# zn-gate for Gemini CLI Install zn's experimental hooks for Gemini CLI: they block reads and writes of secret files and shell commands that handle secrets before the tool runs. Source: https://usezn.com/docs/install/gemini-cli/ Gemini CLI support is **experimental**. Treat it as a first layer: zn can block a call, but it cannot hide what a tool returns (see Limits below). Google replaced Gemini CLI with Antigravity CLI for free and Google One accounts on June 18, 2026. [Antigravity](https://usezn.com/docs/integrations/antigravity/) is now the first choice for new setups; zn-gate still supports Gemini CLI. You need Node.js 18 or later. Paste each line in a terminal and press Enter after each one: ```bash npm install -g zn-gate zn hooks install gemini ``` On macOS and Linux, if `npm install -g` fails with `EACCES`, follow npm's guide to [fixing permission errors](https://docs.npmjs.com/resolving-eacces-permissions-errors-when-installing-packages-globally). Fix it without administrator rights: ```bash mkdir -p ~/.npm-global && npm config set prefix ~/.npm-global echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc ``` Bash users: write to `~/.bashrc` instead of `~/.zshrc`. Then open a new terminal and run `npx -y zn-gate init`. A Node.js version manager such as nvm also avoids the problem. Then open a new Gemini CLI session. zn adds its hook to `~/.gemini/settings.json`. Updating later? See [Upgrading zn-gate](https://usezn.com/docs/zn-gate/upgrade/). ## For one project only Run `zn hooks install gemini --project` inside the project. It writes `.gemini/settings.json` in that project instead of your home folder. Gemini CLI treats a project hook as untrusted until you approve it, and the hook runs `zn` from your PATH, so everyone who opens the project needs zn-gate installed. ## What you get - zn checks every tool call before it runs. - Reads and writes of secret files, such as `.env` files with values, are blocked by file path. - Shell commands that handle secrets are blocked. For a command that uses a `__ZN___` marker, zn blocks it and tells the model the exact `zn run -- ...` line to use instead. - A search across a folder that would print plain-text secrets is blocked. Name a narrower path. - The agent cannot edit Gemini CLI's own settings files. - zn never approves a call for you. When it has no objection, Gemini CLI's own approval applies. ## Limits - **What a tool returns is not changed.** A value that a command prints, or that sits in a file the agent may read, still reaches the model. Keep your secrets in the vault. - **zn blocks what it would ask about.** Gemini CLI hooks cannot ask you for confirmation, so zn blocks what it would refuse, and what it would ask about, with the reason and how to approve it. For everything else Gemini CLI's own approval applies. - **A secret pasted into a typed prompt is not checked.** - **Gemini CLI lets a call run when a hook crashes or times out, so zn blocks it instead.** In Gemini CLI only an explicit refusal blocks. zn sets a 15-second timeout on its hook (Gemini CLI's own default is 60 seconds), and a check still running after 11 seconds is answered with a block. On a user install a small launcher script, and on a project install a start guard, answer a hook that fails (including when the Node.js that zn was installed with is gone) with a block. - **Settings can switch the hook off.** `hooksConfig.enabled: false`, a hook name in `hooksConfig.disabled` and the `/hooks disable` command each turn it off. `zn-gate check` reports them. - zn was checked against Gemini CLI 0.64.0 with a scripted model, not with every version. ## Check that it works In a new terminal, run `zn-gate check`. It should show **OK** for Gemini CLI. [What the output means](https://usezn.com/docs/check/). On Windows PowerShell, if npm says "running scripts is disabled on this system", use `npm.cmd` and `zn.cmd` instead: see [Install](https://usezn.com/docs/install/#windows-powershell). ## Remove it Run `zn hooks uninstall gemini` in your own terminal (add `--project` for a project install).