gcloud

name

gcloud

description

Google Cloud Platform CLI (gcloud, gcloud storage, bq). Use when: managing GCP resources, deploying to Cloud Run/Cloud Functions/GKE/App Engine, working with Cloud Storage, BigQuery, IAM, Compute Engine, Cloud SQL, Pub/Sub, Secret Manager, Artifact Registry, Cloud Build, Cloud Scheduler, Cloud Tasks, Vertex AI, VPC/networking, DNS, logging/monitoring, or any GCP service. Also covers: authentication, project/config management, CI/CD integration, serverless deployments, container registry, docker push to GCP, managing secrets, Workload Identity Federation, and infrastructure automation.

gcloud — Google Cloud Platform CLI

Command-line interface for managing Google Cloud resources. Covers gcloud, gcloud storage (replaces gsutil), and bq (BigQuery).

Platform Notes (Windows + Git Bash)

• Install: scoop install gcloud (preferred) or GoogleCloudSDKInstaller.exe
• If installed via scoop, gcloud components install may not work — use scoop to manage
• Config: %APPDATA%/gcloud/ (PowerShell) or ~/.config/gcloud/ (Git Bash)
• Service account keys: store in $TEMP or project .secrets/, never commit
• Python: gcloud requires Python; scoop install handles this automatically

⚠️ Path Translation Gotcha

Git Bash auto-translates /-prefixed args, breaking some gcloud commands:

# FIX — disable MSYS path conversion:
export MSYS_NO_PATHCONV=1

# Or per-command:
MSYS_NO_PATHCONV=1 gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding my-project ...

⚠️ Cost: Commands that create resources (instances, clusters, databases) incur GCP charges. Always confirm project and region before creating.

Agent Safety Model

Operations classified by risk. Follow this model for all gcloud commands.

Level	Gate	Examples
READ	Proceed autonomously	list, describe, get, logs read, config list, gcloud storage ls
WRITE	Confirm with user; note cost if billable	create, deploy, update, enable, gcloud storage cp (upload)
DESTRUCTIVE	Always confirm; show what's affected	delete, rm, gsutil rm -r, bq rm -r, rsync -d, IAM removal
EXPENSIVE	Confirm + state approximate cost	GKE clusters ($70+/mo), SQL instances ($8-400/mo), VMs (~$5-2k/mo)
SECURITY	Confirm + explain impact	--allow-unauthenticated, firewall rules, IAM owner/editor grants
FORBIDDEN	Refuse; escalate to human	gcloud iam service-accounts keys create, gcloud projects delete, passwords in CLI args

Rules:

• Never combine --quiet with destructive operations — it suppresses the only safety gate
• Never put passwords/secrets as command-line arguments — visible in process list & shell history
• Always use --format=json for machine-parseable output (agents can't reliably parse tables)
• When in doubt, treat as DESTRUCTIVE

Command Structure

gcloud [RELEASE_LEVEL] COMPONENT ENTITY OPERATION [ARGS] [FLAGS]

Key global flags: --project, --format, --filter, --limit, --quiet, --verbosity, --async

Service Reference

Service	File	Key Commands
Auth & Config	auth.md	Login, ADC, impersonation, config profiles
IAM & Projects	iam.md	Projects, APIs, service accounts, Secret Manager
Compute & Networking	compute.md	VMs, SSH, firewall, VPC, DNS, static IPs
Serverless	serverless.md	Cloud Run, Functions, App Engine, Scheduler, Tasks
Storage & Artifacts	storage.md	gcloud storage, Artifact Registry
Data	data.md	Cloud SQL, BigQuery (bq), Pub/Sub
Automation & CI/CD	automation.md	Scripting, output formats, filtering, GitHub Actions, operations

Read the per-service file for full command reference.

Pre-Flight Checks

Before working with any GCP service:

# 1. Correct project?
gcloud config get-value project

# 2. Default region set?
gcloud config get-value compute/region

# 3. Required API enabled? (most APIs are disabled by default)
gcloud services list --filter="name:run.googleapis.com" --format="value(name)" | grep -q run || \
  gcloud services enable run.googleapis.com

# 4. Billing enabled?
gcloud billing projects describe $(gcloud config get-value project) --format="value(billingEnabled)"

If you hit PERMISSION_DENIED: ... API has not been enabled, enable the API mentioned in the error and retry.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Diagnosis	Fix
Auth failure	gcloud auth list	gcloud auth login or check key file
Permission denied	Check IAM (see iam.md)	Grant correct role
API not enabled	Error message says which API	gcloud services enable API_NAME
Quota exceeded	gcloud compute project-info describe	Request increase in Console
Wrong project	gcloud config get-value project	gcloud config set project X
Wrong region	gcloud config get-value compute/region	Set correct region; related resources must match
Config confusion	gcloud config configurations list	Check active config, override with --project
Slow commands	Large result set	Use --filter, --limit, --format=value

# Debug mode
gcloud compute instances list --verbosity=debug

# Full environment info
gcloud info

Quick Reference

Task	Command
Login	gcloud auth login
Set project	gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID
Current project	gcloud config get-value project
Enable API	gcloud services enable API.googleapis.com
List anything	gcloud COMPONENT list --format=json
Describe anything	gcloud COMPONENT describe NAME --format=json
JSON output	--format=json
Single value	--format="value(field)"
Filter	--filter="field=value"
Quiet ⚠️	--quiet — suppresses ALL prompts including delete confirmations
Help	gcloud COMPONENT --help