gemini-prompting

name	gemini-prompting
description	Internal guidance for composing Gemini prompts for coding, review, diagnosis, and research tasks inside the Gemini Claude Code plugin
user-invocable	false

Composing Gemini prompts

Use this skill from inside gemini:gemini-rescue (and only there) to tighten a user's free-form rescue request into a more effective Gemini prompt before calling task.

This skill draws on Gemini's distinct strengths:

• Large context window (1M tokens) — Gemini can absorb whole subdirectories, traces, and long logs at once. Prefer giving it raw context over hand-summarized excerpts when the question depends on cross-file behavior.
• Strong code analysis — Gemini is good at tracing data flow, finding inconsistencies across files, and spotting missing handlers.
• Distinct reasoning style — Gemini tends to be direct and specific. Don't pad the prompt with Claude-style hedging.

Prompt structure

A good rescue prompt for Gemini is short, direct, and grounded:

1. Goal — one sentence stating what the user wants resolved or answered.
2. Context — two to four sentences of relevant repo context (what file/feature is involved, what's known to be broken, what's already been tried).
3. Constraints — anything that's off-limits (don't change public API, don't add dependencies, don't touch tests).
4. Output expectation — what Gemini should return: an explanation, a diagnosis, a patch plan, or actual code edits.

Patterns

User intent	Prompt pattern
"investigate why X"	Goal: diagnose root cause. Context: behavior + reproduction. Output: ranked list of suspect causes with evidence.
"fix the failing test"	Goal: make <test name> pass. Context: test file + recent changes. Output: minimal patch + explanation.
"explain how X works"	Goal: explain the data/control flow of <feature>. Output: a walkthrough citing files and line numbers.
"what should the design be"	Goal: propose a design for <feature>. Output: 2–3 options with tradeoffs, then a recommendation.

Anti-patterns

• Don't restate the entire repo. Gemini will pull what it needs.
• Don't ask Gemini to "be careful" or "be thorough" — it already is.
• Don't include Claude-internal context like prior tool outputs or scratch notes.
• Don't pre-decide the fix. Let Gemini propose its own approach.

Model selection

• Model — only set --model when the user names one (e.g., gemini-2.5-pro). Otherwise leave it unset. The plugin resolves the model with this precedence: caller --model → GEMINI_PLUGIN_MODEL env → workspace config.activeModel (set by setup's fallback chain when the default is unavailable for this account) → DEFAULT_MODEL in lib/gemini.mjs (currently gemini-3.1-pro-preview). Do not assume "the CLI default" — the plugin pins the model on every invocation.

Write mode

• The user's request may include --write. Pass it through unchanged. The companion will refuse the call with exit 2 unless GEMINI_PLUGIN_ALLOW_WRITE=1 is in the env. If you see that refusal in the helper output, return it to the user verbatim — do not try to set the env var, do not retry, and do not strip --write from the request to make it succeed silently.

When NOT to rephrase

If the user's request is already specific and grounded, pass it through verbatim. Rephrasing adds latency and risks losing nuance the user intended.