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google-agents-cli-publish skill: register agents with Gemini

The agents-cli publish skill from google/agents-cli helps coding agents register a deployed agent with a Gemini app over ADK or A2A, plus how to install it.

By the Kipt team · Updated 26 October 2026

Source: google/agents-cli · Maintainer: Google · License: Apache-2.0 · Checked: 26 October 2026

What is the google-agents-cli-publish skill?

google-agents-cli-publish is an Agent Skill that teaches a coding agent how to register a deployed AI agent with a Gemini app. It wraps one command, agents-cli publish gemini, and covers the two registration modes, every flag, CI/CD use and the common errors.

It is one of seven skills in google/agents-cli, Google's "CLI and skills for building agents on Gemini platform." In the README's skill table its entry is simply "Gemini registration." The SKILL.md notes that Gemini was "formerly Gemini Enterprise," and the old publish gemini-enterprise command still works as a hidden alias.

As of 26 October 2026, its skills.sh page listed about 512,300 installs (snapshot, 26 October 2026). The SKILL.md metadata lists Google as author and version 1.11.0.

What does it do?

The SKILL.md is a single file with no reference folder. It starts with prerequisites:

  1. The agent must be deployed, running and reachable.
  2. A Gemini app must already exist; you create it in the Google Cloud console.
  3. On Agent Runtime, deployment_metadata.json (written by agents-cli deploy) enables auto-detection.
  4. The agent must be text-based. Live or voice agents are "not supported by the Gemini app."

Two registration modes

ADK registration A2A registration
Where Agent Runtime, ADK agents only Cloud Run, GKE, or Agent Runtime with --registration-type a2a
How Gemini calls the agent Natively, through :streamQuery on the reasoning engine Through the agent's Agent-to-Agent card
What you pass --agent-runtime-id (or auto-detected) --agent-card-url
Default when ADK agent on Agent Runtime Everywhere else, including non-ADK frameworks

The skill calls ADK registration "the default and recommended registration for ADK agents on Agent Runtime," and the path to use when the agent needs OAuth authorization (--authorization-id). A2A is "the default and only registration type" on Cloud Run and GKE.

Programmatic and interactive use

The command "is non-interactive by default," which the skill says makes it safe for CI/CD. Most flags have an environment variable: AGENT_RUNTIME_ID, GEMINI_APP_ID, GEMINI_DISPLAY_NAME, GEMINI_DESCRIPTION, REGISTRATION_TYPE, AGENT_CARD_URL and others. Pass --interactive (or -i) instead to be prompted for missing values, with a list of your Gemini apps. In the simplest case, an ADK agent on Agent Runtime with metadata present, the only value you need is the Gemini app ID.

Agent Registry

The skill also covers Agent Registry, Google Cloud's fleet-wide catalog of agents and MCP servers, separate from a Gemini app. Agents deployed to Agent Runtime are auto-registered there, and the skill lists gcloud agent-registry commands to list, describe, update and delete entries, and to register an external MCP server with a toolspec.json of up to 10 KB.

How do you install it?

The Getting Started guide lists Python 3.11+, uv and Node.js as prerequisites. The recommended install adds the CLI and all seven skills:

uvx google-agents-cli setup

Or install skills only, either the whole set or just this one (the command shown on skills.sh):

npx skills add google/agents-cli
npx skills add https://github.com/google/agents-cli --skill google-agents-cli-publish

The skill's metadata lists the agents-cli binary as a requirement, installed with uv tool install google-agents-cli. In Claude Code, run /skills to confirm the agents-cli skills are listed; the Claude Code skills docs explain where skill folders live. Codex and Cursor read the same SKILL.md format; see Codex skills and Cursor skills.

Because publishing needs a deployed agent, install it together with google-agents-cli-deploy, or use the full setup command.

How do you use it?

The skill is model-invoked when you ask to "publish an agent", "register an agent with Gemini", "manage agents in Agent Registry" or "register an MCP server," per its description. It says not to use it for deployment. You can also call /google-agents-cli-publish directly in Claude Code.

Example prompts (suggestions, not quotes from the repo):

  • Publish the agent I just deployed to Agent Runtime to our Gemini app. List the apps first so I can pick one.
  • Register our Cloud Run agent with Gemini over A2A, with the display name "Support Assistant".
  • Add a publish step to the CI pipeline that uses environment variables, not flags.
  • Registration fails with HTTP 403. What permissions am I missing?
  • Register our internal MCP server in Agent Registry.

A typical ADK case from the skill looks like this:

agents-cli publish gemini \
  --gemini-app-id projects/123456/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/my-app

Tips and limits

From the SKILL.md, the repo docs and skills.sh, not from testing:

  • Cloud Run needs an extra grant for A2A. The skill says the Discovery Engine service account needs roles/run.servicesInvoker on the Cloud Run service.
  • 403 on registration. Check that your account has Discovery Engine Editor permissions on the project that hosts the Gemini app.
  • Card path depends on language. Python agents serve /a2a/{app_name}/.well-known/agent-card.json; Go agents serve /.well-known/agent-card.json.
  • "Session not found" after registration. The skill attributes this to a known SDK bug in google-cloud-aiplatform 1.128.0 and earlier: upgrade, redeploy, then re-register.
  • Re-running is safe. Registration is idempotent and updates in place.
  • Agent Registry status. The SKILL.md still labels it Preview, but Google's release notes say it became generally available on 18 June 2026. Managing it needs roles/agentregistry.editor.
  • Security audits. On skills.sh, Gen Agent Trust Hub rated it Pass with risk level Safe (22 October 2026). Socket (20 October 2026) and Snyk (risk level Low, 20 October 2026) also rated it Pass.

Under Apache 2.0 you can copy and modify the skill as long as you keep the license and notices and mark files you change.

Save it in your Kipt library

In Kipt, open Skills and paste the skill's GitHub folder link to import it. Paste the repo link instead and Kipt shows a list of all seven agents-cli skills to pick from, so you can take the deploy skill in the same pass. You can also drop the folder or a .zip. Your skills live in your own private GitHub repo and install into Claude Code or Codex with one command:

npx skills add https://github.com/<you>/<repo>.git --all -g

Kipt is not affiliated with Google.

Similar skills

Questions

What is the google-agents-cli-publish skill?

It is an Agent Skill in Google's google/agents-cli repo that guides a coding agent through registering an already deployed agent with a Gemini app, using the agents-cli publish gemini command. It covers ADK and A2A registration modes, flags and environment variables, auto-detection from deployment metadata, Agent Registry and troubleshooting.

What is the difference between ADK and A2A registration?

ADK registration is the default for ADK agents on Agent Runtime: the Gemini app calls the agent natively through its reasoning engine, and no agent card URL is needed. A2A registration uses the agent's Agent-to-Agent card URL and is the only option on Cloud Run and GKE, and the right mode for agents built on frameworks other than ADK.

What do I need before running agents-cli publish gemini?

The SKILL.md lists four prerequisites: the agent must be deployed and reachable, a Gemini app must already exist in the Google Cloud console, Agent Runtime deployments need the deployment_metadata.json file that agents-cli deploy creates, and the agent must be text-based because Live or voice agents are not supported.

Can I run agents-cli publish gemini in CI/CD?

Yes. The skill says the command is non-interactive by default, so you pass values with flags or environment variables such as AGENT_RUNTIME_ID and GEMINI_APP_ID. Registration is idempotent, so re-running it updates the existing registration instead of creating a duplicate.

How do I install the agents-cli publish skill?

Run uvx google-agents-cli setup to install the agents-cli command and all seven skills, or add only this one with npx skills add https://github.com/google/agents-cli --skill google-agents-cli-publish. The skill needs the agents-cli binary and a Google Cloud project with a Gemini app.

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