Gemini CLI and Jules: Google's coding agents in practice

What it does

• Gemini CLI extensions. Packages prompts, MCP servers, custom commands, themes, hooks, sub-agents, and agent skills so you can add and share Gemini CLI capabilities. How: Install from GitHub, e.g. gemini extensions install https://github.com/gemini-cli-extensions/workspace. List with /extensions list or gemini extensions list. source
• Plan Mode. A read-only environment to research, design, and agree an execution plan before any implementation edits. Enabled by default. How: gemini --approval-mode=plan, /settings Default Approval Mode = Plan, Shift+Tab to cycle modes, or /plan goal. source
• Headless mode. Programmatic Gemini CLI with structured text or JSON and no interactive TUI, for scripts and CI. How: Triggered by a non-TTY environment or gemini -p / --prompt. Output via --output-format (json or streaming JSONL). source
• Jules Tools. A CLI to create and inspect Jules cloud coding sessions from the terminal, including a TUI dashboard. How: npm install -g @google/jules, then jules login. Create a task with jules remote new --repo torvalds/linux --session "write unit tests". Run jules for the TUI. source
• Starting tasks from GitHub Issues. Assigns Jules to a GitHub issue; Jules comments on the issue and later links a pull request. How: Authorize the Jules GitHub app on the repo, then add the label jules (case insensitive) to the issue. source
• AGENTS.md. A repo-root file Jules reads to understand agents/tools, conventions, and how to plan against the codebase. How: Add AGENTS.md at the repository root and keep it up to date. source
• Scheduled Tasks. Recurring Jules jobs (for example weekly dependency checks) that run on a schedule and open a PR. How: On the repo page, open the Scheduled tab and configure the task. Available for all Jules users. source
• MCP Server support in Jules. Lets Jules call vetted MCP tools (Linear, Stitch, Neon, Tinybird, Context7, Supabase) during a session. How: In Jules Settings, open MCP, add the service API key, then start a new session. source
• CI Fixer. When GitHub Actions fails on a Jules-created PR, Jules reads the error, patches, and resubmits without a manual log paste. How: Automatic on PRs Jules created; no extra setup described beyond using Jules PRs with GitHub Actions. source
• Gemini CLI Jules Extension. Lets Gemini CLI orchestrate Jules: spawn remote workers, delegate tasks, and check running jobs. How: gemini extensions install https://github.com/gemini-cli-extensions/jules source

Modes

• Headless mode. Non-interactive Gemini CLI: -p/--prompt or non-TTY; JSON or stream-json for scripts and CI. source
• Plan Mode. Read-only research and planning. In headless runs, exiting Plan Mode switches to YOLO so implementation is not blocked on prompts. source
• YOLO mode. Auto-approve implementation after a plan; used automatically when headless Plan Mode exits to execute. source
• remote. Jules Tools subcommand for cloud sessions: remote new, remote list, remote pull. source
• Interactive Dashboard (TUI). Run jules with no args for a terminal dashboard, side-by-side diffs, and guided task creation. source
• Sign in with Google. Gemini CLI auth prompt option 1 after gemini; certain accounts also need a Google Cloud project. Unpaid/Google One users were moved off this path on 18 June 2026. source
• Reactive Mode. Jules only acts on PR review comments that mention @Jules, instead of every comment. source
• Antigravity CLI. Replacement terminal for consumer Gemini CLI users; keeps Agent Skills, Hooks, Subagents, and Extensions as Antigravity plugins. source

Pricing and limits

• Jules: 15 tasks per day. 3 concurrent tasks; Powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro source
• Claude Pro (includes Claude Code): $20 if billed monthly. $17 per month with annual subscription discount ($200 billed up front). Claude Code is not on Free; on paid plans it shares the same usage limits as the rest of the plan. Usage resets on a rolling five-hour session window, with weekly limits on paid plans. source
• Codex Plus: $20/month. Codex on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension, and on iOS. Local-message estimates per five-hour period for Plus include GPT-6.1 Sol 15-160 (not a fixed message limit). source

Recent changes

• 2026-10-13: Gemini CLI stable v0.64.0: atomic file writes and CLI state persistence with backup recovery; append-only chat recording; @file:line references; more reliable Ctrl+C abort. source
• 2026-10-06: Gemini CLI v0.63.0: autonomous plan execution in non-interactive mode for unattended agent workflows. source
• 2026-06-18: Gemini CLI stopped serving Google AI Pro, Ultra, and free Code Assist for individuals; Antigravity CLI is the consumer replacement. Unpaid-tier and Google One banners on Gemini CLI docs point here. source
• 2026-05-19: Google announced the Gemini CLI → Antigravity CLI transition (available that day; consumer cutoff 18 June 2026). source
• 2026-03-09: Gemini 3.1 Pro became the default model in Jules for Google Pro plan users, replacing Gemini 3 Pro. source
• 2026-02-19: Jules CI Fixer auto-repairs GitHub Actions failures on Jules PRs. Commit Authoring settings: Jules, co-authored, or user-only. source
• 2026-02-02: Jules launched MCP server support (Linear, Stitch, Neon, Tinybird, Context7, Supabase) via API keys in Settings. source
• 2026-01-30: Gemini 3 Flash became the base model in Jules for all users on all tiers, replacing Gemini 2.5 Pro as the base. source

Alternatives

• Antigravity CLI. Google's current consumer terminal: Go binary, async multi-agent background work, shared harness with Antigravity 2.0. Not 1:1 with Gemini CLI. From 18 June 2026 it is the path for Google AI Pro/Ultra and free Code Assist for individuals. source
• Claude Code. Anthropic's terminal/IDE coding tool. Included in all paid Claude plans, not Free. Pro is $20 if billed monthly ($17/month annual, $200 billed up front). Usage is one pool across Claude apps and Claude Code, on a rolling five-hour window plus weekly paid limits. Local interactive coding, not a GitHub cloud VM like Jules. source
• Codex. OpenAI's coding agent with CLI, IDE, web, and (on ChatGPT plans) cloud GitHub/Slack. Plus is $20/month for CLI+cloud; Free is $0/month with GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app (subject to rollout); API-key auth is CLI/SDK/IDE only with no cloud GitHub review/Slack. source

Traps

• On 18 June 2026 Gemini CLI stopped serving requests for Google AI Pro and Ultra and for free Gemini Code Assist for individuals. Those users must use Antigravity CLI. Enterprise Code Assist Standard/Enterprise and paid Gemini API keys still work. source
• Free individual OAuth via gemini -p can fail with IneligibleTierError: This client is no longer supported for Gemini Code Assist for individuals... migrate to Antigravity. Older docs that still cite 1,000 requests/day for Google sign-in are stale for that tier. source
• Paid Jules plans are only for individual Google Accounts ending in @gmail.com. Workspace/business accounts cannot upgrade in-product yet. source
• Jules is in beta, requires age 18+, officially supports only English, and capacity is subject to availability and not guaranteed. source
• After the daily Jules task limit (rolling 24 hours) you cannot start new tasks until reset; existing tasks can still be reviewed. Family Google One plans do not pool Jules limits. source
• Jules setup scripts cannot run long-lived processes such as npm run dev or watch scripts; use discrete install/test commands. source
• Jules runs in a cloud VM with internet access. Do not commit secrets (API keys, tokens, credentials) to the repo Jules clones. source
• Images on Jules tasks are JPEG/PNG only, total under 5MB, and only at task creation—not in follow-up prompts. Assets that must land in the repo still need to be committed to GitHub separately. source

AuthorAndrey Reshetnikov, AI product and AI engineering