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Co-authored-by: Krishna Korade <MushuEE@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Jacob Richman <jacob314@gmail.com>
117 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
117 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
# Provide context with GEMINI.md files
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Context files, which use the default name `GEMINI.md`, are a powerful feature
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for providing instructional context to the Gemini model. You can use these files
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to give project-specific instructions, define a persona, or provide coding style
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guides to make the AI's responses more accurate and tailored to your needs.
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Instead of repeating instructions in every prompt, you can define them once in a
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context file.
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## Understand the context hierarchy
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The CLI uses a hierarchical system to source context. It loads various context
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files from several locations, concatenates the contents of all found files, and
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sends them to the model with every prompt. The CLI loads files in the following
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order:
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1. **Global context file:**
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- **Location:** `~/.gemini/GEMINI.md` (in your user home directory).
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- **Scope:** Provides default instructions for all your projects.
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2. **Environment and workspace context files:**
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- **Location:** The CLI searches for `GEMINI.md` files in your configured
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workspace directories and their parent directories.
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- **Scope:** Provides context relevant to the projects you are currently
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working on.
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3. **Just-in-time (JIT) context files:**
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- **Location:** When a tool accesses a file or directory, the CLI
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automatically scans for `GEMINI.md` files in that directory and its
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ancestors up to a trusted root.
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- **Scope:** Lets the model discover highly specific instructions for
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particular components only when they are needed.
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The CLI footer displays the number of loaded context files, which gives you a
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quick visual cue of the active instructional context.
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### Example `GEMINI.md` file
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Here is an example of what you can include in a `GEMINI.md` file at the root of
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a TypeScript project:
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```markdown
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# Project: My TypeScript Library
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## General Instructions
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- When you generate new TypeScript code, follow the existing coding style.
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- Ensure all new functions and classes have JSDoc comments.
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- Prefer functional programming paradigms where appropriate.
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## Coding Style
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- Use 2 spaces for indentation.
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- Prefix interface names with `I` (for example, `IUserService`).
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- Always use strict equality (`===` and `!==`).
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```
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## Manage context with the `/memory` command
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You can interact with the loaded context files by using the `/memory` command.
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- **`/memory show`**: Displays the full, concatenated content of the current
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hierarchical memory. This lets you inspect the exact instructional context
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being provided to the model.
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- **`/memory reload`**: Forces a re-scan and reload of all `GEMINI.md` files
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from all configured locations.
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- **`/memory add <text>`**: Appends your text to your global
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`~/.gemini/GEMINI.md` file. This lets you add persistent memories on the fly.
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## Modularize context with imports
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You can break down large `GEMINI.md` files into smaller, more manageable
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components by importing content from other files using the `@file.md` syntax.
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This feature supports both relative and absolute paths.
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**Example `GEMINI.md` with imports:**
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```markdown
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# Main GEMINI.md file
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This is the main content.
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@./components/instructions.md
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More content here.
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@../shared/style-guide.md
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```
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For more details, see the [Memory Import Processor](../reference/memport.md)
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documentation.
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## Customize the context file name
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While `GEMINI.md` is the default filename, you can configure this in your
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`settings.json` file. To specify a different name or a list of names, use the
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`context.fileName` property.
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**Example `settings.json`:**
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```json
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{
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"context": {
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"fileName": ["AGENTS.md", "CONTEXT.md", "GEMINI.md"]
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}
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}
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```
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## Next steps
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- Learn about [Ignoring files](./gemini-ignore.md) to exclude content from the
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context system.
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- Explore the [Memory tool](../tools/memory.md) to save persistent memories.
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- See how to use [Custom commands](./custom-commands.md) to automate common
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prompts.
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