---
title: "How to connect your bank to Gemini CLI"
slug: how-to-connect-your-bank-to-gemini-cli
url: https://bankbridge.money/guides/how-to-connect-your-bank-to-gemini-cli
category: how-to
published: 2026-07-10
updated: 2026-07-10
---
# How to connect your bank to Gemini CLI

> To connect your bank to Gemini CLI, add BankBridge as a remote MCP server in ~/.gemini/settings.json: set httpUrl to https://bankbridge.money/api/mcp and send your bbk_ API key as a bearer Authorization header. Restart Gemini, run /mcp to confirm the 11 bank tools loaded, then ask for a balance. Setup takes about five minutes, and access is read-only.

Connect Your Bank to Gemini CLI via MCP | BankBridge | BankBridge  

[How-to](/guides/how-to)

# How to connect your bank to Gemini CLI

Updated Jul 10, 2026·5 min read

To connect your bank to Gemini CLI, add BankBridge as a remote MCP server in ~/.gemini/settings.json: set httpUrl to https://bankbridge.money/api/mcp and send your bbk\_ API key as a bearer Authorization header. Restart Gemini, run /mcp to confirm the 11 bank tools loaded, then ask for a balance. Setup takes about five minutes, and access is read-only.

## What you'll need

Three things: Gemini CLI installed (npm install -g @google/gemini-cli, or brew install gemini-cli on a Mac), a BankBridge account with at least one bank connected, and your bbk\_ API key from the BankBridge dashboard. That's it. No extensions, no local server to run, no Node script sitting in a folder somewhere.

Gemini CLI speaks MCP natively. You declare remote servers in a settings file, and every tool those servers expose becomes available to the model in your terminal session. BankBridge is a hosted MCP server, so the whole setup is one JSON block.

Budget five minutes. Most of that is the bank link flow.

## Get your BankBridge API key

Head to bankbridge.money and sign in with your email. We send a magic link, no password to invent. Once you're in, the dashboard walks you through connecting a bank: you pick your institution inside a secure, bank-provided UI, log in with your normal online banking credentials, and approve read-only access. Your password never touches BankBridge, and it never touches Gemini either.

After the bank connects, the dashboard shows your API key. It starts with bbk\_. Copy it now; you'll paste it into the config in the next step.

Pricing is $5/mo per connected bank, cancel anytime. If you also want investment data (holdings, buys, sells), connect a brokerage in the same flow and the investment tools light up automatically.

## Add BankBridge to ~/.gemini/settings.json

Open ~/.gemini/settings.json in any editor. If the file doesn't exist yet, create it. Add an mcpServers object with a bankbridge entry:

{ "mcpServers": { "bankbridge": { "httpUrl": "https://bankbridge.money/api/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer bbk\_your\_api\_key\_here" } } } }

Swap bbk\_your\_api\_key\_here for the real key you copied from the dashboard. Keep the word Bearer and the space before the key; that whole string is the header value.

One gotcha that trips up almost everyone: Gemini CLI uses httpUrl for streamable HTTP servers, not url. If you write url like you would for most other MCP hosts, Gemini treats the endpoint as an SSE server and the connection fails. This is the single most common reason a BankBridge setup doesn't work in Gemini, so if only one thing sticks from this guide, make it httpUrl.

If you already have other servers in mcpServers, just add bankbridge alongside them inside the same object. A project-level .gemini/settings.json works too, if you'd rather scope bank access to one directory instead of every session.

### Or run one command instead

If you'd rather not touch JSON, recent Gemini CLI versions ship a helper: gemini mcp add --transport http bankbridge https://bankbridge.money/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer bbk\_your\_api\_key\_here". It writes the same settings.json entry for you.

Either path lands in the same place, so pick whichever you'll remember. Editing the file directly is easier to audit later.

## Verify with /mcp

Restart Gemini CLI. It only reads settings.json at startup, so an already-running session won't pick up the new server.

In the fresh session, type /mcp. You should see bankbridge listed as connected, with 11 tools under it: list\_accounts, get\_account, list\_transactions, search\_transactions, get\_spending\_summary, get\_recurring\_charges, get\_monthly\_cashflow, get\_merchant\_history, list\_categories, list\_holdings, and list\_investment\_transactions. Run /mcp desc if you want the one-line description of what each tool does.

If the server shows up as disconnected or the tool list is empty, skip ahead to troubleshooting. Nine times out of ten it's the httpUrl thing.

## Ask your first question

Now the fun part. Ask something a bank app would make you dig for:

> What's my checking balance right now?

Gemini calls list\_accounts, and BankBridge fetches the answer live from your bank. Nothing is cached on our servers, so what you get back is your balance at this moment, not a snapshot from last night's sync. The first call in a session takes a couple of seconds for exactly that reason.

The first time Gemini wants to run a BankBridge tool it'll ask for your approval. You can approve once, or tell it to always allow that tool for the session. Since every tool is read-only, allowing them broadly is low-stakes; the worst any of them can do is tell you something about your own money.

> Show my top merchants for the last 90 days.

> List every recurring charge over $10 and flag anything that changed price recently.

Questions like these chain multiple tools together, and that's where a terminal agent starts beating your banking app. You're not tapping through filters; you're just asking.

## Troubleshooting

No bankbridge server in /mcp at all: check that your JSON parses (a trailing comma will silently break the whole file) and that you used httpUrl, not url. Then restart Gemini; settings changes never apply to a running session.

Server connects but tools return 401 Unauthorized: the key is wrong. Usual suspects are a truncated paste, a missing Bearer prefix in the header value, or a key you've since rotated from the dashboard. Copy a fresh key and try again. If you rotate keys regularly (good habit), remember Gemini reads the file at startup, so rotate, edit, restart.

Tools work but respond with "no connected banks": your BankBridge account exists but the bank link didn't finish. Go back to the dashboard and complete the connection. This also happens after you change your bank password, since the bank invalidates the link on its side; the dashboard will show a reconnect prompt when that happens.

Answers seem slow: that's the live-fetch design working as intended. BankBridge queries your bank at ask-time instead of serving you stale cached numbers. A couple of seconds for a truthful answer is the trade we chose on purpose.

## Where to go from here

Once the connection works, the useful stuff is all in the questions. Run a subscription audit and cancel the two things you forgot about. Ask for a month-over-month spending comparison before you build a budget. Have Gemini pull your monthly cashflow and tell you, honestly, whether you're ahead or behind this quarter.

The same bbk\_ key works everywhere MCP does. If you also live in Claude Code, Codex, or an editor like Cursor or Zed, you can point them all at the same endpoint and ask the same questions from whichever tool you happen to have open. One bank connection, every agent you use.

And if you connect a second bank later, nothing about this config changes. The tools just start returning accounts from both.

## FAQ

Does Gemini CLI support remote MCP servers like BankBridge?

Yes. Gemini CLI supports remote MCP servers over streamable HTTP. Add the server to ~/.gemini/settings.json using the httpUrl field (not url) plus an Authorization header with your bearer key, restart the CLI, and its tools appear in /mcp.

Why isn't BankBridge showing up when I run /mcp?

The most common cause is using url instead of httpUrl in settings.json, which makes Gemini treat BankBridge as an SSE server and fail to connect. Also confirm the JSON parses cleanly and restart Gemini, since settings only load at startup.

Can Gemini CLI move money or make changes to my bank account?

No. Every BankBridge tool is read-only: balances, transactions, spending summaries, recurring charges, cashflow, and holdings. There are no tools for transfers, payments, or account changes, so the worst any prompt can do is read data you already own.

What does BankBridge cost for Gemini CLI users?

$5 per month per connected bank, same as every other host. One bank is $5/mo, two banks is $10/mo, and you can cancel anytime from the dashboard. The same API key works across Gemini CLI, Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and 25+ other MCP hosts.

Where is my bank data stored when I use Gemini CLI with BankBridge?

Nowhere on BankBridge's servers. Every question triggers a live fetch from your bank at ask-time, and nothing is cached. BankBridge holds only an encrypted access token for the connection, never your banking password, and you can revoke it from the dashboard.

Does this also work with Gemini Code Assist in my editor?

Yes. Gemini Code Assist reads the same MCP configuration format, so the identical bankbridge entry works there. BankBridge documents both setups separately, but the endpoint, the bbk\_ bearer key, and the 11 tools are exactly the same in each.

## FAQ

### Does Gemini CLI support remote MCP servers like BankBridge?

Yes. Gemini CLI supports remote MCP servers over streamable HTTP. Add the server to ~/.gemini/settings.json using the httpUrl field (not url) plus an Authorization header with your bearer key, restart the CLI, and its tools appear in /mcp.

### Why isn't BankBridge showing up when I run /mcp?

The most common cause is using url instead of httpUrl in settings.json, which makes Gemini treat BankBridge as an SSE server and fail to connect. Also confirm the JSON parses cleanly and restart Gemini, since settings only load at startup.

### Can Gemini CLI move money or make changes to my bank account?

No. Every BankBridge tool is read-only: balances, transactions, spending summaries, recurring charges, cashflow, and holdings. There are no tools for transfers, payments, or account changes, so the worst any prompt can do is read data you already own.

### What does BankBridge cost for Gemini CLI users?

$5 per month per connected bank, same as every other host. One bank is $5/mo, two banks is $10/mo, and you can cancel anytime from the dashboard. The same API key works across Gemini CLI, Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and 25+ other MCP hosts.

### Where is my bank data stored when I use Gemini CLI with BankBridge?

Nowhere on BankBridge's servers. Every question triggers a live fetch from your bank at ask-time, and nothing is cached. BankBridge holds only an encrypted access token for the connection, never your banking password, and you can revoke it from the dashboard.

### Does this also work with Gemini Code Assist in my editor?

Yes. Gemini Code Assist reads the same MCP configuration format, so the identical bankbridge entry works there. BankBridge documents both setups separately, but the endpoint, the bbk_ bearer key, and the 11 tools are exactly the same in each.