Apache 2.0 license, and you can find the project on GitHub.