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Overview

Connect CodeAlive with Google’s Gemini CLI for AI-powered development with deep codebase understanding. Gemini CLI supports a one-command setup — no config files needed.
Quick install: Run npx @codealive/installer to automatically configure CodeAlive for Gemini CLI. See the Installation Guide for details.

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Prerequisites

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Setup

1

Add CodeAlive MCP Server

Run this single command:
Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your actual CodeAlive API key. That’s it — no config files needed.
2

Verify Integration

Start Gemini CLI and try:
  • “Show me all available repositories”
  • “Find authentication code in my codebase”

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Community Extension

For an enhanced experience, install the community-built Gemini CLI extension that adds slash commands and workflow guidance:
This adds:
  • /codealive:chat — Chat with your codebase
  • /codealive:find — Search for code
  • /codealive:search — Semantic search
  • GEMINI.md guidance for effective CodeAlive usage

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Extension Configuration

Set your API key for the extension:

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Usage

Once connected, Gemini CLI can:
  • Search your codebase semantically across all indexed repositories
  • Answer architecture questions with full project context
  • Find patterns and implementations across multiple services

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Troubleshooting

  1. Verify the server was added: gemini mcp list
  2. Check your API key is correct
  3. Remove and re-add: gemini mcp remove secure-http then re-run the add command
  1. Verify the extension is installed: gemini extensions list
  2. Check the CODEALIVE_API_KEY is set
  3. Restart Gemini CLI
For more solutions, see the Troubleshooting Guide.

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Instruct Your Agent

Connecting CodeAlive makes its tools available, but the agent may still default to its built-in search. For reliable results, add a short instruction in the agent’s native format telling it to prefer semantic_search and grep_search when exploring indexed code. See Instructing Coding Agents.