Gemini CLI Built-in Tools

Gemini CLI Built-in Tools

Reference for Gemini's built-in tools and their capabilities.

Unique Tools (Not in Claude Code)

These tools are available only through Gemini CLI:

google_web_search

Performs web search using Google Search API.

**Capabilities:**

• Real-time internet search
• Current information (news, releases, docs)
• Grounded responses with sources

**Usage:**

gemini "What are the latest React 19 features? Use Google Search." -o text

**Best For:**

• Current events and news
• Latest library versions
• Recent documentation updates
• Community opinions and benchmarks

**Example Queries:**

• "What are the security vulnerabilities in lodash 4.x? Use Google Search."
• "What's new in TypeScript 5.4? Use Google Search."
• "Best practices for Next.js 14 app router in November 2025."

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codebase_investigator

Specialized tool for deep codebase analysis.

**Capabilities:**

• Architectural mapping
• Dependency analysis
• Cross-file relationship detection
• System-wide pattern identification

**Usage:**

gemini "Use the codebase_investigator tool to analyze this project" -o text

**Output Includes:**

• Overall architecture description
• Key file purposes
• Component relationships
• Dependency chains
• Potential issues/inconsistencies

**Best For:**

• Onboarding to new codebases
• Understanding legacy systems
• Finding hidden dependencies
• Architecture documentation

**Example:**

gemini "Use codebase_investigator to map the authentication flow in this project" -o text

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save_memory

Saves information to persistent long-term memory.

**Capabilities:**

• Cross-session persistence
• Key-value storage
• Recall in future sessions

**Usage:**

gemini "Remember that this project uses Zustand for state management. Save this to memory." -o text

**Best For:**

• Project conventions
• User preferences
• Recurring context
• Custom instructions

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Standard Tools

These tools are similar to Claude Code's capabilities:

list_directory

Lists files and subdirectories in a path.

**Parameters:**

• path: Directory to list
• ignore: Glob patterns to exclude

**Example Output:**

src/
  components/
  utils/
  index.js
package.json
README.md

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read_file

Reads file content with truncation for large files.

**Supported Formats:**

• Text files (all types)
• Images (PNG, JPG, GIF, WEBP, SVG, BMP)
• PDF documents

**Parameters:**

• path: File path
• offset: Starting line (for large files)
• limit: Number of lines

**Large File Handling:** If file exceeds limit, output indicates truncation and provides instructions for reading more with offset/limit.

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search_file_content

Fast content search powered by ripgrep.

**Advantages over grep:**

• Optimized performance
• Automatic output limiting (max 20k matches)
• Better pattern matching

**Parameters:**

• pattern: Regex pattern
• path: Search root
• Various ripgrep flags

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glob

Pattern-based file f