gemini-cli - 💡(How to fix) Fix Gemini‑CLI: Excessive project‑wide scanning makes simple code patches fail [1 participants]

What happened?

When using Gemini‑CLI to apply small patches to Go source files, the tool repeatedly performs full‑project analysis before making any edit. This includes:

scanning all files in the workspace

loading the entire Go standard library

loading cgo files

running vulnerability checks

running diagnostics

resolving cross‑file references

This behavior consumes tokens extremely quickly and causes the model to hit usage limits before the actual edit is applied.

Impact: Even tiny one‑function patches often fail

Multi‑file patches are nearly impossible

Users must break missions into micro‑missions

Diagnostics and vulnerability checks are unnecessary for simple edits

The tool becomes unusable on medium‑sized Go projects

Expected behavior: When the mission is “modify this file at this function,” Gemini‑CLI should:

Open the file

Apply the patch

Save the file

It should not automatically run diagnostics, vulnerability checks, or full‑project scans unless explicitly requested.

Suggested improvements: Add a “minimal edit mode” that disables diagnostics and project‑wide scanning

Only load the target file unless the user requests deeper analysis

Avoid scanning cgo files unless necessary

Provide a flag to disable vulnerability checks

Cache project structure to avoid repeated scanning

What did you expect to happen?

Simply edits/modifications/patches done by gemini-cli should be possible without consuming excessive tokens or even failing completely.

Client information

╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮ │ │ │ About Gemini CLI │ │ │ │ CLI Version 0.38.2 │ │ Git Commit b0ed611a0 │ │ Model gemini-3-flash-preview │ │ Sandbox no sandbox │ │ OS win32 │ │ Auth Method gemini-api-key │ │ │ ╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

                                                                                                                        ? for shortcuts

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Shift+Tab to accept edits 2 GEMINI.md files · 2 MCP servers ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Type your message or @path/to/file

/mcp ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Configured MCP servers:

🟢 gopls - Ready (8 tools) Tools:

• mcp_gopls_go_diagnostics
• mcp_gopls_go_file_context
• mcp_gopls_go_package_api
• mcp_gopls_go_rename_symbol
• mcp_gopls_go_search
• mcp_gopls_go_symbol_references
• mcp_gopls_go_vulncheck
• mcp_gopls_go_workspace

🟢 delphilsp - Ready (5 tools) Tools:

• mcp_delphilsp_delphi_completion
• mcp_delphilsp_delphi_find_references
• mcp_delphilsp_delphi_goto_definition
• mcp_delphilsp_delphi_hover
• mcp_delphilsp_delphi_workspace_symbols

Login information

No response

Anything else we need to know?

Note:

mcp_gopls is installed and apperently gemini-cli is overly enthousiastic/overly helpfully at running it...