Use MCP servers in Gemini CLI with Toolport
Toolport is a free, open source local MCP gateway. Add your servers to Toolport once, flip the Gemini CLI toggle, and Gemini CLI gets all of them through a single gateway entry, with lazy discovery loading 3 meta-tools instead of every server's full tool list.
Setup
- Download Toolport for Windows, macOS or Linux, and add your MCP servers to it (or import the ones your clients already have; secrets go to your OS keychain).
- Open the Clients tab and toggle Gemini CLI on. Toolport writes its gateway entry into Gemini CLI's config, next to anything already there.
- Restart or reload Gemini CLI. Your full server set is available through Toolport, and any server you add later shows up without touching Gemini CLI again.
Where Gemini CLI keeps its MCP config
- All platforms
~/.gemini/settings.json
JSON with a top-level mcpServers object inside Gemini CLI's settings.
Why a gateway instead of Gemini CLI's own server list?
- One setup, every client. The same servers work in Gemini CLI and every other client on your machine; add a server once and they all get it.
- Up to 91% fewer tool tokens. Instead of every server dumping its tool list into context, the agent loads 3 meta-tools and searches on demand (measured).
- Secrets in the OS keychain. API keys are injected at runtime and never sit in Gemini CLI's config file.
- Watched by default. Rug-pull and tool-poisoning detection on every tool, plus per-tool governance and a destructive-tool kill switch. How the security works.