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CLAUDE.md

Using Gemini CLI for Large Codebase Analysis

When analyzing large codebases or multiple files that might exceed context limits, use the Gemini CLI with its massive context window. Use gemini -p to leverage Google Gemini's large context capacity.

File and Directory Inclusion Syntax

Use the @ syntax to include files and directories in your Gemini prompts. The paths should be relative to WHERE you run the gemini command:

Examples:

Files:

gemini -p "@package.json @src/index.js Analyze the dependencies used in the code"

Directories:

gemini -p "@src/ @tests/ Analyze test coverage for the source code"

Current directory and subdirectories:

gemini -p "@./ Give me an overview of this entire project"

Or use --all_files flag:

gemini --all_files -p "Analyze the project structure and dependencies"

When to Use Gemini CLI

Use gemini -p when:

  • Analyzing entire codebases or large directories
  • Comparing multiple large files
  • Need to understand project-wide patterns or architecture
  • Current context window is insufficient for the task
  • Working with files totaling more than 100KB
  • Verifying if specific features, patterns, or security measures are implemented
  • Checking for the presence of certain coding patterns across the entire codebase
  • Need second opinion when cannot immediately resovle some issue

Execution Best Practices

IMPORTANT: For any substantial analysis, always redirect output to a file and run in background.

Why this is essential:

  • Gemini analysis can take several minutes for large codebases
  • Without redirection, you cannot see or save the results
  • Background execution prevents blocking your terminal
  • Need 2>&1 to capture both stdout and stderr in the output file

Important Notes

  • Paths in @ syntax are relative to your current working directory when invoking gemini
  • The CLI will include file contents directly in the context
  • No need for --yolo flag for read-only analysis
  • Gemini's context window can handle entire codebases that would overflow Claude's context
  • When checking implementations, be specific about what you're looking for to get accurate results
  • ALWAYS use output redirection - the analysis is useless if you can't read the results

Test Running Best Practices

  • Always run tests with output to file so that you can grep it later
  • Saving test outputs allows you to easily diff between different test runs
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