Shell tool (`run_shell_command`)

This document describes the run_shell_command tool for the Gemini CLI.

Description

Use run_shell_command to interact with the underlying system, run scripts, or perform command-line operations. run_shell_command executes a given shell command, including interactive commands that require user input (e.g., vim, git rebase -i) if the tools.shell.enableInteractiveShell setting is set to true.

On Windows, commands are executed with powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command (unless you explicitly point ComSpec at another shell). On other platforms, they are executed with bash -c.

Arguments

run_shell_command takes the following arguments:

command (string, required): The exact shell command to execute.
description (string, optional): A brief description of the command's purpose, which will be shown to the user.
directory (string, optional): The directory (relative to the project root) in which to execute the command. If not provided, the command runs in the project root.

How to use `run_shell_command` with the Gemini CLI

When using run_shell_command, the command is executed as a subprocess. run_shell_command can start background processes using &. The tool returns detailed information about the execution, including:

Command: The command that was executed.
Directory: The directory where the command was run.
Stdout: Output from the standard output stream.
Stderr: Output from the standard error stream.
Error: Any error message reported by the subprocess.
Exit Code: The exit code of the command.
Signal: The signal number if the command was terminated by a signal.
Background PIDs: A list of PIDs for any background processes started.

Usage:

run_shell_command(command="Your commands.", description="Your description of the command.", directory="Your execution directory.")

`run_shell_command` examples

List files in the current directory:

run_shell_command(command="ls -la")

Run a script in a specific directory:

run_shell_command(command="./my_script.sh", directory="scripts", description="Run my custom script")

Start a background server:

run_shell_command(command="npm run dev &", description="Start development server in background")

Configuration

You can configure the behavior of the run_shell_command tool by modifying your settings.json file or by using the /settings command in the Gemini CLI.

Enabling interactive commands

To enable interactive commands, you need to set the tools.shell.enableInteractiveShell setting to true. This will use node-pty for shell command execution, which allows for interactive sessions. If node-pty is not available, it will fall back to the child_process implementation, which does not support interactive commands.

Example settings.json:

{
  "tools": {
    "shell": {
      "enableInteractiveShell": true
    }
  }
}

Showing color in output

To show color in the shell output, you need to set the tools.shell.showColor setting to true. Note: This setting only applies when tools.shell.enableInteractiveShell is enabled.

Example settings.json:

{
  "tools": {
    "shell": {
      "showColor": true
    }
  }
}

Setting the pager

You can set a custom pager for the shell output by setting the tools.shell.pager setting. The default pager is cat. Note: This setting only applies when tools.shell.enableInteractiveShell is enabled.

Example settings.json:

{
  "tools": {
    "shell": {
      "pager": "less"
    }
  }
}

Interactive commands

The run_shell_command tool now supports interactive commands by integrating a pseudo-terminal (pty). This allows you to run commands that require real-time user input, such as text editors (vim, nano), terminal-based UIs (htop), and interactive version control operations (git rebase -i).

When an interactive command is running, you can send input to it from the Gemini CLI. To focus on the interactive shell, press Tab. The terminal output, including complex TUIs, will be rendered correctly.

Important notes

Security: Be cautious when executing commands, especially those constructed from user input, to prevent security vulnerabilities.
Error handling: Check the Stderr, Error, and Exit Code fields to determine if a command executed successfully.
Background processes: When a command is run in the background with &, the tool will return immediately and the process will continue to run in the background. The Background PIDs field will contain the process ID of the background process.

Environment variables

When run_shell_command executes a command, it sets the GEMINI_CLI=1 environment variable in the subprocess's environment. This allows scripts or tools to detect if they are being run from within the Gemini CLI.

Command restrictions

You can restrict the commands that can be executed by the run_shell_command tool by using the tools.core and tools.exclude settings in your configuration file.

tools.core: To restrict run_shell_command to a specific set of commands, add entries to the core list under the tools category in the format run_shell_command(<command>). For example, "tools": {"core": ["run_shell_command(git)"]} will only allow git commands. Including the generic run_shell_command acts as a wildcard, allowing any command not explicitly blocked.
tools.exclude: To block specific commands, add entries to the exclude list under the tools category in the format run_shell_command(<command>). For example, "tools": {"exclude": ["run_shell_command(rm)"]} will block rm commands.

The validation logic is designed to be secure and flexible:

Command chaining disabled: The tool automatically splits commands chained with &&, ||, or ; and validates each part separately. If any part of the chain is disallowed, the entire command is blocked.
Prefix matching: The tool uses prefix matching. For example, if you allow git, you can run git status or git log.
Blocklist precedence: The tools.exclude list is always checked first. If a command matches a blocked prefix, it will be denied, even if it also matches an allowed prefix in tools.core.

Command restriction examples

Allow only specific command prefixes

To allow only git and npm commands, and block all others:

{
  "tools": {
    "core": ["run_shell_command(git)", "run_shell_command(npm)"]
  }
}

git status: Allowed
npm install: Allowed
ls -l: Blocked

Block specific command prefixes

To block rm and allow all other commands:

{
  "tools": {
    "core": ["run_shell_command"],
    "exclude": ["run_shell_command(rm)"]
  }
}

rm -rf /: Blocked
git status: Allowed
npm install: Allowed

Blocklist takes precedence

If a command prefix is in both tools.core and tools.exclude, it will be blocked.

{
  "tools": {
    "core": ["run_shell_command(git)"],
    "exclude": ["run_shell_command(git push)"]
  }
}

git push origin main: Blocked
git status: Allowed

Block all shell commands

To block all shell commands, add the run_shell_command wildcard to tools.exclude:

{
  "tools": {
    "exclude": ["run_shell_command"]
  }
}

ls -l: Blocked
any other command: Blocked

Security note for `excludeTools`

Command-specific restrictions in excludeTools for run_shell_command are based on simple string matching and can be easily bypassed. This feature is not a security mechanism and should not be relied upon to safely execute untrusted code. It is recommended to use coreTools to explicitly select commands that can be executed.

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