Gemini CLI With CBorg

1. Install Gemini CLI

For Mac users with Homebrew

brew install gemini-cli

Using NPM

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

2A. Authentication via LBL-identity:

Authentication via the LBL identity enables direct usage of Gemini models without incurring API charges on CBorg.

gemini
/auth

Then select “Login with Google”. A browser will open - login using your LBL identity for authentication.

Verify the Auth method is “OAuth” using the /about command:

╭────────────╮
│  > /about  │
╰────────────╯
╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│                                                                      │
│ About Gemini CLI                                                     │
│                                                                      │
│ CLI Version             0.1.9                                        │
│ Git Commit              34935d6                                      │
│ Model                   gemini-2.5-pro                               │
│ Sandbox                 no sandbox                                   │
│ OS                      darwin                                       │
│ Auth Method             OAuth                                        │
│                                                                      │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

2B. Authentication via CBorg: Set the following variables in your environment:

**If you previously authenticated using another method, switch authentication back to “Gemini API Key” using the /auth command.

export GEMINI_API_KEY=$CBORG_API_KEY
export GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL="https://api.cborg.lbl.gov"

3. Restart your shell and verify that the environment variables are now present.

env | grep GEMINI

4. Now start Gemini CLI in your project directory

cd my-project
gemini

Note: Gemini CLI only works with Gemini models (Current default Gemini 2.5 Pro / Gemini 2.5 Flash)

Note: It is strongly recommended to use version control (e.g. Git) with Gemini CLI projects.