How to run /command from script

[eyueldk]

I was trying to interact with Gemini CLI via script. I wanted to access the /chat save and /chat resume to continue working on a project. When I write to stdin, Gemini CLI reads it as a prompt and NOT as a command. Is it possible to execute a /command unattended?

Here's the python code that I used to write to the process's stdin.

process = subprocess.Popen(
    ["gemini"],
    stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
    stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
    stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
    bufsize=0,
    text=True,
    shell=True,
    cwd=Path("..", "project"),
)

process.stdin.writelines(["/help"])
process.stdin.close()

while True:
    char = process.stdout.read(1)
    if not char:
        break
    print(char, end='', flush=True)

[Manamama]

Reminder: Unix to to the rescue should some argument be missing. GitHub Copilot below, sorry for not trimming too much:

Yes, using expect is a classic way to automate interactive CLI programs that require commands to be sent as if typed by a user. You can send /command and capture output in a one-liner.

Example one-liner with expect:

expect -c 'spawn gemini; send "/help\r"; interact'

How it works:

• spawn gemini starts the Gemini CLI.
• send "/help\r" sends the /help command (the \r is a carriage return, simulating pressing Enter).
• interact hands control back, so you can keep interacting or see output.

To capture output and exit after the command:

expect -c 'spawn gemini; send "/help\r"; expect eof'

This will run Gemini CLI, send /help, and print output until the process exits.

Advanced Example (save output to file):

expect -c 'log_file gemini.log; spawn gemini; send "/help\r"; expect eof'

---

Here’s how you can automate the manual process you described—starting gemini, then resuming the last chat—using an expect script.

Equivalent expect One-liner

This simulates:

• Running gemini
• Typing /chat resume, then pressing Tab (to autocomplete the last chat)
• Pressing Enter

expect -c 'spawn gemini; expect ">"; send "/chat resume\t\r"; expect eof'

Explanation:

• spawn gemini: starts the CLI.
• expect ">": waits for the Gemini CLI prompt (change as needed if your prompt is different).
• send "/chat resume\t\r": sends /chat resume, then Tab (\t), then Enter (\r).
• expect eof: waits until the process exits.

Save as a script for more flexibility

#!/usr/bin/expect -f
spawn gemini
expect ">"
send "/chat resume\t\r"
expect eof

Make it executable:

chmod +x resume_gemini_chat.exp

Run it:

./resume_gemini_chat.exp

---

Update, alas, even this does not work (yet):

expect -c '
  spawn gemini
  expect ">"
  send "/chat resume\r"
  interact
'