Google Agents CLI Onboarding
[!TIP] One-Time Setup: To install the CLI and enable all 7 specialized development skills in your coding agent, run the setup command:
uvx google-agents-cli setupAlternatively, to install only the expert skills and let the agent handle execution:
npx skills add google/agents-cli
Overview
This skill serves as the entrypoint for agents-cli — Google's toolkit for building, evaluating, and deploying AI agents on the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform.
Use this skill to perform the initial setup and identify the correct specialized workflows for your task.
The Agent Development Lifecycle
After running the setup, the following specialized skills become available and will activate automatically based on your requests. Use this table to identify which skill to load for your current phase:
| Phase | Specialized Skill | Purpose / When to Load |
|---|---|---|
| 0 — Understand | google-agents-cli-workflow |
Clarify intent. Define the agent spec in .agents-cli-spec.md before coding. |
| 1 — Study | google-agents-cli-workflow |
Leverage samples. Study existing agent samples (e.g., ambient-expense) before scaffolding. |
| 2 — Scaffold | google-agents-cli-scaffold |
Create/Enhance. Initialize the project structure, CI/CD, and infrastructure templates. |
| 3 — Build | google-agents-cli-adk-code |
Implement. Write agent logic, tools, callbacks, and manage state using ADK APIs. |
| 4 — Evaluate | google-agents-cli-eval |
Validate Quality. Run systematic evaluations (LLM-as-judge). |
| 5 — Deploy | google-agents-cli-deploy |
Go Production. Deploy to Agent Runtime (Vertex AI), Cloud Run, or GKE. |
| 6 — Publish | google-agents-cli-publish |
Register. Make your agent available as a tool in Gemini Enterprise. |
| 7 — Observe | google-agents-cli-observability |
Monitor. Set up Cloud Trace, prompt-response logging, and BigQuery analytics. |
Key CLI Commands
Below are the primary commands you will use throughout the development lifecycle:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
agents-cli setup |
Install the CLI and configure skills in your coding agent. |
agents-cli scaffold <name> |
Create a new agent project from a template. |
agents-cli eval run |
Run the agent and grade the traces in a single step (generate + grade). |
agents-cli deploy |
Deploy your agent to Google Cloud (Agent Runtime, Cloud Run, GKE). |
agents-cli publish gemini-enterprise |
Register your deployed agent with Gemini Enterprise. |
For the full list of available commands and global options, run agents-cli --help.
Next Steps
Follow this sequence to initiate the development workflow:
- Execute Setup: Run the
uvxornpxcommand in the[!TIP]box above to install the CLI and enable the specialized skills in your environment. - Verify Installation: Run
agents-cli infoto confirm the installation and view the active project configuration. - Initiate Phase 0: Ask the user for their core requirements (agent
purpose, external tools, deployment target) and document them in
.agents-cli-spec.mdbefore writing any code.
Reporting Issues
Report bugs or improvements at Google Agents CLI Issues.