Installation Guide

Get Gemini CLI up and running on your system with our step-by-step installation guide. Choose the method that works best for your environment.

System Requirements

Make sure your system meets these requirements

Windows

  • Windows 10 or later
  • Node.js 18.0.0 or higher
  • PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell Core 7+
  • Windows Terminal (recommended)

macOS

  • macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later
  • Node.js 18.0.0 or higher
  • Xcode Command Line Tools
  • Terminal or iTerm2

Linux

  • Ubuntu 18.04+ / CentOS 8+ / Debian 10+
  • Node.js 18.0.0 or higher
  • curl or wget
  • bash or zsh shell

Installation Methods

Choose the installation method that best fits your needs

NPM Installation

Recommended method for most users

Step 1: Install globally via npm

This installs Gemini CLI globally on your system

npm install -g @google/generative-ai-cli

Step 2: Verify installation

Check that the installation was successful

gemini --version

Step 3: Set up API key

Configure your Google AI API key

gemini config set api-key YOUR_API_KEY

Docker Installation

Containerized environment for consistent deployment

Step 1: Pull the Docker image

Download the official Docker image

docker pull google/gemini-cli:latest

Step 2: Run with API key

Start a container with your API key

docker run -e GEMINI_API_KEY=your_key google/gemini-cli:latest

Step 3: Interactive mode

Start an interactive chat session

docker run -it -e GEMINI_API_KEY=your_key google/gemini-cli:latest chat

From Source

Build from source code for development

Step 1: Clone repository

Get the source code from GitHub

git clone https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli.git

Step 2: Install dependencies

Install all required dependencies

cd gemini-cli && npm install

Step 3: Build and link

Build the project and create global symlink

npm run build && npm link

API Key Configuration

Set up your Google AI API key to start using Gemini CLI

Get Your API Key

  1. 1Visit Google AI Studio
  2. 2Sign in with your Google account
  3. 3Click "Create API Key" and copy the key

Configure the Key

Using CLI command:

gemini config set api-key YOUR_API_KEY

Using environment variable:

export GEMINI_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY

Verify Installation

Test your installation to make sure everything is working

Check Version

gemini --version

Should display the installed version number

Test API Connection

gemini ask "Hello, can you hear me?"

Should return a response from Gemini

Check Configuration

gemini config list

Should show your current configuration settings

Common Issues

Solutions to common installation problems

Command not found

If you get "command not found" after installation, your PATH may not include npm's global bin directory.

npm config get prefix

Add the bin directory to your PATH in your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.)

Permission denied

On macOS/Linux, you might need to use sudo or configure npm to use a different directory.

npm config set prefix ~/.npm-global

Next Steps

Now that Gemini CLI is installed, explore these resources

Configuration GuideUsage ExamplesTroubleshooting