---
type: entity
subtype: tool
title: "Gemini CLI"
description: "Google's coding CLI, where subagent support is experimental and which has a direct integration with the Agent Client Protocol."
resource: "https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli"
tags: [coding-agent, google, cli]
videos: [the-subagent-era-is-officially-here-learn-this-now, this-new-protocol-will-change-ai-coding-forever-acp]
created: 2026-07-21
updated: 2026-07-21
---

# Gemini CLI

Gemini CLI is Google's terminal-based coding agent, the Gemini-model equivalent of [Claude Code](./claude-code.md) and [Codex](./codex.md). Cole treats it as one of the mainstream agentic coding front ends, notable for two things: early subagent support and native protocol integration. On subagents it is still catching up, and Cole is candid about the maturity gap: "This is where we can use GPT 5.4 mini and then it's experimental in the Gemini CLI" ([0:05:45]), placing Gemini CLI's take on the [Subagents Pattern](../../concepts/subagents-pattern.md) firmly in the experimental column at the time of recording.

## How Cole uses it / why it matters

The larger reason Gemini CLI shows up in Cole's videos is interoperability. It is one of the first coding assistants to speak the emerging Agent Client Protocol: "for coding assistance, Gemini CLI actually has a direct integration with ACP" ([0:02:33]). That matters for [Provider Independence](../../concepts/provider-independence.md) and [Parallel Agentic Coding](../../concepts/parallel-agentic-coding.md), because a protocol-native agent can be driven from a shared editor or harness without bespoke glue. Cole also uses the Gemini CLI announcement to track Google's model releases feeding it, noting alongside the CLI that "We also have Google that just released Gemini 3.1 Flash Light built for intelligence at scale" ([0:00:30]), a [Model Selection](../../concepts/model-selection.md) signal about cheap, fast models for high-volume subagent fan-out where [Context Isolation](../../concepts/context-isolation.md) keeps each worker's window clean and staves off [Context Rot](../../concepts/context-rot.md). Like every modern agent Cole favors, Gemini CLI leans on [Agentic Search](../../concepts/agentic-search.md) over the codebase rather than pre-indexed retrieval.

## Realizes

- [Subagents Pattern](../../concepts/subagents-pattern.md) - Delegating scoped tasks to isolated subagents, still experimental in Gemini CLI at the time of recording.
- [Agent Client Protocol (ACP)](../../concepts/agent-client-protocol.md) - An open standard connecting any coding agent to any editor, which Gemini CLI integrates directly.

## Contrasts with

- [Claude Code](./claude-code.md) - Anthropic's terminal-based agentic coding assistant, the direct rival on the same coding-CLI surface.
- [Codex](./codex.md) - OpenAI's cloud-based software-engineering agent plus Codex CLI, another competing front end.

## Works with

- [Gemini](./gemini.md) - Google's LLM line that powers the CLI, including cheap high-throughput models like Gemini 3.1 Flash Light.
- [Git Worktrees](./git-worktree.md) - Git feature that duplicates the codebase across isolated branches so multiple coding agents run in parallel.
- [Archon](./archon.md) - Cole's open-source harness builder that orchestrates coding agents across isolated environments.
- [Gemini 3](./gemini-3.md) - Google's flagship LLM release, genuinely strong on abstract reasoning (a large ARC-AGI-2 jump) and especially good at frontend and design work, though its real-world edge is hard to separate from the tooling layered on top of it.

## Related

- [Parallel Agentic Coding](../../concepts/parallel-agentic-coding.md) - Dispatching agents to background tasks in isolated git worktrees, each returning a reviewable PR.
- [Context Isolation](../../concepts/context-isolation.md) - Giving each subagent its own clean context window so unrelated tokens never dilute the task.
- [Context Rot](../../concepts/context-rot.md) - The degradation of output as the context window fills, the failure mode isolation is meant to avoid.
- [Model Selection](../../concepts/model-selection.md) - Choosing the right LLM per task; Gemini 3.1 Flash Light as a cheap, high-throughput driver.
- [Agentic Search](../../concepts/agentic-search.md) - Reasoning across search tools to navigate a codebase instead of pre-indexed retrieval.

## Sources

- [The Subagent Era Is Officially Here - Learn this Now](../../sources/the-subagent-era-is-officially-here-learn-this-now.md) - "[0:05:45] This is where we can use GPT 5.4 mini and then it's experimental in the Gemini CLI."
- [The Subagent Era Is Officially Here - Learn this Now](../../sources/the-subagent-era-is-officially-here-learn-this-now.md) - "[0:00:30] We also have Google that just released Gemini 3.1 Flash Light built for intelligence at scale."
- [This New Protocol Will Change AI Coding Forever (ACP)](../../sources/this-new-protocol-will-change-ai-coding-forever-acp.md) - "[0:02:33] for coding assistance, Gemini CLI actually has a direct integration with ACP."
