Gemini CLI: connect once and review one iOS feature

Use one installation path

The project supports a local MCP connection and also has extension guidance. Start with one path rather than installing both and assuming every duplicate tool is necessary. From your app folder, the documented direct connection is:

gemini mcp add ios-agent -- npx -y ios-agent-mcp@latest

Restart or reconnect Gemini CLI and confirm that the server appears. This workflow is for Gemini CLI, not Gemini web chat. The server requires Node.js 20 or later, and simulator tools require macOS and Xcode.

Retrieve only what the feature needs

For a persistence change, ask for the relevant local source or guide sections before reviewing the implementation. Loading an entire documentation collection can obscure the specific behavior you are trying to verify. Focused retrieval is an organization technique, not a measured cost-saving promise.

Inspect this app's persistence change.
Find relevant local references and identify assumptions.
Review only the affected Swift files.
Propose a minimal fix and a test for relaunch persistence.

Diagnose setup separately

If no tools appear, first check the configuration, command path and package availability. A failed connection is not a Swift compiler failure. If tools appear but a build fails, inspect the project, scheme and Xcode diagnostic instead of reinstalling the client repeatedly.

Know what the project tested

The Gemini CLI 0.49.0 record verifies extension validation and a stdio connection to the published package. It explicitly leaves the model session unverified. Reproduce your own task, record its results and report only what happened in that run.

Official Gemini CLI MCP documentation · Verification record

Decision checkpoints