Gemini CLI Setup

Gemini CLI is Google's official command-line coding assistant. With model-go, you can point it at compatible models through configuration.

Prerequisites

• You have created an API token in model-go
• You have installed Node.js 18+ Environment Check

Install

macOS / Linux

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Windows (run as Administrator)

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Verify the installation:

gemini --version

Configuration

macOS / Linux

# Create the config directory and files
mkdir -p ~/.gemini

# Write .env
cat > ~/.gemini/.env << 'EOF'
GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL=https://model-go.com
GEMINI_API_KEY=your model-go token
EOF

# Write settings.json
cat > ~/.gemini/settings.json << 'EOF'
{
  "security": {
    "auth": {
      "selectedType": "gemini-api-key"
    }
  }
}
EOF

Windows

# Create the config directory
mkdir "$HOME\.gemini" -Force

# Write .env
@"
GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL=https://model-go.com
GEMINI_API_KEY=your model-go token
"@ > "$HOME\.gemini\.env"

# Write settings.json
@"
{
  "security": {
    "auth": {
      "selectedType": "gemini-api-key"
    }
  }
}
"@ > "$HOME\.gemini\settings.json"

Manual configuration on Windows

If you prefer a file manager, create these two files manually:

%USERPROFILE%\.gemini\.env

GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL=https://model-go.com
GEMINI_API_KEY=your model-go token

%USERPROFILE%\.gemini\settings.json

{
  "security": {
    "auth": {
      "selectedType": "gemini-api-key"
    }
  }
}

Configuration Notes

.env file:

Variable	Purpose
GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL	model-go API base URL: https://model-go.com
GEMINI_API_KEY	The API token you created in model-go

settings.json file:

Set authentication to API key mode so Gemini CLI skips Google OAuth.

File Path Summary

Platform	Path
macOS / Linux	~/.gemini/.env and ~/.gemini/settings.json
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\.gemini\.env and %USERPROFILE%\.gemini\settings.json

Launch

Gemini CLI reads the files in the config directory on startup: ~/.gemini/ on macOS / Linux and %USERPROFILE%\.gemini\ on Windows.

gemini

Common Issues

See the Gemini CLI FAQ.