How to install and use Gemini Code Assist in VS Code

Install the official Google extension, sign in and pick a Cloud project, then send one checkable chat or /generate.

A repo is already open in VS Code. You want to ask one question and change one place in the editor — not another website. The official extension is Gemini Code Assist: install the build published by Google, sign in to Google Cloud, then run a first chat or inline generate.

The searchable job is how to install and use Gemini Code Assist in VS Code: install the official extension, click Login to Google Cloud, select a project with the Gemini for Google Cloud API enabled, then give chat or the Ctrl+I / Cmd+I Quick Pick one checkable task. Steps follow Google Cloud’s Code Assist docs.

Install the official extension, then sign in to Google Cloud

One pass: install, sign in, first chat or edit

1. 01
   Install the official extension

   Confirm the publisher is Google. Check the activity bar. If the icon is missing, search Gemini Code Assist in the Command Palette.

2. 02
   Sign in to Google Cloud and pick a project

   Click Login to Google Cloud in the chat pane and finish the browser grant. Back in VS Code, use Select Gemini Code project on a project with the API enabled. A wrong project may prompt Enable the API from the IDE. Org seats follow what an admin assigned.

3. 03
   Open a first chat, or /generate on the file

   Open an existing file. In chat, type Explain this code to me and Send; or press Ctrl+I (Cmd+I on Mac) and type /generate plus one bounded outcome. Do not name five unrelated files in one sentence.

4. 04
   Read the diff, then accept

   See what changed. Reject edits that leave the boundary. Tab for ghost text, Esc to skip. Run tests yourself. Official docs describe the UI loop, not a guaranteed first-try patch.

/generate Add a guard so this function returns 401 when
user id is missing. Do not edit other files.
Say which lines you will touch; wait for me
to Accept in the diff before applying.

Where first chats usually break

The extension is in, chat will not send, or it asks for a license

The consumer Google path has stopped. You need an org Standard / Enterprise seat, a project with the API enabled, and a role such as Gemini for Google Cloud User. This page does not activate seats.

Sign-in keeps timing out

A work network or blocked popup. Add cloudcode.beta.forceOobLogin as in the known-issue note, or retry Login to Google Cloud on another network.

No project, or a project without the API

Open the Gemini Code Assist menu in the status bar and Select Gemini Code project. Admins usually enable cloudaicompanion.googleapis.com; the extension may also offer Enable the API.

You accepted a long plan from chat in one click

Chat and /generate can both edit files. Read every diff. If the run went wrong, stop; do not stack a second rewrite on a bad patch.

Sign in and pick a Cloud project first, ask one thing or /generate one place, then read the diff yourself. Accept is not a review.

If two people need to agree on a patch before anyone merges, put the file list on one page. A short oakmeet room is enough — browser, a space code, no account. Room limits are in eight people, about an hour. If you already know the GitHub loop, compare Copilot Chat in VS Code.