Gemini CLI
Google's open-source terminal AI coding agent powered by Gemini models.
A minority of HN commenters like it as a capable coding agent and for explaining code,1234 and some praise its plain terminal interface and open-source extensibility.567The most common complaint is that it trails Claude Code and Codex,891011 with frequent bugs, infinite loops and weak tool calling,12131415 and some note it is being phased out for Antigravity CLI.1617
Why people recommend it
Coding capability · 3
Some users found it an effective coding agent that makes targeted edits and handled large projects.
“I used Gemini CLI (once it came, AI Studio before that) with Gemini 2.5 Pro to create one with Rust and LLVM”
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Yeah, the online Gemini app is not good for long lived conversations that build up a body of decisions. The context window gets too large and things drop. What I’ve learned is that once you reach that point you’ve got to break that problem down into smaller pieces that the AI can work productively with. If you’re about to start with Gemini-cli I recommend you look up https://github.com/github/spec-kit. It’s a project
Terminal interface · 2
Commenters like its simple text-based terminal interaction, and one calls its terminal UI the nicest.
“I think Claude Code and Gemini CLI are pretty great as is for terminal usage.”
“Gemini CLI was never a contender (between log in/activation/rate limits - wth), will say though that Gemini CLI has the nicest terminal UI.”
Open and extensible · 2
It is open source and actively developed, with extensions, model switching and remote A2A agent support.
“Gemini CLI is open source and being actively developed, which is cool”
“gemini-cli can have remote a2a agents connected to it.”
Google ecosystem · 2
Users invested in Google's tooling value it alongside NotebookLM, Colab and ADK agents.
“I am still happy to pay Google because of their ecosystem or Gemini app, NotebookLM, Colab, gemini-cli, etc.”
“gemini-cli can have remote a2a agents connected to it.”
Explaining code · 1
One user preferred it over Claude Code for concise explanations of a module before diving in.
“I use to love using Gemini CLI to have Gemini explain a module for me”
Caveats and dissent
Behind competitors · 3
Many commenters rate it well below Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode.
“I find that Gemini CLI is still considerably worse than both Codex and Claude Code.”
“well above Codex, Gemini CLI or Mistral Vibe in my experience”
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“Gemini CLI is a pain to use - after getting used to the smoothness of Claude Code.”
Bugs and crashes · 3
Users report crashes, infinite loops, lost chat history and long-standing unfixed bugs.
“Gemini CLI was utter shit and always had delayed model release on top of it.”
“Then Murphy's law hit me with bug after bug, all of which have been reported many times already going back over year or more.”
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“I use Gemini CLI on a daily basis. It used to crash often”
Weak agentic work · 3
Commenters say it is poor at tool calling, codebase navigation and complex agentic tasks.
“I don't use Gemini cli because they're so bad at agentic work/tool calling.”
“I tried to use the official `gemini-cli` to avoid the API costs. It is unusable for agentic work.”
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“I tried Gemini cli for about 5 seconds and was so frustrated, it’s so stupid at navigation in the codebase”
Loses context · 3
It reportedly forgets prior prompts, ignores GEMINI.md files and hallucinates.
“Gemini cli (paid) often forgets by the next prompt whatever the previous was about”
“I find that Gemini CLI is still considerably worse than both Codex and Claude Code.”
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“gemini cli gave me my first real fun experience using AI”
Tokens and limits · 3
Users cite heavy token consumption, rate-limit errors, slowness and a painful login and setup.
“I am reluctant to fire up Gemini CLI due to its insane appetite for tokens.”
“the 429s is the first thing they need to fix.”
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“Gemini CLI is too slow to be useful”
Being discontinued · 3
Commenters say Google is phasing it out in favor of Antigravity CLI, raising longevity concerns.
“I used to use Gemini-cli until they did a Google and cancelled it in favour of anti-gravity.”
“gemini cli (which is being phased out for antigravity cli soon)”
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“Especially if you look at what happened to Android, Gemini CLI etc.”
Often compared with
2 moved from Gemini CLI to Claude Code
1 moved from Gemini CLI to Codex
1 moved from Gemini to Gemini CLI
2 moved from Gemini CLI to Antigravity
1 moved from Claude to Gemini CLI
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Gemini CLI tips and tricks for agentic coding 4 mentions
- Nano Banana can be prompt engineered for nuanced AI image generation 3 mentions
- Ask HN: What is best way to provide continuous context to models? 2 mentions
- Google Got Its Groove Back and Edged Ahead of OpenAI 2 mentions
- I switched from VSCode to Zed 2 mentions
- AX – Google’s Open Agentic Orchestrator 1 mention
Also written as gemini-cli. Data: gemini-cli.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 44
“Especially if you look at what happened to Android, Gemini CLI etc.”
“Symlink the global MD files to a single file I control that is versioned.”
“I use to love using Gemini CLI to have Gemini explain a module for me”
“I have also used Codex, Cursor and Gemini CLI.”
“found it also an effective coding agent”
“Gemini CLI was utter shit and always had delayed model release on top of it.”
“I don't use Gemini cli because they're so bad at agentic work/tool calling.”
“I used to use Gemini-cli until they did a Google and cancelled it in favour of anti-gravity.”
“using Gemini-CLI w/ gemini-3.1-pro-preview”
“it's a huge step up from Gemini CLI (like, for example, it actually fucking works)”
“gemini-cli can have remote a2a agents connected to it.”
“gemini cli (which is being phased out for antigravity cli soon)”
“It felt far behind both CC and Codex”
“running Codex + Gemini CLI in the terminal panel”
“I used to use Gemini CLI and was pretty happy with it”
“well above Codex, Gemini CLI or Mistral Vibe in my experience”
“several times a week have sessions with gemini-cli and Claude Code when I want an AI coding assistant”
“I think Claude Code and Gemini CLI are pretty great as is for terminal usage.”
“5x gemini cli in pro 3.1 then 5x flash 3.1”
“sometimes even Gemini CLI for low level scripting”
“the 429s is the first thing they need to fix.”
“Gemini cli (paid) often forgets by the next prompt whatever the previous was about”
“Every proprietary harness is just proprietary junk without ability to extend it without polluting context. This includes claude-code, gemini-cli, codex etc.”
“I find that Gemini CLI is still considerably worse than both Codex and Claude Code.”
“I switch between Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and OpenCode depending on the task.”
“I've been doing something similar with the Claude or Gemini CLI tools operating in an Obsidian vault.”
“I am reluctant to fire up Gemini CLI due to its insane appetite for tokens.”
“track my daily token usage across Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI”
“Claude was down so I used Gemini CLI and it turns out it is quite capable also.”
“For the CLI -- no, I have not noticed and hallucinations.”
“Gemini cli just randomly breaks and starts spamming content trying to reorient itself after a while.”
“Gemini CLI tells me that it doesn't have this and that - I have tried pushing Gemini to deliver production-quality code. No chance.”
“I tried to use the official `gemini-cli` to avoid the API costs. It is unusable for agentic work.”
“Gemini seems like an afterthought an intern did”
“Then Murphy's law hit me with bug after bug, all of which have been reported many times already going back over year or more.”
Yeah, the online Gemini app is not good for long lived conversations that build up a body of decisions. The context window gets too large and things drop. What I’ve learned is that once you reach that point you’ve got to break that problem down into smaller pieces that the AI can work productively with. If you’re about to start with Gemini-cli I recommend you look up https://github.com/github/spec-kit. It’s a project
“Gemini CLI is too slow to be useful”
“Gemini CLI is a pain to use - after getting used to the smoothness of Claude Code.”
“In external agents - I have Calude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI”
“preferring to separately running gemini-cli occasionally”
“I tried Gemini cli for about 5 seconds and was so frustrated, it’s so stupid at navigation in the codebase”
“Gemini CLI is open source and being actively developed, which is cool”
“I used Gemini CLI (once it came, AI Studio before that) with Gemini 2.5 Pro to create one with Rust and LLVM”
“Gemini CLI was never a contender (between log in/activation/rate limits - wth), will say though that Gemini CLI has the nicest terminal UI.”