Skill: Gemini Assistant
Purpose
Delegate large-context analysis tasks to Gemini CLI when Claude's context window is insufficient or when you need rapid pattern-matching across entire codebases.
When to Use This Skill
Use Gemini when:
- •Analyzing entire codebases or large directories (100KB+ of files)
- •Comparing multiple large files simultaneously
- •Need to understand project-wide patterns or architecture
- •Verifying if specific features, patterns, or security measures exist
- •Checking for coding patterns across the entire codebase
- •Current context would overflow with the required files
When NOT to Use
- •Small, focused tasks that fit in current context
- •Tasks requiring execution, code changes, or file modifications
- •When you need precise, step-by-step reasoning
- •For tasks where accuracy is more important than breadth
Fallback Protocol
If Gemini is unavailable (rate limits, errors, not installed), fall back to Claude:
- •
Check for Gemini errors:
- •"API rate limit exceeded" → Wait or fall back
- •"command not found: gemini" → Gemini CLI not installed
- •Connection errors → Network issue, fall back
- •Empty or garbled response → Retry once, then fall back
- •
Claude fallback strategy:
- •Break the task into smaller chunks that fit Claude's context
- •Use targeted file reads instead of directory-wide analysis
- •Prioritize most critical files first
- •Use grep/glob to narrow scope before reading
- •
Inform the user:
- •Explain Gemini is unavailable
- •Describe the adapted approach
- •Note any limitations of the fallback
See workflows/fallback-to-claude.md for detailed fallback procedures.
Routing Logic
Analyze user intent and route to appropriate workflow:
Codebase Analysis → workflows/analyze-codebase.md
- •"Summarize the architecture"
- •"What does this codebase do?"
- •"Give me an overview of the project"
- •"Analyze the project structure"
Implementation Verification → workflows/verify-implementation.md
- •"Has [feature] been implemented?"
- •"Is [pattern] used in the codebase?"
- •"Check if [security measure] exists"
- •"Verify [functionality] is present"
Pattern Search → workflows/search-patterns.md
- •"Find all [pattern] in the code"
- •"Search for [usage] across files"
- •"Locate [specific code pattern]"
- •"List all [type of code]"
File Comparison → workflows/compare-files.md
- •"Compare [file1] and [file2]"
- •"What's the difference between these implementations?"
- •"Analyze dependencies between files"
Dependency Audit → workflows/audit-dependencies.md
- •"Find unused dependencies"
- •"Which packages aren't being used?"
- •"Audit the package.json"
Duplication Detection → workflows/detect-duplication.md
- •"Find duplicated code"
- •"What code is copy-pasted?"
- •"Find repeated patterns to refactor"
Documentation Drafts → workflows/draft-documentation.md
- •"Generate API documentation"
- •"Write an architecture doc"
- •"Create onboarding guide"
Migration Analysis → workflows/migration-analysis.md
- •"What breaks if we upgrade [library]?"
- •"Impact of migrating to [framework]?"
- •"Analyze migration from X to Y"
CLI Syntax Reference
Basic invocation:
gemini -p "Your prompt here"
File/directory inclusion with @ syntax (paths relative to CWD):
# Single file gemini -p "@src/main.py Explain this file" # Multiple files gemini -p "@package.json @src/index.js Analyze dependencies" # Entire directory gemini -p "@src/ Summarize the architecture" # Multiple directories gemini -p "@src/ @tests/ Analyze test coverage" # Current directory gemini -p "@./ Give me an overview" # All files flag gemini --all_files -p "Analyze project structure"
Context Files
- •
context/gemini-capabilities.md- What Gemini excels at and limitations - •
context/cli-reference.md- Complete CLI syntax and options
Issue Tracking
Log problems encountered with Gemini in ISSUES.md to improve this skill over time. Include:
- •The command that failed
- •What went wrong (accuracy, timeout, rate limit, etc.)
- •How it was resolved
- •Suggestions for improvement
Critical Notes
- •Always review Gemini's output - It's good at breadth, Claude is better at precision
- •Paths are relative - The @ syntax uses paths relative to where gemini command runs
- •Read-only tool - Gemini CLI is for analysis, not execution or modification
- •Claude orchestrates - Results come back to Claude for final processing and action
- •Fallback ready - If Gemini fails, Claude can handle the task with adapted strategy