zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw · error · anyhow::Error

Gemini CLI exited with non-zero status {code}. Check that Ge

Error message

Gemini CLI exited with non-zero status {code}. Check that Gemini CLI is authenticated and the CLI is supported.{stderr_note}

What it means

The spawned gemini binary exited with a non-zero code. The message includes the exit code and a redacted, clipped stderr excerpt (redact_stderr caps length); the dominant causes the message itself names are missing CLI authentication and an unsupported/changed CLI version.

Source

Thrown at crates/zeroclaw-providers/src/gemini_cli.rs:222

                        .with_outcome(::zeroclaw_log::EventOutcome::Failure)
                        .with_attrs(::serde_json::json!({
                            "phase": "process_wait",
                            "error": format!("{}", err),
                        })),
                    "gemini_cli: process wait failed"
                );
                anyhow::Error::msg(format!("Gemini CLI process failed: {err}"))
            })?;

        if !output.status.success() {
            let code = output.status.code().unwrap_or(-1);
            let stderr_excerpt = Self::redact_stderr(&output.stderr);
            let stderr_note = if stderr_excerpt.is_empty() {
                String::new()
            } else {
                format!(" Stderr: {stderr_excerpt}")
            };
            anyhow::bail!(
                "Gemini CLI exited with non-zero status {code}. \
                 Check that Gemini CLI is authenticated and the CLI is supported.{stderr_note}"
            );
        }

        let text = String::from_utf8(output.stdout).map_err(|err| {
            ::zeroclaw_log::record!(
                ERROR,
                ::zeroclaw_log::Event::new(module_path!(), ::zeroclaw_log::Action::Fail)
                    .with_outcome(::zeroclaw_log::EventOutcome::Failure)
                    .with_attrs(::serde_json::json!({
                        "phase": "utf8_decode",
                        "error": format!("{}", err),
                    })),
                "gemini_cli: non-UTF-8 stdout"
            );
            anyhow::Error::msg(format!("Gemini CLI produced non-UTF-8 output: {err}"))
        })?;

View on GitHub (pinned to 88bb9c8533)

Solutions

1. Run the same prompt manually with the CLI and complete its auth flow
2. Pin or reinstall a supported gemini CLI version
3. Set GEMINI_CLI_PATH to a known-good binary
4. Read the appended Stderr excerpt for the CLI's own complaint

Example fix

# before: CI never authenticates the CLI
- run: zeroclaw chat --provider gemini_cli "hi"

# after: authenticate once, cache HOME
- run: gemini --version && gemini auth login  # or restore a cached auth dir
- run: zeroclaw chat --provider gemini_cli "hi"

async fn gemini_cli_healthy(binary: &str) -> bool {
    tokio::process::Command::new(binary)
        .arg("--version")
        .output()
        .await
        .map(|o| o.status.success())
        .unwrap_or(false)
}

fn is_gemini_cli_exit_error(e: &anyhow::Error) -> bool {
    e.to_string().starts_with("Gemini CLI exited with non-zero status")
}

match provider.chat_with_system(None, prompt, model, temp).await {
    Ok(t) => Ok(t),
    Err(e) if e.to_string().starts_with("Gemini CLI exited with non-zero status") => {
        // read the embedded Stderr excerpt; check auth, then retry once
        run_gemini_auth_check().await?;
        provider.chat_with_system(None, prompt, model, temp).await
    }
    Err(e) => Err(e),
}

When it happens

Trigger: invoke_cli runs after the binary spawned successfully but the CLI failed: never-authenticated gemini CLI, expired credentials, major-version flag changes, or a sandboxed CI environment without HOME/auth cache.

Common situations: Fresh machine or CI container where gemini was installed but never logged in; CLI auto-updated overnight and changed behavior; GEMINI_CLI_PATH pointing at a wrapper script that fails early.

Understand the failure class

• Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

Related errors

• Gemini CLI model_provider received non-finite temperature va
• temperature unsupported by Gemini CLI: {temperature}. Suppor
• Jira get_ticket failed ({status}): {}
• Jira list_projects failed ({status}): {}
• Jira myself failed ({status}): {}

AI-assisted analysis of zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw@88bb9c8533 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7822090234b38cac. Report an issue: GitHub.