Gemini CLI — UI Layout Reference

Agent-specific layout reference for Gemini CLI (Google). See agent-ui-analysis.md for shared concepts.

Observed version: v0.34.0 (2026-03-22) Rendering engine: Ink-like (Node.js, ANSI relative positioning) Rendering approach: ANSI relative cursor positioning (\033[1A, \033[2K, \033[G)

Layout Anatomy (bottom → top)

[agent output with ✦ prefix]
[suggest line]
                                                          ? for shortcuts
───────────────────────────────── (separator, gray rgb 88,88,88)
 Shift+Tab to accept edits                    1 MCP server | 3 skills
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ (prompt box top, dark rgb 30,30,30 on bg 65,65,65)
 > [user input]                  (prompt, purple >, ghost text gray)
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ (prompt box bottom)
 workspace (/directory)          branch          sandbox              /model
 ~/path                          main            no sandbox           Auto (Gemini 3)

Bottom zone = 8 rows: shortcuts hint, separator, info line, prompt box (3 rows), status labels, status values.

Real-world Examples (live session, 2026-03-22)

  ▝▜▄     Gemini CLI v0.34.0
    ▝▜▄
   ▗▟▀    Signed in with Google: user@example.com /auth
  ▝▀      Plan: Gemini Code Assist for individuals /upgrade
╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ We're making changes to Gemini CLI that may impact your workflow.     │
│ What's Changing: ...                                                  │
│ Read more: https://goo.gle/geminicli-updates                          │
╰───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
Tips for getting started:
1. Create GEMINI.md files to customize your interactions
2. /help for more information
3. Ask coding questions, edit code or run commands
4. Be specific for the best results

Geometric ASCII art logo: ▝▜▄ / ▗▟▀ / ▝▀
Auth + plan info inline
Notification box with ╭╮╰╯│ border (like CC /status search box)
Numbered tips list

Idle (waiting for input)

                                                                  ? for shortcuts
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Shift+Tab to accept edits                              1 MCP server | 3 skills
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
 >   Type your message or @path/to/file
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▀▀
 workspace (/directory)          branch          sandbox              /model
 ~/Gits/personal/tuicommander   main            no sandbox           Auto (Gemini 3)

Working state (spinner)

✦ intent: read package.json version (package.json)
  I will read the package.json file to find the project version.
 ⠴ Check tool-specific usage stats with /stats tools… (esc to cancel, 14s)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Shift+Tab to accept edits
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
 >   Type your message or @path/to/file
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▀▀
 workspace (/directory)          branch          sandbox              /model
 ~/Gits/personal/tuicommander   main            no sandbox           Auto (Gemini 3)

Spinner line appears between agent output and separator
Braille spinner + italic tip text + (esc to cancel, Ns) timer
During work, ? for shortcuts disappears, info line loses right-side text

Tool call (in response)

╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ ✓  ReadFile package.json                                                │
│                                                                         │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Bordered box with ╭╮╰╯│ (same chars as startup notification)
✓ prefix for completed tool calls
Tool name + arguments inline

Agent response (completed)

✦ The version of this project is 0.9.5, as specified in the package.json file.
  suggest: View CHANGELOG.md | Check README.md | List active sessions | Search codebase

✦ (U+2726, purple rgb 215,175,255) prefix for agent output
suggest: line follows response (TUICommander protocol)
No token/cost report

Out-of-workspace write rejection

✦ I am unable to create the file at /tmp/gemini-test.txt because it is outside
  the allowed workspace directories. I can, however, create it within the
  project directory or the project's temporary directory.
  Would you like me to create it at ~/.gemini/tmp/tuicommander/gemini-test.txt?

No interactive permission prompt — Gemini refuses with text explanation
Workspace restriction enforced at model level, not via UI prompt

Prompt Line

Character: > (ASCII, colored purple rgb 215,175,255)
Background: dark gray rgb(65,65,65) — \033[48;2;65;65;65m
Prompt box bordered by ▀▀▀ (U+2580, upper half block) top and ▄▄▄ (U+2584, lower half block) bottom
Border colors: dark rgb(30,30,30) foreground on rgb(65,65,65) background
Ghost text: gray rgb(175,175,175) — Type your message or @path/to/file
Cursor shown with reverse video \033[7m
Enter = submit (single line prompt)

Separator Line

Single horizontal rule above the prompt area:

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── (gray, rgb 88,88,88)

Always present in idle and working states
No decorated separators (no embedded labels)
Uses ─ (U+2500) — same char as CC and Codex

Spinner / Working Indicator

 ⠴ Check tool-specific usage stats with /stats tools… (esc to cancel, 14s)
 ⠋ Exclude specific tools from being used (settings.json)… (esc to cancel, 33s)

Braille spinner: ⠋⠙⠹⠸⠴⠦⠧⠇ (U+2800 range)
Color varies: blue rgb(135,189,241), green rgb(224,255,206) — colors shift during animation
Format: ⠋ <italic tip text>… (esc to cancel, Ns)
Tip text: italic (\033[3m), shows contextual tips/suggestions during work
Timer: (esc to cancel, Ns) in gray rgb(175,175,175)
Position: between agent output and separator (above bottom zone)

Already detected by parse_status_line via GEMINI_SPINNER_RE (braille range check).

Status Bar (bottom 2 rows)

Always visible. 4 columns with label/value pairs:

 workspace (/directory)          branch          sandbox              /model
 ~/Gits/personal/tuicommander   main            no sandbox           Auto (Gemini 3)

Labels: gray rgb(175,175,175) — workspace (/directory), branch, sandbox, /model
Values: white rgb(255,255,255) — path, branch name, sandbox status, model name
Sandbox warning: pink rgb(255,135,175) when no sandbox

Info Line (between separator and prompt box)

 Shift+Tab to accept edits                              1 MCP server | 3 skills

Left: Shift+Tab to accept edits (gray)
Right: N MCP server | N skills (gray) — MCP and skill counts
Above the prompt box, below the separator

A second info hint ? for shortcuts appears right-aligned above the separator when idle.

Window Title (OSC 0)

\033]0;◇  Ready (tuicommander)\007

◇ (U+25C7, white diamond) — state indicator
Ready — current state
(tuicommander) — workspace name
Updates on state changes

Detection Signals

Agent Identification

Gemini CLI v in startup banner
Geometric ASCII logo ▝▜▄
✦ (U+2726) output prefix
Braille spinner ⠋⠙⠹⠸⠴⠦⠧⠇
? for shortcuts hint line
OSC 0 with ◇ diamond

Chrome Detection (`is_chrome_row`)

Braille spinner chars — detected by parse_status_line via GEMINI_SPINNER_RE
Separator ───── — detected by is_separator_line ✓
Prompt > — detected by is_prompt_line ✓
▀▀▀ / ▄▄▄ prompt box borders — NOT in chrome marker set
Status bar labels/values — NOT chrome markers
✦ (U+2726) — NOT in is_chrome_row marker set

Subtask / Subprocess Count

None. Gemini CLI does not expose subprocess/subtask counts. Tool calls shown inline in bordered boxes (╭───╮ ✓ ReadFile ╰───╯).

Permission / Approval

No interactive permission UI — workspace restriction enforced at model level
Out-of-scope writes rejected with text explanation
No Esc to cancel permission footer
No OSC 777 notifications observed

Rendering Mechanics (raw ANSI)

Relative cursor positioning

\033[1A     — cursor UP 1 row (repeated for multi-row updates)
\033[2K     — erase entire line
\033[G      — cursor to column 1
\033[4A     — cursor UP 4 (bottom zone jump)
\033[4G     — cursor to column 4
\033[4B     — cursor DOWN 4 (back to bottom)

Uses \033[1A] repeated (like CC) rather than absolute \033[r;cH (like Codex/OpenCode). Bottom zone updates use \033[4A...\033[4B pattern to jump up, redraw, jump back.

Prompt box rendering

\033[48;2;65;65;65m              — dark gray background
\033[38;2;30;30;30m▀▀▀▀...      — dark top border on gray bg
\033[38;2;215;175;255m>           — purple prompt char
\033[7m \033[27m                 — cursor (reverse video block)
\033[38;2;175;175;175m...        — gray ghost text
\033[38;2;30;30;30m▄▄▄▄...      — dark bottom border
\033[49m                         — reset background

Color scheme

\033[38;2;215;175;255m   — purple (prompt char >, output prefix ✦, file names)
\033[38;2;255;255;255m   — white (agent text, status values)
\033[38;2;175;175;175m   — gray (labels, hints, timer)
\033[38;2;88;88;88m      — dark gray (separator ─────)
\033[38;2;255;135;175m   — pink (sandbox warning)
\033[38;2;135;189;241m   — blue (spinner, varies)
\033[38;2;224;255;206m   — green (spinner, varies)

Spinner animation

\033[3m     — italic on (for tip text)
\033[23m    — italic off

Spinner updates use the same \033[1A]\033[2K] erase-and-redraw pattern as the bottom zone.

Braille spinner detected by parse_status_line via GEMINI_SPINNER_RE
Separator ───── detected by is_separator_line
Prompt > detected by is_prompt_line

Not Yet Supported

✦ (U+2726) is the Gemini agent output prefix (NOT chrome — do not add to is_chrome_row)
Tool call boxes (╭╮╰╯│) not classified as chrome
? for shortcuts hint line not classified as chrome
Status bar labels (bottom 2 rows) have no chrome markers (but find_chrome_cutoff trims them via separator anchor)
No sandbox/permission prompt detection needed (Gemini handles this at model level)

Now Supported (as of chrome.rs multi-agent update)

▀▀▀ / ▄▄▄ prompt box borders detected as chrome via is_chrome_row
Braille spinner classified as chrome via has_status_line in chrome_only calculation
find_chrome_cutoff correctly trims the full Gemini 8-row bottom zone
Separator ───── detected by is_separator_line
Prompt > detected by is_prompt_line

TUICommander