/gemini-search

name: gemini-search
description: Search research papers via Gemini for broad literature discovery. Use when user says "gemini search", "gemini papers", "search with gemini", or wants AI-powered literature discovery beyond arXiv/Semantic Scholar indexes.
argument-hint: "[search-query]"
allowed-tools: Bash(*), Read, Write, mcp__gemini-cli__*

Gemini Literature Search

Search query: $ARGUMENTS

Role & Positioning

This skill uses Gemini as a **broad literature discovery** source:

| Skill | Source | Best for | |-------|--------|----------| | `/arxiv` | arXiv API | Latest preprints, cutting-edge unrefereed work | | `/semantic-scholar` | Semantic Scholar API | Published venue papers (IEEE, ACM, Springer) with citation counts | | `/deepxiv` | DeepXiv CLI | Layered reading: search, brief, section map, section reads | | `/exa-search` | Exa API | Broad web search: blogs, docs, news, companies, research papers | | `/gemini-search` | Gemini MCP / CLI | **AI-powered broad literature discovery** — searches across multiple angles, aliases, and sub-problems |

Use Gemini when you want AI-driven discovery that goes beyond keyword matching — Gemini decomposes topics into sub-problems, explores naming variants, and surfaces papers that traditional API searches may miss.

Constants

• **MAX_RESULTS = 15** — Target number of papers Gemini should find.
• **MIN_YEAR = 2022** — Default minimum publication year. Override with `— year: 2020-`.
• **DEFAULT_MODEL = auto-gemini-3** — Auto-routes within the Gemini 3 family (Pro / Flash) by server-side capacity. Required by `mcp__gemini-cli__ask-gemini` and `gemini-cli` v0.40+; explicit `gemini-3-pro-preview` is **silently downgraded to `gemini-2.5-pro`** on OAuth-personal / Google One AI Pro accounts when capacity is exhausted. Override with `— model: gemini-3-flash-preview` (Gemini 3 Flash explicit, faster, higher quota), or `— model: gemini-2.5-pro` / `gemini-2.5-flash` (legacy, only for users on older `gemini-cli` < v0.40). The MCP tool accepts all of these verbatim.

> Overrides (append to arguments): > - `/gemini-search "topic" — max: 20` — request up to 20 papers > - `/gemini-search "topic" — year: 2020-` — papers from 2020 onward > - `/gemini-search "topic" — code-only` — only papers with open-source code > - `/gemini-search "topic" — venues: NeurIPS,ICML,ICLR` — focus on specific venues > - `/gemini-search "topic" — model: gemini-3-flash-preview` — Gemini 3 Flash (faster, higher quota, less capable than Pro) > - `/gemini-search "topic" — model: auto-gemini-3` — auto-routes within the Gemini 3 family by load > - `/gemini-search "topic" — model: gemini-2.5-pro` — legacy (only if your `gemini-cli` < v0.40)

Environment & Setup

Prerequisites

1. **Node.js** v16.0.0+ 2. **Google Gemini CLI** — installed and authenticated

   npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
   gemini auth

3. **gemini-mcp-tool** — MCP bridge for Claude Code ([jamubc/gemini-mcp-tool](https://github.com/jamubc/gemini-mcp-tool))

   npm install -g gemini-mcp-tool

MCP Configuration

In `~/.claude.json` (or `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` for Claude Desktop), add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gemini-cli": {
      "command": "gemini-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Alternative via `npx` (auto-install):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gemini-cli": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "gemini-mcp-tool"]
    }
  }
}

Or one-line setup:

claude mcp add gemini-cli -- npx -y gemini-mcp-tool

Authentication

Gemini CLI uses your Google account or an API key. Reuse an existing Google account login, or set an API key in the same shell **before starting Claude Code** so the MCP process inherits it:

export GEMINI_API_KEY='your-key-here'
claude

A separate tool-shell `export` does not update an already running host or MCP process. If you keep credentials in an environment file, load it explicitly before starting the host rather than relying on automatic `.env` loading.

• Free key from [Google AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com/apikey)
• Flash model (`gemini-2.5-flash`) has a generous free tier (500 req/min)

Available MCP Tools

| Tool | Parameters | Description | |------|-----------|-------------| | `mcp__gemini-cli__ask-gemini` | `prompt` (required), `model` (optional), `sandbox` (optional) | Ask Gemini for analysis or research; supports `@file` syntax | | `mcp__gemini-cli__sandbox-test` | `prompt` (required), `model` (optional) | Safe code execution in sandbox | | `mcp__gemini-cli__ping` | — | Connection test | | `mcp__gemini-cli__help` | — | Show Gemini CLI help |

Verify Setup

gemini --version

Workflow

Step 1: Parse Arguments

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for:

• **query**: The research topic (required)
• **max**: Override MAX_RESULTS
• **year**: Minimum publication year (e.g., `2020-`)
• **code-only**: Only include papers with open-source code
• **venues**: Comma-separated venue filter
• **model**: Override DEFAULT_MODEL

Step 2: Execute Search (MCP Priority)

**Priority 1 — Gemini MCP** (preferred):

Try calling `mcp__gemini-cli__ask-gemini` with the search prompt:

mcp__gemini-cli__ask-gemini({
  prompt: 'You are a research literature scout. Search comprehensively for papers on: "QUERY"

IMPORTANT CONSTRAINTS:
1. Search from MULTIPLE angles — do not just use the exact query. Decompose the topic into sub-problems, aliases, neighboring tasks, and common benchmark/settings variants.
2. Prefer papers that are genuinely relevant, not merely keyword-adjacent.
3. Include top venues, journals, surveys, recent preprints, and papers with code when available.
4. Focus on papers from MIN_YEAR onward unless older foundational work is necessary.

For EACH paper found, provide ALL of the following in this exact format:
- Title: [exact title]
- Authors: [full author list]
- Year: [publication year]
- Venue: [exact conference/journal name + year, or "arXiv preprint" if not publis