Ask Gemini

Purpose

Use local Gemini CLI as an external advisor for brainstorming, design feedback, or focused reviews. The workflow is local-first and always leaves a Markdown artifact.

When to Use

• Need a Gemini second opinion from Codex App or another shell-capable agent.
• Want reviewable output from gemini -p saved for later.
• Do not use when Gemini CLI is missing or unauthenticated.
• Do not use as an MCP fallback.

For multi-turn advisory sessions (persistent context across follow-ups), use relay-gemini instead — apx relay start <name> --provider gemini keeps context across turns.

Inputs

• A specific prompt or task.
• Local gemini command available in PATH.
• Optional artifact directory.

Workflow

Run through APX:

apx ask-gemini "Brainstorm edge cases for this CLI"

Equivalent nested APX and direct CLI calls:

apx ask gemini "Brainstorm edge cases for this CLI"

gemini -p "Brainstorm edge cases for this CLI"

If gemini is missing, stop and ask the user to install/configure Gemini CLI. Verify with:

gemini --version

Output

APX writes:

.apx/artifacts/gemini-<slug>-<timestamp>.md

Artifact sections:

• Original user task
• Final prompt sent to Gemini CLI
• Gemini output (raw)
• Concise summary
• Action items / next steps

Verification

apx check ask-gemini
apx ask-gemini "Return OK only" --json

Confirm JSON includes provider, artifactPath, promptLength, and raw output in stdout. Open the artifact before applying advice.

Failure Modes

• Missing CLI: do not use MCP; ask user to install/configure gemini.
• Auth failure: keep artifact if APX created one, report CLI stderr.
• Broad prompt: narrow the question before running to avoid noisy advice.