google-agents-cli-publish

name	google-agents-cli-publish
description	This skill should be used when the user wants to "publish an agent", "publish my ADK agent", "register an agent with Gemini Enterprise", "publish to Gemini Enterprise", or needs guidance on the agents-cli publish gemini-enterprise command. Also use when the user wants to "manage agents in Agent Registry", "list/update/delete registered agents", or "register an MCP server". Covers ADK vs A2A registration modes, programmatic and interactive usage, flag reference, auto-detection from deployment metadata, Agent Registry fleet management, and troubleshooting. Part of the Google ADK (Agent Development Kit) skills suite. Do NOT use for deployment (use google-agents-cli-deploy).
metadata	{"author":"Google","license":"Apache-2.0","version":"1.4.1","requires":{"bins":["agents-cli"],"install":"uv tool install google-agents-cli"}}

Gemini Enterprise Registration

Requires: A deployed agent. For Agent Runtime, deployment_metadata.json (created by agents-cli deploy) enables auto-detection. For Cloud Run or GKE, provide the agent card URL and flags directly.

Prerequisites

1. Agent must be deployed — the agent must be running and reachable
2. Gemini Enterprise app must exist — Create one in Google Cloud Console → Gemini Enterprise → Apps before registering
3. deployment_metadata.json (Agent Runtime only) — Created automatically by agents-cli deploy; contains the agent runtime ID, deployment target, the A2A flag, and the agent directory

Required Permissions for A2A on Cloud Run

• roles/run.servicesInvoker granted to the Discovery Engine service account (service-<PROJECT_NUMBER>@gcp-sa-discoveryengine.iam.gserviceaccount.com) on the Cloud Run service.

---

Registration Modes

A2A Registration

Every scaffolded agent serves the Agent-to-Agent protocol. A2A is the default — and only — registration type on Cloud Run and GKE (no reasoning engine to invoke natively). It also works on Agent Runtime via --registration-type a2a, though the CLI warns against it: Gemini Enterprise invokes Agent Runtime natively via :streamQuery, so prefer ADK there. Pass the agent card URL and the command fetches the card and registers it; display name and description default to the card's name/description.

# A2A on Cloud Run / GKE
agents-cli publish gemini-enterprise \
  --agent-card-url https://my-service-abc123.us-east1.run.app/a2a/app/.well-known/agent-card.json \
  --gemini-enterprise-app-id projects/123456/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/my-app

Pass --display-name / --description to override the card defaults. On Agent Runtime, the card URL auto-builds from deployment_metadata.json if you omit --agent-card-url.

ADK Registration (default on Agent Runtime)

This is the default and recommended registration for Agent Runtime deployments: Gemini Enterprise invokes the agent natively via :streamQuery on its reasoning engine resource, authenticating end-to-end. Under the hood, :streamQuery dispatches to the AdkApp's streaming_agent_run_with_events method — when debugging an ADK invocation, search the runtime's reasoning_engine_stderr logs for that method name to trace the failure. It's also the path to use when the agent needs an OAuth authorization (--authorization-id). The agent is registered directly via its reasoning engine resource name; no agent card URL is needed.

agents-cli publish gemini-enterprise \
  --registration-type adk \
  --agent-runtime-id projects/123456/locations/us-east1/reasoningEngines/789 \
  --gemini-enterprise-app-id projects/123456/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/my-app \
  --display-name "My Agent" \
  --description "Handles customer queries" \
  --tool-description "Answers questions about products"

---

Programmatic Mode (CI/CD)

The command is non-interactive by default — pass all required values via flags or environment variables. This makes it safe for CI/CD pipelines.

Via flags

agents-cli publish gemini-enterprise \
  --agent-runtime-id "$AGENT_RUNTIME_ID" \
  --gemini-enterprise-app-id "$GEMINI_ENTERPRISE_APP_ID" \
  --display-name "Production Agent" \
  --registration-type adk

Via environment variables

Most flags have an env var alternative (--metadata-file, --interactive, and --list do not):

export AGENT_RUNTIME_ID="projects/123456/locations/us-east1/reasoningEngines/789"
export GEMINI_ENTERPRISE_APP_ID="projects/123456/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/my-app"
export GEMINI_DISPLAY_NAME="Production Agent"
export GEMINI_DESCRIPTION="Handles customer queries"

agents-cli publish gemini-enterprise

---

Interactive Mode (--interactive)

Pass --interactive (or -i) to be guided through any missing values with interactive prompts. The command will list available Gemini Enterprise apps, offer to auto-detect the agent runtime ID from metadata, and prompt for display name and description.

agents-cli publish gemini-enterprise --interactive

---

Complete Flag Reference

Flag	Env Var	Description
--agent-runtime-id	AGENT_RUNTIME_ID	Agent Runtime resource name (auto-detected from deployment_metadata.json)
--gemini-enterprise-app-id	ID or GEMINI_ENTERPRISE_APP_ID	Gemini Enterprise app full resource name
--display-name	GEMINI_DISPLAY_NAME	Display name in Gemini Enterprise
--description	GEMINI_DESCRIPTION	Agent description
--tool-description	GEMINI_TOOL_DESCRIPTION	Tool description (ADK mode only, defaults to description)
--registration-type	REGISTRATION_TYPE	adk or a2a (defaults to adk on Agent Runtime, a2a on Cloud Run / GKE)
--agent-card-url	AGENT_CARD_URL	Agent card URL for A2A registration
--deployment-target	DEPLOYMENT_TARGET	agent_runtime, cloud_run, or gke (sets the default registration type — ADK on Agent Runtime, A2A on Cloud Run / GKE — and the A2A auth method)
--project-id	GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT	GCP project ID for billing
--project-number	PROJECT_NUMBER	GCP project number (used for Gemini Enterprise lookup)
--authorization-id	GEMINI_AUTHORIZATION_ID	OAuth authorization resource name
--metadata-file	—	Path to deployment metadata (default: deployment_metadata.json)

---

Auto-Detection from Metadata

When deployment_metadata.json exists, the command automatically:

• Reads the agent runtime ID (remote_agent_runtime_id)
• Determines the registration type: defaults to ADK (native :streamQuery) on Agent Runtime, and A2A on Cloud Run / GKE (which have no reasoning engine). Override with --registration-type.
• Determines the deployment target for authentication

This means that for the simplest case (an agent on Agent Runtime, registered as ADK), you only need to provide the Gemini Enterprise app ID:

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

---

SDK Compatibility

Agent Runtime deployments may encounter "Session not found" errors with google-cloud-aiplatform versions <= 1.128.0. In interactive mode (--interactive), the command checks the SDK version from uv.lock and offers to upgrade. In programmatic mode, ensure your SDK is up to date before registering.

---

Agent Registry (agents and MCP servers)

Agent Registry (Preview) is the Google Cloud fleet-wide catalog of agents and MCP servers, separate from a Gemini Enterprise app. Agents deployed to a managed runtime (Agent Runtime on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform) are auto-registered — no extra step after agents-cli deploy. Manage them with gcloud (requires roles/agentregistry.editor):

# List / inspect agents
gcloud agent-registry agents list --project PROJECT --location LOCATION
gcloud agent-registry agents describe AGENT_NAME

# Update endpoint/metadata — edit the Service resource, not the Agent
gcloud agent-registry services update AGENT_NAME \
  --display-name "..." --description "..." \
  --interfaces "url=ENDPOINT_URL,protocolBinding=http-json"

# Register an external MCP server: not auto-introspected, so upload a
# toolspec.json (its tools/list response, max 10 KB). No us/eu multi-region.
gcloud agent-registry services create SERVER_NAME --location=LOCATION \
  --mcp-server-spec-type=tool-spec --mcp-server-spec-content=toolspec.json \
  --interfaces="url=SERVER_URL,protocolBinding=jsonrpc"  # or http-json, grpc

# Remove: delete the underlying runtime agent (auto-registered) OR, for
# manually registered agents/servers, delete the Service resource
gcloud agent-registry services delete NAME

Terraform: google_agent_registry_service with an mcp_server_spec block.

Docs: https://docs.cloud.google.com/agent-registry/manage-agents · https://docs.cloud.google.com/agent-registry/register-mcp-servers

---

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
"Session not found" after registration	SDK version issue — upgrade google-cloud-aiplatform (see SDK Compatibility above), redeploy, then re-register
--registration-type is required	Non-interactive mode needs --registration-type when no deployment_metadata.json exists
"Gemini Enterprise App ID is required"	Provide --gemini-enterprise-app-id or set the ID / GEMINI_ENTERPRISE_APP_ID env var
Re-publishing the same agent	Registration is idempotent — re-running updates the existing registration in place instead of creating a duplicate
HTTP 403 on registration	Check that your account has Discovery Engine Editor permissions on the Gemini Enterprise project
Debugging ADK invocation failures on Agent Runtime	Gemini Enterprise calls the agent via the AdkApp's streaming_agent_run_with_events method (the native :streamQuery contract). Grep the runtime's reasoning_engine_stderr logs for streaming_agent_run_with_events to find the underlying error
"Could not fetch agent card"	Verify the agent is running and the URL is correct; for Cloud Run, ensure gcloud auth login is done

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Related Skills

• /google-agents-cli-deploy — Deployment targets, CI/CD pipelines, and production workflows (also covers Agent Gateway governed ingress/egress and Semantic Governance awareness)
• /google-agents-cli-workflow — Development workflow, coding guidelines, and operational rules
• /google-agents-cli-scaffold — Project creation and enhancement with agents-cli scaffold create / scaffold enhance