Gemini System — Multimodal File Processing

Gemini CLI is specialized for multimodal file processing (PDF, video, audio, image).

Detailed rules: .claude/rules/gemini-delegation.md Research/codebase analysis: Use general-purpose subagent (Opus) instead — Opus now supports 1M context.

Multimodal File Processing

Extract content from PDF, video, audio, and image files.

# PDF
gemini -p "Extract: {what to extract}" < /path/to/file.pdf 2>/dev/null

# Video
gemini -p "Summarize: key concepts, timestamps" < /path/to/video.mp4 2>/dev/null

# Audio
gemini -p "Transcribe and summarize: decisions, action items" < /path/to/audio.mp3 2>/dev/null

# Image (diagrams, charts)
gemini -p "Analyze: components, relationships, data flow" < /path/to/diagram.png 2>/dev/null

Target	Extensions
PDF	.pdf
Video	.mp4, .mov, .avi, .mkv, .webm
Audio	.mp3, .wav, .m4a, .flac, .ogg
Images (advanced analysis)	.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .webp, .svg

Simple screenshot inspection can be done directly with Claude's Read tool.

Auto-Trigger

When multimodal files appear in a task, automatically pass them to Gemini without waiting for user instructions.

When NOT to Use Gemini

Task	Correct Owner
Research and investigation	general-purpose subagent (Opus)
Codebase analysis	general-purpose subagent (Opus)
Design and planning	Codex
Debugging	Codex
Code implementation	Claude / Subagents

How to Use

Subagent Pattern (for large outputs)

Task tool parameters:
- subagent_type: "gemini-explore"
- prompt: |
    {task description}

    gemini -p "{prompt}" < /path/to/file 2>/dev/null

    Return CONCISE summary (5-7 bullet points).

Direct Call (for short extractions)

gemini -p "{what to extract}" < /path/to/file 2>/dev/null

Language Protocol

1. Ask Gemini in English
2. Receive response in English
3. Report to user in the user's language