GCloud CLI

Core Capability: Manage Google Cloud Platform resources and services from the command line.

Quick Start

# Install
curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash
exec -l $SHELL

# Verify
gcloud version

# Check auth
gcloud auth list

# Set project
gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

# Show current config
gcloud config list

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THE EXACT PROMPT — Auth & Config

# Login interactively
gcloud auth login

# Service account auth
gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=key.json

# Application default credentials
gcloud auth application-default login

# Set project
gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

# Set region/zone
gcloud config set compute/region us-central1
gcloud config set compute/zone us-central1-a

# Named configurations
gcloud config configurations create my-config
gcloud config configurations activate my-config

---

THE EXACT PROMPT — Compute Engine

# List VMs
gcloud compute instances list

# Create VM
gcloud compute instances create my-vm \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --machine-type=e2-medium \
  --image-family=debian-12 \
  --image-project=debian-cloud

# SSH to VM
gcloud compute ssh my-vm --zone=us-central1-a

# Stop/start
gcloud compute instances stop my-vm --zone=us-central1-a
gcloud compute instances start my-vm --zone=us-central1-a

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THE EXACT PROMPT — Cloud Run

# List services
gcloud run services list

# Deploy from source
gcloud run deploy my-service --source . --region=us-central1

# Deploy container
gcloud run deploy my-service \
  --image=gcr.io/PROJECT/IMAGE \
  --region=us-central1 \
  --allow-unauthenticated

# View logs
gcloud run services logs read my-service --region=us-central1

---

THE EXACT PROMPT — Cloud Storage

# List buckets
gcloud storage buckets list

# Create bucket
gcloud storage buckets create gs://my-bucket --location=us-central1

# Upload/download
gcloud storage cp local-file.txt gs://my-bucket/
gcloud storage cp gs://my-bucket/file.txt ./

# Sync directory
gcloud storage rsync -r ./local-dir gs://my-bucket/remote-dir

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Essential Commands

Service	List	Create	Delete
Compute	gcloud compute instances list	gcloud compute instances create	gcloud compute instances delete
Cloud Run	gcloud run services list	gcloud run deploy	gcloud run services delete
Functions	gcloud functions list	gcloud functions deploy	gcloud functions delete
GKE	gcloud container clusters list	gcloud container clusters create	gcloud container clusters delete
Storage	gcloud storage buckets list	gcloud storage buckets create	gcloud storage rm

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Output Formatting

# JSON output
gcloud compute instances list --format=json

# Table with specific columns
gcloud compute instances list --format="table(name,zone,status)"

# Filter results
gcloud compute instances list --filter="status=RUNNING"

# Quiet mode (no prompts)
gcloud compute instances delete my-vm --quiet

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Quick Reference

gcloud cheat-sheet      # Built-in cheat sheet
gcloud interactive      # Interactive shell
gcloud --help           # General help
gcloud compute --help   # Service-specific help

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AGENTS.md Blurb

Copy this to your project's AGENTS.md:

### Google Cloud CLI (gcloud)

`gcloud` is installed and authenticated.

Auth:

\`\`\`bash
gcloud auth login
gcloud auth application-default login  # For API libraries
\`\`\`

Project:

\`\`\`bash
gcloud config set project <PROJECT_ID>
\`\`\`

Enable APIs:

\`\`\`bash
gcloud services enable aiplatform.googleapis.com
gcloud services enable analyticsdata.googleapis.com
\`\`\`

Useful commands:

\`\`\`bash
gcloud projects list
gcloud services list --enabled
gcloud beta billing accounts list
\`\`\`

---

When to Use

• Enabling APIs for Gemini, Vertex AI, or other Google services
• Managing billing and cost alerts
• Creating service accounts for CI/CD
• Deploying containers to Cloud Run
• Managing GKE clusters

---

References

Topic	Reference
All services	SERVICES.md
IAM & Security	IAM.md