Configuring Gemini CLI

For detailed information about Gemini CLI extensions and MCP servers:

• Gemini CLI Extensions
• Gemini CLI MCP Server Tools

Here's how to get mcp-confluent running with Gemini CLI:

1. Install Gemini CLI: If you haven't already, install the Gemini CLI. You can find installation instructions on the official GitHub repository.

2. Install the mcp-confluent extension:

   gemini extensions install https://github.com/confluentinc/mcp-confluent
   # Or, from a local checkout (the directory containing gemini-extension.json):
   # gemini extensions install .
   

   This registers the mcp-confluent server with Gemini CLI and creates a dedicated directory under ~/.gemini/extensions/mcp-confluent.

3. Provide credentials and config:

   The shipped Gemini extension currently invokes the MCP server with -e ${extensionPath}${pathSeparator}.env — that is, the legacy env-var configuration path with a .env file at a fixed location inside the extension directory. A future extension release will switch to the YAML path; until then, populate that .env:

   cp /path/to/your/.env ~/.gemini/extensions/mcp-confluent/.env
   

   See CONFIGURATION.md → Legacy env-var configuration for the variable reference. The same file can also carry ${VAR} values that a future YAML config would interpolate, so any setup work you do here carries forward.

4. Verify and use:

   gemini -l
   # or `gemini extensions list`
   

   Example session:

   
   gemini
   ....
   
   🟢 mcp-confluent (from mcp-confluent) - Ready (24 tools)
   ....
   
   Using: 1 MCP server (ctrl+t to toggle)
   ╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
   │ > list topics                                                                                                                                             │
   ╰───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
   
   ╭────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
   │ ✓  list-topics (mcp-confluent MCP Server) {}                                                                                                       │
   │                                                                                                                                                    │
   │    Kafka topics:                                                                                                                                   │
   │    products_summarized,products,topic_8,products_summarized_with_embeddings,elastic_minimized,user_message_related_products,user_message_embeddin  │
   │    gs,dlq-lcc-d3738o,user_message,elastic                                                                                          │
   ╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
   ✦ Okay, I see the following topics: products_summarized, products, topic_8, products_summarized_with_embeddings, elastic_minimized,
     user_message_related_products, user_message_embeddings, dlq-lcc-d3738o, user_message, and elastic.