Gemini CLI Not Responding
Troubleshoot and fix issues when Gemini CLI hangs, freezes, or becomes unresponsive.
Quick Fixes
1. Force quit and restart:
# Kill hanging process
pkill -f gemini
killall gemini-cli
# Or use Ctrl+C if still in terminal
^C
2. Check system resources:
# Check CPU and memory usage
top -p $(pgrep gemini)
htop # if available
# Check disk space
df -h
3. Test with simple command:
gemini --version
gemini "Hello, world!"
Common Causes and Solutions
❌ Network Timeout
Symptoms: CLI hangs during API calls, no response for extended periods
Solutions:
1. Check internet connection:
ping google.com
curl -I https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com
2. Increase timeout:
gemini --timeout 60000 "your prompt"
gemini config set timeout 60000
3. Configure proxy if needed:
export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.company.com:8080
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.company.com:8080
❌ Memory Issues
Symptoms: System becomes slow, CLI freezes with large files or complex requests
Solutions:
1. Check memory usage:
free -h # Linux
vm_stat # macOS
wmic OS get TotalVisibleMemorySize,FreePhysicalMemory # Windows
2. Reduce request size:
gemini --max-tokens 1000 "shorter prompt"
gemini --chunk-size 1MB large-file.txt
3. Close other applications:
Free up system memory by closing unnecessary applications
❌ API Rate Limiting
Symptoms: CLI hangs after several requests, especially in batch operations
Solutions:
1. Add delays between requests:
gemini --rate-limit 60 "request 1"
sleep 1 && gemini "request 2"
2. Use batch mode with throttling:
gemini batch --throttle 1s "*.js" "process files"
❌ Configuration Issues
Symptoms: CLI starts but hangs on first command, inconsistent behavior
Solutions:
1. Validate configuration:
gemini config validate
gemini config show
2. Reset to defaults:
gemini config reset
# Or manually delete config file
rm ~/.config/gemini-cli/config.json
3. Test with minimal config:
gemini --no-config --api-key YOUR_KEY "test"
Diagnostic Commands
System diagnostics:
# Check system resources
gemini diagnostics --system
# Check network connectivity
gemini diagnostics --network
# Check configuration
gemini diagnostics --config
Debug mode:
gemini --debug --verbose "test command"
gemini --trace "test command"
Log analysis:
# View recent logs
gemini logs --tail 50
gemini logs --level error
# Clear logs
gemini logs --clear
Process Management
Finding Hanging Processes
# Find Gemini CLI processes
ps aux | grep gemini
pgrep -fl gemini
# Check process tree
pstree -p $(pgrep gemini)
# Monitor process activity
strace -p $(pgrep gemini) # Linux
dtruss -p $(pgrep gemini) # macOS
Graceful Termination
# Send SIGTERM (graceful)
kill $(pgrep gemini)
# Send SIGKILL (force)
kill -9 $(pgrep gemini)
# Kill all related processes
pkill -f "gemini.*"
Timeout Management
# Set command timeout
timeout 30s gemini "long running command"
# Kill after specific time
timeout --kill-after=5s 30s gemini "command"
# Use with retry
timeout 30s gemini "command" || echo "Command timed out"
Prevention Strategies
Resource Monitoring
Set up monitoring:
gemini config set monitoring.enabled true
gemini config set monitoring.memoryLimit "2GB"
gemini config set monitoring.timeoutWarning 30000
Use resource limits:
ulimit -m 2097152 # 2GB memory limit
ulimit -t 300 # 5 minute CPU time limit
Safe Operation Practices
- • Test commands with small inputs first
- • Use timeouts for potentially long-running operations
- • Monitor system resources before large operations
- • Use batch operations with appropriate throttling
- • Keep the CLI updated to the latest version
Configuration Best Practices
{ "timeout": 30000, "maxTokens": 2048, "retryAttempts": 3, "retryDelay": 1000, "monitoring": { "enabled": true, "memoryWarning": "1GB", "timeoutWarning": 25000 } }
Recovery Steps
Complete recovery procedure:
# 1. Stop all processes
pkill -f gemini
# 2. Clear temporary files
rm -rf ~/.cache/gemini-cli/*
rm -rf /tmp/gemini-*
# 3. Reset configuration
gemini config reset
# 4. Test basic functionality
gemini --version
gemini "Hello, world!"
If problems persist:
# Reinstall Gemini CLI
npm uninstall -g @google/gemini-cli
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
# Clear npm cache
npm cache clean --force
Getting Help
Collect diagnostic information:
gemini diagnostics --full > diagnostics.txt
gemini logs --export logs.txt
gemini config show > config.txt
System information:
uname -a # System info
node --version # Node.js version
npm --version # npm version
gemini --version # CLI version
Next Steps
If you're still experiencing issues, try these resources: