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This guide shows you how to connect Gemini CLI to the Profound MCP server, so Gemini can pull your Profound visibility data and run Profound actions directly from the terminal.

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Before you start

Make sure you have:

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Setup guide

1

Authenticate with Gemini CLI

  1. Run Gemini CLI in your terminal: 
    gemini
  2. When asked How would you like to authenticate for this project?, select Sign in with Google. Gemini will launch a browser session.
  3. In the browser, select your Google account and sign in.
If successful, you’ll see tips to get started and the command line.Gemini CLI startup view screenshot
2

Add the Profound MCP server

  1. MCP servers are configured in the ~/.gemini/settings.json configuration file. To add the Profound server, create the mcpServers block with the Profound server details in settings.json: 
      "mcpServers": {
    "profound": {
      "url": "https://mcp.tryprofound.com/mcp"
    }
  }
    You can do this in your preferred code editor, or directly from Gemini CLI by entering the prompt: 
    Add an MCP server called profound with url https://mcp.tryprofound.com/mcp
  2. Review the changes and apply them if the mcpServers block looks correct. Gemini CLI screenshot with the prompt to add a new MCP server, a change in settings.json and Apply this change - Allow once option highlighted
  3. For the changes to take effect, quit and reopen your Gemini CLI.
  4. To verify the server was added, run the command to list the MCP servers inside the CLI. 
      /mcp list
    It should show profound among the configured MCP servers. Gemini CLI screenshot with profound server on the list of configured servers
3

Sign in to Profound

Profound authenticates with OAuth. Gemini CLI discovers the OAuth endpoints automatically, so no API keys, client ID, or secret are needed.
  1. Inside the CLI, run the command to authenticate with Profound: 
    /mcp auth profound
  2. Select Yes when asked to authenticate in the browser. This will open the browser to the Profound sign-in page. Gemini CLI screenshot with authentication command and an authentication dialog with the Yes option highlighted
  3. If you’re not logged in, follow the prompts to log in to your Profound account. Then approve access. Gemini CLI oauth dialog screenshot with Allow access option highlighted
When you see the success message, return to the Gemini CLI session in your terminal.
4

Verify the connection

Still inside Gemini CLI, run the MCP list command again.
  /mcp list
If the Profound server shows as Ready with a green circle and has available tools listed, it’s connected and ready to go.Gemini CLI screenshot with an mcp list command ran and profound server listed as ready
For more details about configuring MCP server connections in Gemini CLI, see Gemini CLI’s MCP server documentation.

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Troubleshooting

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The browser doesn’t open during sign-in

Make sure you have a local browser installed. OAuth won’t work in headless or remote sessions without browser access. Run the setup where you can open a browser, then retry signing in or authenticating with Profound.

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Profound server shows as disconnected

Re-run /mcp auth profound to refresh the token. If it still fails, sign out of Profound in your browser, sign back in, and retry.