GEMINI_API_KEY not detected by Gemini CLI despite being exported in shell environment

[danielraffel]

The Gemini CLI fails to detect the GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable, even after setting and verifying it in the shell. When choosing “Gemini API Key” from the /auth menu, the CLI responds with:

GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable not found. Add that to your .env and try again, no reload needed!

However, the variable is correctly exported in .zshrc and visible via echo $GEMINI_API_KEY.

---

Client information

• OS: macOS
• Installed via: npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
• Output of /about (please replace with your actual output):

CLI Version: 0.1.3-rc.1
Git Commit: 382486e (local modifications)
Model: gemini-2.5-pro
Sandbox: no sandbox
OS: darwin arm64
Node version: v22.14.0

---

Additional context
I followed the instructions for advanced use with an API key from the official Gemini CLI README.

Steps taken:

1. Generated a key in Google AI Studio.
2. Added export GEMINI_API_KEY="REDACTED" to ~/.zshrc.
3. Ran source ~/.zshrc.
4. Verified with echo $GEMINI_API_KEY (value is shown correctly).
5. Ran /auth in the CLI and selected “Gemini API Key.”
6. Received the error stating that GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable was not found.

Expected behavior:
Gemini CLI should recognize the environment variable and authenticate via API key.

[InsightfulFuture]

Something similar is happening to me as well, I am running gemini cli natively on windows. When I set my api key in my ~/.bashrc and run gemini, it just spins forever and doesn't respond. Running it with -p reveals that it is hitting repeated 429 resource exhausted errors (because I hit my free quota). This is after going to the /auth menu and setting it to Gemini API Key multiple times.

[Ningoose]

After setting the environment variable, I created a new terminal and ran Gemini, and it worked

[11me]

same here it does not see the env variable I set. Every time I call gemini in terminal it starts with waiting for auth and hanging in that state. Just really bad UX

[AaronAust1n]

vi ~/.env, set your api-key to ~/.env, gonna work out. MacOS 12.7.6.

[11me]

vi ~/.env, set your api-key to ~/.env, gonna work out. MacOS 12.7.6.

this didnt help, sometimes it just works when I choose to login with google, I have to try about 10 times to make it work

[sakunsylvi]

I followed these steps (also note it should be GEMINI_API_KEY not something else you set

Next, you need to set your API key by adding the following export command:

export GEMINI_API_KEY=<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>
After saving the file, apply the changes by running:

source ~/.bashrc

[sethtroisi]

We've improved the auth flow several times during launch week. I just tested with export GEMINI_API_KEY=<KEY> and it worked so I'm closing this issues has resolved. Feel free to open if it's not working.

[ntovarsolorzano]

I came here because I had this same issue, but in my case, just opening another terminal window and launched gemini again, that solved the issue.
Likely, it just needed a source ~/.bashrc to recognize it.

Also, a different scenario, If i ran gemini inside my home folder ~ it ran perfectly, but inside my project folder (which is in another drive) it would not detect it, despite the fact my keys are stored in the ~/.profile file.
In this situation, creating an .env file inside the project directory with the API key would do the job.

Hope my comment helps somebody.