Gemini CLI: what it remembers, who owns it, and what it costs
thecontinuitylayer.com/coding-agents/gemini-cliGoogle's open-source agent that brings Gemini into the terminal, with GEMINI.md context files and saved memories. Google-account sign-in for individuals ended on 18 June 2026; API-key use continues.
- 1Yes
Does Gemini CLI remember across sessions?
Yes, by Google's own page.
A global ~/.gemini/GEMINI.md and project GEMINI.md files are sent with every prompt; "remember" requests write to a memory Markdown file that loads in all future sessions.
Yes means: Persistent instructions or stored memory carry into a new session without you pasting them again.
- 2Yes
Can you see what Gemini CLI remembered?
Yes, by Google's own page.
/memory show prints the combined loaded context, /memory list shows the file paths, and /memory inbox shows auto-memory proposals.
Yes means: A file or panel lists the stored memory.
- 3Yes
Can you edit Gemini CLI's memory?
Yes, by Google's own page.
Memories are Markdown files you can edit by hand or through the tool; /memory refresh reloads them.
Yes means: The memory is editable by you.
- 4Yes
Can you delete or turn off Gemini CLI's memory?
Yes, by Google's own page.
The files are yours to remove; auto memory is experimental and off by default, and its proposals never apply without review.
Yes means: A documented way to delete it or switch it off.
- 5Yes
Does Gemini CLI keep memory in a file you own?
Yes, by Google's own page.
Everything lives in ~/.gemini/GEMINI.md, the repository's GEMINI.md files and a per-project memory folder, all plain Markdown.
Yes means: The memory lives in a plain file on your machine or in your repository.
- 6Yes
Does Gemini CLI read a format other tools read?
Yes, by Google's own page.
The context file name is a setting that accepts one or more names such as AGENTS.md, CONTEXT.md or GEMINI.md.
Yes means: It reads a shared convention such as AGENTS.md, so the same file works elsewhere.
- 7Partly
Does Gemini CLI use your code for training by default?
Partly, by Google's own page.
The CLI's own terms page defers to the terms of whichever sign-in you use. Under the Gemini API terms, unpaid use may be used to improve Google's products and paid use is not. The individual Google-account tiers ended on 18 June 2026.
Yes means: Here no is the good answer: the maker's page says your data is not used for training. Yes means it is unless you opt out; partly means it depends on the plan or the page does not give the default.
- 8Not stated
What does Gemini CLI cost?
Google's pages do not say.
The free Google-account tier and the Google AI Pro and Ultra access ended on 18 June 2026, with users pointed to Antigravity CLI; the unpaid API-key tier remains. No subscription price in US dollars appears on the Gemini CLI pricing page.
Yes means: A free tier exists and the entry paid price is published.
What these grades say about continuity, and what they do not.
Every grade on this site is read from the maker's own pages. The Continuity Framework asks five things of any system that carries state: that it carry, govern, evolve, prove and forget. These tests reach carry, govern, prove and forget; they do not reach evolve, which no maker's page documents in a gradeable way. A high letter is a good coding agent, not a continuity layer.
- C1 RemembersCarry
- Remembering across sessions is question C1: state outlives the session that created it.
- C2 See itProve
- Being able to see the stored memory is the smallest form of question P1: the owner can inspect what is carried.
- C3 Edit itGovern
- An editable memory means the owner, not only the agent, has write authority (question G1, in part).
- C4 Delete itForget
- Deleting or switching off memory is rung 5 of the erasure ladder for the store the agent keeps; summaries and indexes it built are not covered unless documented. Rung 5 of the erasure ladder: delete the record.
- C5 Your fileCarry
- Memory in a file you own is portability by construction: question C3 answered without an export.
- C6 PortableCarry
- Reading a shared convention such as AGENTS.md is question C2: the same file works when the agent changes.
- C7 TrainingGovern
- Not training on your code by default is a scope boundary on the maker's side: what leaves the record and where it may go.
License as stated: Apache-2.0, stated on the Gemini CLI terms page.. Every grade above is read from Google's own page on the day shown. If a page has changed, tell us.