Bridge: Gemini CLI Adapter

This file is a REFERENCE DOCUMENT. Any orchestrating skill reads it via the Read tool and embeds its instructions directly into Task agent prompts. It is not invoked as a standalone skill — it is a reusable set of instructions for Gemini CLI dispatch.

Input schema, agent prompt template, output schema, verdict logic, timeout formula, artifact format, and status semantics are defined in bridge-commons/SKILL.md. This file covers only Gemini-specific connection detection and execution.

Bridge Identity

bridge: gemini
model_family: google/gemini
availability: conditional
connection_preference:
  1: native-dispatch  # Executor is Gemini CLI — Gemini subagents (enableAgents)
  2: cli              # Any other executor — gemini -p
  3: skip             # Neither — return SKIPPED (non-blocking)

---

Pre-Flight — Connection Detection

Check A: Native Dispatch?

If the executor is Gemini CLI with subagent support enabled, this is the preferred path — spawn specialized Gemini subagents rather than shelling out to the CLI.

# Check if subagents are enabled in project or user settings
cat .gemini/settings.json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c \
  "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d.get('experimental',{}).get('enableAgents', False))"

# Also check user-level settings
cat ~/.gemini/settings.json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c \
  "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d.get('experimental',{}).get('enableAgents', False))"

If True and the current executor is Gemini CLI → use native dispatch (subagent path in Subagent Mode section).

If executor is not Gemini, or enableAgents is false or missing → proceed to Check B.

---

Check B: CLI Installed?

which gemini

If found → proceed to Check C.

If not found → return immediately:

{
  "bridge": "gemini",
  "status": "SKIPPED",
  "skip_reason": "gemini CLI not available (which gemini returned empty)",
  "outputs": [],
  "verdict": null
}

Never fail or block — SKIPPED is a valid bridge outcome.

---

Check C: Auth / Quota Probe

A gemini CLI that is installed but has an expired token or exhausted quota passes Check B and then fails silently at execution time. Catch this at availability check instead:

# Lightweight probe — verifies auth without a full execution
gemini --version 2>/dev/null
# Or: a minimal non-interactive list/ping command if available

If the probe exits non-zero or returns an auth error → return:

{
  "bridge": "gemini",
  "status": "SKIPPED",
  "skip_reason": "gemini CLI auth probe failed: {stderr}",
  "outputs": [],
  "verdict": null
}

If the probe succeeds → use CLI path (Execution section).

---

Execution

Build the prompt using the Agent Prompt Template from bridge-commons, adapting to task_type. Calculate timeout using bridge-commons formula (no bridge-specific multiplier for Gemini).

TIMEOUT={calculated_timeout}
PROMPT="{constructed_prompt}"

timeout $TIMEOUT gemini -p "$PROMPT" --approval-mode plan --output-format json

Error handling:

• Exit code 0 with JSON → parse and return findings
• Exit code 124 (timeout) → return SKIPPED with reason timeout_after_{n}s
• Other exit codes → return SKIPPED with reason gemini CLI error: {stderr}
• Invalid JSON output → attempt to extract structured content, else SKIPPED

After execution, run the bridge-commons Post-Analysis Protocol. Gemini uses stateless context passing between rounds — embed the full previous-round outputs and context packet in each subsequent gemini -p call. There is no session continuity between separate CLI invocations.

For standard and thorough intensity, construct the Round 2 prompt as:

{Agent Prompt Template for this role}

--- ROUND 2 CONTEXT ---
Previous round findings:
{JSON of all Round 1 outputs}

{context packet: open_challenges directed at this domain, synthesis}

Never block the calling orchestrator — always return a report (even if SKIPPED).

---

Subagent Mode

Gemini CLI supports custom subagents for parallel domain dispatch when experimental.enableAgents is set in .gemini/settings.json.

# Confirm subagents are enabled
cat .gemini/settings.json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c \
  "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d.get('experimental',{}).get('enableAgents', False))"

• If true → spawn one subagent per domain; run consolidation pass after all complete
• If false or missing → run standard single Gemini call covering all domains (valid fallback)

Subagent mode is a progressive enhancement. Record subagent_mode: true/false in output.

---

Output

See bridge-commons Output Schema. Bridge-specific fields:

{
  "bridge": "gemini",
  "model_family": "google/gemini",
  "connection_used": "native-dispatch | cli",
  "subagent_mode": true
}

Output ID prefix: G (e.g., G001, G002).

---

Notes

• Always check availability first — never assume gemini is installed
• Use non-interactive mode only; always specify --approval-mode
• Use --output-format json for structured parsing (not -o json)
• Timeout is estimated from scope, not hardcoded — see bridge-commons formula
• SKIPPED is a valid, non-error outcome

Analysis safety: Use --approval-mode plan for all non-implementation task types. This prevents Gemini from auto-applying file edits during review/audit/research tasks. For implementation tasks (task_type = implementation), auto_edit may be appropriate.