How to connect Gemini CLI to LinkedIn, step by step

What you need

• A Finchreach account (sign in at finchreach.com) and the LinkedIn account you want Gemini CLI to work on.
• Gemini CLI.
• About five minutes.

Step 1: Create a Finchreach API key

1. Sign in at finchreach.com and open API keys.
2. Create a key and name it after the tool, for example “Gemini CLI”.
3. Copy it right away: it starts with lk_ and is shown only once.

Step 2: Connect your LinkedIn account

1. Open Accounts and click to connect LinkedIn.
2. Follow the steps until the account shows as connected.

Approval mode is on by default: nothing the assistant drafts reaches LinkedIn until you approve it.

Step 3: Add Finchreach to Gemini CLI

1. Run gemini mcp add --transport http --header "Authorization: Bearer lk_YOUR_KEY" finchreach https://mcp.finchreach.com/mcp. It writes to the project by default; add -s user for ~/.gemini/settings.json.
2. Or edit settings.json yourself as below. Use httpUrl for Finchreach: in Gemini CLI, url means the older SSE transport.
3. Or leave headers out: with only httpUrl, Gemini CLI discovers Finchreach’s OAuth on the first 401. Run /mcp auth finchreach, sign in on Finchreach and approve.
4. Start Gemini CLI and run /mcp to check that finchreach is connected.

gemini mcp add --transport http \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer lk_YOUR_KEY" \
  finchreach https://mcp.finchreach.com/mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "finchreach": {
      "httpUrl": "https://mcp.finchreach.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer lk_YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace lk_YOUR_KEY with your key. Keep the key out of shared files and repos; where Gemini CLI can read it from an environment variable, prefer that.

Headers are supported on HTTP servers, so the Finchreach key works as a Bearer token. OAuth with auto-discovery works too: drop headers and run /mcp auth finchreach.

Step 4: Test the connection

In Gemini CLI, start with a read. It runs right away and proves the key and the account work:

Ask your assistant“List my connected LinkedIn accounts, then summarize my five latest notifications.”

You should see calls to linkedin_list_accounts and linkedin_get_notifications. Then try a write, which goes to your approval queue instead of LinkedIn:

Ask your assistant“Draft a short LinkedIn post saying I’m trying a new AI assistant workflow. Submit it for my approval.”

Step 5: Approve or reject it in Finchreach

1. Open Approvals. The draft is there with its exact text and the account it would go out from.
2. Approve it to publish, or reject it (reject the test post if you don’t want it live).
3. Gemini CLI can check the result with linkedin_get_action: pending, approved, rejected, executed, failed or expired.

Troubleshooting

• Connection errors with a hand-written entry usually mean url instead of httpUrl.
• A third-party report (not checked) says Gemini CLI stopped serving consumer AI Pro and Ultra accounts in June 2026 in favour of Antigravity CLI. If your sign-in is refused, check Google’s current guidance.
• 401 or “unauthorized”: the key is wrong, revoked or missing its prefix. Finchreach accepts Authorization: Bearer lk_… or X-API-Key: lk_…; check for a missing Bearer , quotes or a trailing space.
• A tool is missing: the key’s permissions don’t include it. Create a key with the permissions you need under API keys.
• “No LinkedIn account”: connect one under Accounts, or reconnect it if its session expired.
• A post or message “didn’t go out”: it is probably still waiting under Approvals. Writes run only after you approve them.

Still stuck? Compare your setup with Gemini CLI’s documentation, checked on 2026-10-28; client screens change often.

What to ask Gemini CLI next

Ask your assistant“Read the README of this project and draft a LinkedIn launch post.”

Ask your assistant“Search LinkedIn for companies hiring platform engineers and list ten with their size.”

Ask your assistant“Look up the people who connected with me this week and draft a short welcome message to each.”

More ideas on the Gemini CLI integration page.

Common questions