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Gemini CLI Setup

Prerequisites​

Gemini CLI

Install the Gemini CLI (npm install -g @google/gemini-cli)

Civic Account

Create a free account and configure your tools at app.civic.com

If you haven't set up Civic yet:

  1. 1
    Create a free Civic account

    Go to app.civic.com and sign in with Google, GitHub, or email.

  2. 2
    Select your MCP servers

    During onboarding, choose which services you want your AI to access — GitHub, Slack, Google Workspace, Dropbox, and more. This creates your default toolkit.

  3. 3
    Get your MCP URL

    Your connection URL is the same for every Civic account:

    https://app.civic.com/hub/mcp

    The URL is not personalized — what makes it yours is authentication. When you connect your client and complete the OAuth flow, Civic links that session to your account and toolkit.

note

Authentication: Gemini CLI uses OAuth. The first time you run a tool call, you'll be redirected to app.civic.com in your browser to sign in and authorize. After that, credentials are cached and subsequent sessions don't require a browser.

Setup​

Gemini CLI supports remote MCP servers via httpUrl — no local bridge required.

Add Civic to your user-level Gemini settings at ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "civic": {
      "httpUrl": "https://app.civic.com/hub/mcp"
    }
  }
}

This makes Civic available in all your Gemini CLI sessions.

Test Your Connection​

Start a Gemini CLI session and try:

"What MCP tools do I have available?"
"List my GitHub repositories"
"Check my Google Calendar for today"

On first use, Gemini CLI will redirect you to complete the Civic OAuth flow in your browser. After authenticating once, the session is cached — you won't need to re-authenticate on subsequent runs.

Troubleshooting​

MCP server not found

Confirm the settings.json is valid JSON and saved at the correct path. Run gemini from the project directory if using project-scoped config.

Authentication error

Delete the cached credentials and re-authenticate:

rm -rf ~/.gemini/auth_cache

Then start a new session — the OAuth flow will run again on the next request.

Tools not available after connecting

Visit app.civic.com to confirm your toolkit has MCP servers configured. An empty toolkit will result in no tools being available.

Need Help?​

Troubleshooting

Common connection issues and solutions

Get Help

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