How to Use the Gemini API in Gemini CLI via MCP

💡 No install? Use cloud.anythingmcp.com directly. Sign in, click Connectors → Google Gemini API, paste your credentials, mint an MCP API key and you're done. No Docker, no git clone, no local server.

Gemini API + Gemini CLI

Let your AI use Google Gemini with your own API key: ask Gemini models questions, analyse images and PDFs from a link, count tokens, create embeddings, and generate or edit pictures with Nano Banana that appear right in the chat.

Prerequisites

See the full setup instructions baked into the connector (visible in the in-app store when you select the connector). The required environment variables for this connector are:

GEMINI_API_KEY

Step 1 — Get credentials

1. Open Google AI Studio at https://aistudio.google.com/apikey and sign in with your Google account.
2. Click Create API key, pick or create a Google Cloud project, and copy the key. It usually starts with AIza.
3. Paste it into GEMINI_API_KEY and install the connector. The key is sent only to Google.
4. To generate images, or for higher limits, enable billing for the key's project in AI Studio (Get API key, then Set up billing). Image models have no free tier.
5. Run gemini_list_models to see which models your key can use. It costs nothing.

Billing: the Gemini API runs on your own key. Every call except the model list, the Files API and token counting is billed to the key's project or counts against its free tier. On the free tier, text and embedding models are free within per-minute and per-day limits, and Google may use free-tier prompts to improve its products. The AI uses cheap, fast defaults (gemini-3.1-flash-lite for text, gemini-embedding-001 for embeddings) unless you ask for a stronger model, and gemini_count_tokens estimates a long prompt for free before you send it.

Pictures cost money: gemini_generate_image and gemini_edit_image create or change pictures with Nano Banana and show them right in the chat. The default image model costs about $0.034 per picture, the most capable one about $0.13, so the AI confirms with you before every picture. Pictures over 4 MB are not returned: ask for a smaller size.

Files by link: gemini_analyze_file_url answers questions about an image, PDF, text or CSV file or a short video given by a public HTTPS link of up to 15 MB. Gemini fetches the link itself, so it must open without a login. The Files API tools list and read the project's stored files, which expire after 48 hours. gemini_delete_file is switched off at install.

Common errors: 400 with an invalid key: the key is wrong or was deleted, so create a new one in AI Studio. 403: the key is restricted to other APIs (in the Google Cloud console under Credentials, API restrictions, allow the Generative Language API), the API is off in its project, or a file link is not public. 404: the model code does not exist, so check gemini_list_models. 429: a free-tier or paid-tier limit was reached, or an image model was called without billing; wait, or enable billing. A 400 saying the free tier is not available means it is not offered in your region: enable billing. A request blocked by Google's safety filters comes back as an error and is not retried.

The connector does not upload files, stream audio or video (Live API), generate speech or video (Veo), or handle context caching, batch jobs, tuned models or file search stores.

Step 2 — Install the adapter

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp/main/docker-compose.quickstart.yml -o docker-compose.yml
printf 'JWT_SECRET=%s\nENCRYPTION_KEY=%s\n' "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > .env
docker compose up -d

Step 3 — Add the connector in Gemini

Your server URL: in AnythingMCP, open MCP Servers → the server this connector is on, and copy its URL (https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/…). Use it wherever this guide shows YOUR_SERVER_ID.

Gemini CLI reads MCP servers from ~/.gemini/settings.json (on Windows %USERPROFILE%\.gemini\settings.json). Add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anythingmcp": {
      "httpUrl": "https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/YOUR_SERVER_ID",
      "headers": { "X-API-Key": "YOUR_MCP_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

1. Create an MCP API key in AnythingMCP under MCP Servers → your server → API keys, and paste it in place of YOUR_MCP_API_KEY.
2. Save the file and restart gemini.
3. Run /mcp inside Gemini CLI (or gemini mcp list in your shell): anythingmcp should show as connected.
4. Start prompting: Gemini CLI can now call the Gemini API tools.

Available tools

Example prompts

• "Read the supplier price list PDF at the link I paste below and list every product with its price."
• "Ask Gemini to rewrite this product description in a shorter, friendlier tone for our online shop."
• "How many tokens is this proposal for Gemini, and what would summarising it cost on the default model?"
• "Create a product photo of our blue ceramic mug on a wooden table with Nano Banana, but tell me the cost and wait for my OK first."

FAQ

Where does Gemini CLI look for MCP servers? In ~/.gemini/settings.json for your user, or in .gemini/settings.json inside a project. gemini mcp list shows each server and whether it connects.

Next steps

• Connector landing page
• Connect to Claude
• Connect to ChatGPT