Fixing 'agy Not Found' In Gemini CLI On Linux

Are you a developer or enthusiast trying to integrate Google's powerful Gemini CLI with your favorite Antigravity IDE on a Linux machine, only to be met with the perplexing error: "❌_ agy not found. Please ensure it is in your system's PATH_"?_ You're not alone! This common issue has been a point of frustration for many users, particularly those running non-Debian/Ubuntu Linux distributions. This article will dive deep into understanding why this error occurs, walk you through the current workaround, and discuss potential long-term solutions to get your Gemini CLI and Antigravity IDE playing nicely together. We'll make sure you understand the nuances of this Gemini CLI bug and how it impacts your development workflow.

Unraveling the 'agy not found' Mystery in Gemini CLI

When you encounter the message "❌ agy not found. Please ensure it is in your system's PATH," it's more than just a cryptic error; it’s a direct indication that your Gemini CLI is struggling to locate a crucial executable. Specifically, the Gemini CLI expects to find a program named agy in your system's PATH environment variable. The PATH is essentially a list of directories where your operating system looks for executable files when you type a command. If the command isn't in one of those directories, or if it has a different name, the system simply can't find it, leading to the dreaded "not found" message. In this particular scenario, the Antigravity IDE, which is a fantastic tool for integrating with AI models, is the intended target. However, on many Linux distributions—especially those outside the Debian/Ubuntu family like Arch Linux, Fedora, or openSUSE—the Antigravity IDE's main executable is often named antigravity instead of agy. This subtle naming mismatch is the root cause of the detection problem. The Gemini CLI, with its current detection logic, is hardcoded to look for agy, completely overlooking the antigravity binary that is very much present and correctly installed on your system. This means that even if which antigravity returns /usr/bin/antigravity (confirming its existence), the CLI still reports Antigravity as "(Not installed)" because its internal check for agy fails. This can be incredibly frustrating for developers who rely on cross-platform tools and expect a seamless integration experience. Understanding the PATH environment variable is key here; it's fundamental to how Linux systems manage and execute software. If an application isn't explicitly linked or named as expected within those PATH directories, the system, or in this case, the Gemini CLI, will fail to acknowledge its presence. It's a classic case of a software component looking for a very specific name, while the operating system offers the same functionality under a slightly different one.

The Core of the Problem: Binary Naming and Gemini CLI Detection Logic

The heart of the Gemini CLI detection issue lies deep within its internal programming, specifically concerning how it tries to identify installed IDEs like Antigravity. It's not that Antigravity isn't installed; it's just that the Gemini CLI's logic has a very specific expectation about its executable's name. As many users on diverse Linux distributions have discovered, the antigravity binary is typically installed as /usr/bin/antigravity by package managers or official installers. However, the Gemini CLI, particularly within the @google/gemini-cli-core package (and specifically in a file like dist/src/utils/editor.js), is looking for a binary named agy. This mismatch is the central conflict. The detection logic likely contains a hardcoded mapping that looks something like antigravity: { win32: ['agy.cmd'], default: ['agy'] }. This configuration tells the CLI to look for agy.cmd on Windows and agy on all other default platforms, including Linux. The crucial part here is the default: ['agy'] entry. It completely misses the common antigravity naming convention prevalent on many Linux systems. Consequently, when you run gemini /ide install or gemini /ide status, the CLI scans your system's PATH for agy. Finding no such binary, it incorrectly concludes that Antigravity is not installed, presenting you with the