In a move to attract more developers to Gemini, Google is releasing an open-source command line interface (CLI) that will be free for most developers. CLIs offer a means to communicate with operating systems, and can be used as alternatives or complementary to an integrated developer environment (IDE). Gemini CLI has agentic capabilities and can code and “so much more,” according to Google, which lists content generation, problem solving, deep research and task management among its uses. Gemini CLI provides “lightweight access to Gemini, giving you the most direct path from your prompt to our model.”

“For power users and many developers, the command line is the foundational interface for controlling a system and its applications,” writes VentureBeat. “While it might seem almost anachronistic that a text-only interface accessible with a keyboard (CLI doesn’t even use a mouse) can be modern, it remains a mainstay of developers around the world. In the modern era of generative AI, it’s becoming more powerful.”

The Gemini CLI integrates Google’s AI coding assistant, Gemini Code Assist, “so that all developers — on free, Standard, and Enterprise Code Assist plans — get prompt-driven, AI-first coding in both VS Code and Gemini CLI,” Google explains in a blog post.

“The free tier provides 60 model requests per minute and 1,000 requests per day at no charge, limits that Google deliberately set above typical developer usage patterns,” reports VentureBeat. Google measured its developers’ usage patterns, then doubled the number to arrive at the 1,000 limit.

Google Senior Director for Product Management Ryan Salva emphasized to VentureBeat that “for the vast majority of developers, Gemini CLI will be completely free of charge,” adding that the company doesn’t want developers “having to watch that token meter like it’s a taxi meter and holding back on creativity.”

To use Gemini CLI free-of-charge, “simply login with a personal Google account to get a free Gemini Code Assist license,” the blog post notes, adding that a free license gets you access to Gemini 2.5 Pro and its massive 1 million token context window.

Gemini CLI “connects Google’s Gemini AI models to local codebases, and it allows developers to make natural language requests, such as asking Gemini CLI to explain confusing sections of code, write new features, debug code, or run commands,” according to TechCrunch, which says the new offering “competes directly with other command-line AI tools such as OpenAI’s Codex CLI and Anthropic’s Claude Code.”