Google Gemini CLI Installation and Configuration Guide

This guide will help you manually install and configure Google Gemini CLI. Whether you are on macOS, Windows, or Linux, you can get started easily as long as you have a Node.js environment set up.

1. Prerequisites: Install Node.js

Gemini CLI is built on Node.js, so you need to ensure Node.js is installed on your system first.

Version requirement: Node.js v18.0.0 or higher is required.

Check Your Existing Environment

Open a terminal (Terminal or PowerShell) and run the following command to check whether Node.js is already installed:

node --version

If the output shows a version number higher than v18, you can skip to the next step.

Install Node.js

If it is not installed, choose an installation method based on your operating system:

Recommended: install via Homebrew:

brew install node

Or visit the Node.js official website to download the macOS installer (.pkg).

Ubuntu/Debian:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

2. Install Gemini CLI

Once your environment is ready, use the npm package manager to install globally.

Run the following command in your terminal:

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

⚠️

Note for macOS/Linux users:
If you encounter a permission error (EACCES), prepend sudo to the command:

sudo npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

3. Configure Environment Variables

The claude-code.club AI API system supports accessing Google Gemini CLI via the GEMINI_API_KEY method. Follow the steps below to configure your environment variables.

Configuration Method: Use Gemini API Key (Recommended)

Temporary (current session only):

export GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL="https://claude-code.club/gemini"
export GEMINI_API_KEY="replace-with-your-api-key"
export GEMINI_MODEL="gemini-2.5-flash"

Permanent (recommended):

For zsh (macOS default):

echo 'export GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL="https://claude-code.club/gemini"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export GEMINI_API_KEY="replace-with-your-api-key"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export GEMINI_MODEL="gemini-2.5-flash"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

For bash:

echo 'export GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL="https://claude-code.club/gemini"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export GEMINI_API_KEY="replace-with-your-api-key"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export GEMINI_MODEL="gemini-2.5-flash"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Note: After setting this, you may need to reopen your terminal window, or manually run source ~/.zshrc (zsh) / source ~/.bashrc (bash) for the configuration to take effect.

Current session only:

$env:GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL="https://claude-code.club/gemini"
$env:GEMINI_API_KEY="replace-with-your-api-key"
$env:GEMINI_MODEL="gemini-2.5-flash"

Permanent:

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL', 'https://claude-code.club/gemini', 'User')
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('GEMINI_API_KEY', 'replace-with-your-api-key', 'User')
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('GEMINI_MODEL', 'gemini-2.5-flash', 'User')

You need to restart your PowerShell window after setting this.

Permanent:

setx GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL "https://claude-code.club/gemini"
setx GEMINI_API_KEY "replace-with-your-api-key"
setx GEMINI_MODEL "gemini-2.5-flash"

You need to restart your CMD window after setting this.

Clear Old Token Authentication Configuration

If you previously used the old token-based authentication method (CODE_ASSIST_ENDPOINT + GOOGLE_CLOUD_ACCESS_TOKEN), you need to clear those settings first, otherwise they will conflict with the new configuration.

Remove from current session:

unset CODE_ASSIST_ENDPOINT GOOGLE_CLOUD_ACCESS_TOKEN GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_GCA

Remove permanently:

Edit ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc, delete the lines containing these variables, then reload:

source ~/.zshrc  # or source ~/.bashrc

Remove from current session:

Remove-Item Env:CODE_ASSIST_ENDPOINT -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item Env:GOOGLE_CLOUD_ACCESS_TOKEN -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item Env:GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_GCA -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Remove permanently:

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('CODE_ASSIST_ENDPOINT', $null, 'User')
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('GOOGLE_CLOUD_ACCESS_TOKEN', $null, 'User')
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_GCA', $null, 'User')

You need to restart your PowerShell window after setting this.

Remove permanently:

Manually delete the CODE_ASSIST_ENDPOINT, GOOGLE_CLOUD_ACCESS_TOKEN, and GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_GCA variables from the system environment variables settings, then restart your CMD window.

Verify Environment Variable Settings

After configuration, run the following command to verify that the variables are set correctly:

Bash/Zsh:

echo $GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL $GEMINI_API_KEY $GEMINI_MODEL

Windows PowerShell:

Write-Host $env:GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL $env:GEMINI_API_KEY $env:GEMINI_MODEL

4. Verify the Installation

Once configured, let’s verify that Gemini CLI is installed correctly and working.

Check the Version

In your terminal, run:

gemini --version

If a version number is output (e.g. 1.0.0), the tool is installed.

First Run

Type gemini to launch the tool:

gemini

On first run, you may see a welcome message or be prompted to complete a simple initialization setup.
If prompted to authenticate, select 2. Use Gemini API Key — the tool will automatically use GEMINI_API_KEY and GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL to connect to the service.

Congratulations!
You have successfully installed and configured Google Gemini CLI. You can now start experiencing the power of AI-assisted coding.

To enable Gemini 3 Pro, use the /settings command in Gemini CLI and set preview features to true.
For more information, see Gemini CLI Settings

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Running gemini gives “command not found”?
A: Check that Node.js’s global bin directory is in your system’s PATH environment variable. Reinstalling Node.js usually resolves this issue.

Q: Getting an “Invalid API Key” error?
A: Check that your environment variables are configured correctly. In the terminal, run echo $GEMINI_API_KEY (macOS/Linux) or $env:GEMINI_API_KEY (Windows) to view the current value.

Q: How do I paste a screenshot in Gemini CLI? A: In the Gemini CLI chat interface, macOS users can use Control + V to paste a screenshot directly, and Windows users can use Alt + V.

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