Connect ZenMode to Gemini CLI (MCP): check your campaigns from the terminal

What this integration is

ZenMode has a remote MCP server. Gemini CLI, Google's open-source command-line assistant, can connect to it, so you can ask about your ZenMode account from the terminal: how your campaigns are performing, who a contact is, what was said in a LinkedIn conversation.

Server address: https://www.zen-mode.io/api/mcp

The connection is tied to one of your ZenMode API keys, and Gemini CLI only ever sees the account that key belongs to. This guide covers the API-key setup. It is the same server and the same tools as the Claude guide, which lists every tool and its limits.

The safety rule

An AI assistant cannot send a message or a connection request through ZenMode. There is no tool for it. The only way anyone gets contacted is by being added to one of your campaigns, and the campaign then works through them inside your daily and weekly limits, your business hours and your pacing.

A new API key is read only for AI assistants unless you tick Let AI assistants make changes when you create it. With a read-only key, Gemini CLI can look at your campaigns, contacts and conversations and cannot change anything.

Before you start

1. You need a ZenMode plan of Practitioner or above (a free trial counts as the plan you are trialling). Novice accounts are told so with an upgrade link.
2. Create an API key under MCP / API in the dashboard. Leave Let AI assistants make changes unticked unless you want Gemini CLI to be able to add people to campaigns or change targeting.
3. Install Gemini CLI from its GitHub page. ZenMode does not need anything from your Google account; Gemini CLI has its own sign-in and its own usage limits, which are Google's, not ours.

Add ZenMode to Gemini CLI

Run this once, with your key in place of YOUR_ZENMODE_API_KEY:

gemini mcp add --scope user --transport http -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ZENMODE_API_KEY" zenmode https://www.zen-mode.io/api/mcp

Then check it:

gemini mcp list

You should see zenmode marked Connected. If you use a key that has been revoked or mistyped, it shows Disconnected instead.

Things worth knowing:

• Use --scope user. The key is saved as plain text in ~/.gemini/settings.json. User scope keeps it out of any project folder you might commit to git. Revoke the key in the dashboard if you ever share that file by mistake.
• Use the http transport. ZenMode's server speaks streamable HTTP, and http is the transport we tested. We did not try Gemini CLI's sse transport.
• Gemini CLI switches MCP servers off in folders it does not trust. In that case gemini mcp list shows zenmode as Disabled and says the folder is untrusted. Open Gemini CLI in a folder you trust and accept its trust prompt.
• The settings file layout varies by version. Gemini CLI's documentation describes the address field as httpUrl; version 0.63.0 wrote url with "type": "http" when we ran the command above. The command writes the right form for your version, which is why we give the command and not a JSON snippet to paste.

What we tested, and what we did not

On 7 October 2026 we ran the steps above with Gemini CLI 0.63.0 against the live server, using a read-only key:

• gemini mcp add with the header, then gemini mcp list: Connected.
• The same command with a wrong key: Disconnected, so the connected result was the key doing the work.
• Separately, with a plain MCP client, we listed the 15 tools and called get_account_summary and list_campaigns (both read only) on MCP protocol versions 2025-03-26, 2025-06-18 and 2025-11-25. All succeeded.

We did not ask Gemini a question inside Gemini CLI, because that needs a Google sign-in for the model. So the connection is verified in the real client and the tools are verified on the server, but we have not watched Gemini choose a tool.

Example prompts

• "Use ZenMode to show how my campaigns are doing this month. Which one has the best reply rate?"
• "Use ZenMode to find the contact Priya Shah and show where she stands."
• "Read my ZenMode conversation with Priya Shah and draft a reply I can send myself."
• "Can my ZenMode account take more people today, and if not, when does that lift?"

Limits

Each API key can make 60 tool calls a minute. If the key allows changes, they are capped at 10 a minute and 300 a day, and at most 500 people a day can be added through an assistant. These are the assistant's own call limits; your LinkedIn daily and weekly limits are separate and are applied by your campaigns, as always.

FAQ

Can Gemini CLI send LinkedIn messages or connection requests through ZenMode?

No. No ZenMode tool does that. An assistant with a key that allows changes can add people to a campaign, and your campaign reaches them later under your own daily and weekly limits, business hours and pacing.

Which ZenMode plans include the MCP server?

Practitioner and above, the same as the ZenMode API. A free trial counts as the plan you are trialling. Novice accounts are told so with an upgrade link, and their API keys are kept so they work again as soon as the account moves up.

How do I disconnect Gemini CLI?

Run gemini mcp remove --scope user zenmode (without the scope it looks in project settings only), or revoke the API key in the ZenMode dashboard. Revoking the key ends the connection straight away.

Does it need my LinkedIn password?

No. ZenMode never asks for LinkedIn credentials, and nothing in this connection touches them.