Gemini CLI + xCloud

Secure sites and servers with Gemini CLI on xCloud

Securing sites and servers with Gemini CLI means asking Google's terminal agent to read vulnerability findings and server protections on xCloud, with a confirmation before any firewall or ban change and a tool filter you control.

Skill: xcloud:servers
Toolsets: vulnerabilities, servers, sites, wordpress-actions
Free with every xCloud account

Set up Gemini CLI All Gemini CLI guides

YouWhich sites have open vulnerabilities, worst first?

vulnerabilities_indexread-only

Agentshop.example.com has one critical finding and three high ones across two plugins. blog.example.com has two medium findings. The other nine sites are clean. Shall I read the shop's findings?

YouYes, then rescan it.

sites_vulnerabilities_listread-only

AgentThe critical finding is in the booking plugin. I will rescan after you update it, and I will check the count again before I call it fixed.

Last updated: October 2026. Keep a human in the loop: xCloud stops and asks before anything that creates, deploys, updates, reboots, deletes or buys.

Setup

How Do You Set Up Gemini CLI to Secure sites and servers on xCloud?

Connect Gemini CLI once; every job on this account uses the same connection. Then ask in plain words.

1
Add the xCloud MCP server
Run this in your terminal, then start gemini. The --scope user flag writes the server to ~/.gemini/settings.json so it is available in every project; without it, gemini mcp add writes to the current project's .gemini/settings.json and refuses to run from your home directory. The first time it calls xCloud it finds the OAuth endpoints, opens your browser on the xCloud approval screen and asks you to tick the teams and choose Read-only or Full access.
Terminal
```
gemini mcp add --scope user --transport http xcloud https://app.xcloud.host/mcp
```
2
Or edit settings.json
Add this to ~/.gemini/settings.json for every project, or to .gemini/settings.json in one project. This is the entry gemini mcp add writes: url plus type set to http. The older httpUrl key still works, but a url without a type is treated as an SSE server and will not connect. If the browser sign-in does not start, type /mcp auth xcloud inside Gemini CLI.
JSON
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xcloud": {
      "url": "https://app.xcloud.host/mcp",
      "type": "http"
    }
  }
}
```
3
No browser? Use an API key
For a headless machine, create a token with the mcp:invoke scope plus the read abilities for the areas it will use (read:servers and read:sites, with read:billing and read:addons for billing and add-on tools) and the matching write: abilities if it should change things in Settings, Developers, API Tokens and send it in the headers field. Keep the token out of version control, and keep the quotes: xCloud tokens contain a pipe character.
JSON
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xcloud": {
      "url": "https://app.xcloud.host/mcp",
      "type": "http",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Check it worked

Then ask Gemini CLI for the job itself, for example:

Prompt

List every xCloud site with open vulnerabilities, worst first, with the plugin name for each finding.

In practice

How Does Security Work from Gemini CLI?

Gemini CLI is a terminal agent, so a security check starts the same way as any other task: you launch gemini, type a question and read the answer in the scrollback. Ask which of your xCloud sites have open vulnerabilities and it calls the team-wide rollup through the xcloud server, which Gemini CLI exposes with a mcp_xcloud_ prefix on each operation name. You get a ranked list, and a follow-up about one site returns the counts by severity and the findings with the plugin or theme named. The first call also triggers the OAuth sign-in if you have not authenticated yet, so the opening question can double as the connection test.

What sets Gemini CLI apart for this job is the tool filter. The xcloud entry in settings.json accepts excludeTools and includeTools, so you can shape a security session on purpose. For an audit, exclude the tools that create or delete firewall rules, ban or unban addresses and change sudo users, and the agent can read everything it needs while being unable to change anything, whatever you type later. For the day you do intend to tighten a ruleset, remove the filter, make the change and put it back. That is a clean way to separate reading from writing without juggling two access levels.

The rest of the job behaves as on any client. A rescan runs without a stop and finishes a little later, so Gemini CLI reads the count again before it says a finding is gone. A plugin, theme or core update to clear a finding stops for your approval and offers a backup first. For servers it reads firewall rules, Fail2Ban bans, SSH restriction status and sudo users, and before any change it names the server and the effect and explains the lockout risk. It will not delete the default SSH rule. Where a protection is a dashboard switch, such as the AI bot blocker or the 8G firewall, it gives you the path and does not claim it flipped it.

Gemini CLI specific: Do not set trust to true on the xcloud entry in settings.json for security work. It makes Gemini CLI skip its own confirmation dialog for that server, which removes a second check on firewall, ban and sudo-user changes. Keep trust off, and use excludeTools for the write operations you never want in a session. The browser sign-in redirects to a localhost port, so on a remote host use the API-key form instead.

What xCloud does for security

xCloud reads vulnerability findings for one site or across your whole team, starts rescans and ignores or restores a finding. On servers it manages firewall rules, Fail2Ban bans, the SSH restriction state and sudo users. Protections such as the AI bot blocker, the 7G and 8G firewall and per-site IP rules stay dashboard switches.

Start with the team-wide rollup. For a fleet question the agent reads the vulnerability rollup across every site on the team in one call and sorts it worst first. For one site it reads the findings and the counts by severity instead.
Rescan and triage findings. A rescan runs without a confirmation stop and finishes asynchronously, so the agent checks the count again afterwards. Findings carry a severity and a source, and severity is the triage key. A false positive can be ignored with a reason and restored later.
Fix what the finding points to. Most findings are fixed by updating a plugin, a theme or WordPress core. The agent proposes the updates, takes a backup first if you want one, and waits for your approval, because updating plugins or themes always stops for confirmation.
Review the server's perimeter. The agent reads firewall rules, the Fail2Ban banned IP list, the SSH restriction status and the sudo users. It can add or disable a rule, ban or unban an address and whitelist xCloud's own IPs after you confirm the server and the effect.
Report what is dashboard-only. AI bot blocking, the 7G and 8G firewall and a single site's IP allow and block list are dashboard switches. The agent reads what it can, such as the 7G and 8G logs, and gives you the dashboard path and the site's dashboard link for the rest.

Reference

Security Settings and Limits on xCloud

The facts Gemini CLI works within when it secures sites and servers. Where a row names the dashboard, that step stays yours to take there.

Setting or limit	What applies
Vulnerability findings	Per-site list and counts by severity (critical, high, medium, low), plus a team-wide rollup across every site you can reach
Rescans	Triggering a rescan is a routine action that runs without a confirmation stop. It is asynchronous, so the agent polls the count or the site events
Ignore and restore	A finding can be ignored with a reason and un-ignored later. Both are changes to the finding, not to the site
Firewall rules	List, create, enable, disable and delete server rules by name, protocol (tcp or udp), traffic (allow or deny), port and optional source IP
Fail2Ban	List banned IPs, ban one or more addresses and unban an address. Adding addresses to Fail2Ban's own ignore list is an SSH step described in the Fail2Ban guide
Whitelisting	xCloud's infrastructure IPs and the caller's IP can be whitelisted. The SSH restriction status says whether SSH is limited to trusted addresses
Sudo users	List, create or update, and delete OS-level privileged accounts. Private keys are never returned, and a temporary account is available for short jobs
7G and 8G firewall	Switched on in the dashboard. Their logs are readable through the nginx log type of the site's access log read
AI bot blocker	A dashboard toggle: Site, Tools, Nginx and Security on Nginx, Tools, Security on OpenLiteSpeed
Per-site IP rules	Dashboard-only: Site, Tools, IP Management. The API lists a site's rules but does not change them; server-wide blocks are on the API
Automated security updates	xCloud installs security updates on servers it provisions, and Automatic Reboot restarts the server only when a reboot is required. Both are configured in the dashboard
Security headers	The API lists a site's custom Nginx configuration. Adding headers is a dashboard or SSH step, described in the security headers guide

Rules Gemini CLI has to follow

Firewall, Fail2Ban and sudo-user changes name the exact server and the effect before they run, and they wait for your yes. Locking out SSH is the risk the agent explains first.
The agent never disables SSH or a database service to tidy up a ruleset, and it does not delete the default SSH rule on its own.
Updating a plugin or theme to fix a finding stops for your approval, and the agent offers a backup first.
Ignoring a finding needs a reason you give. The agent records it and tells you how to restore it.
AI bot blocking, the 7G and 8G firewall, per-site IP rules and automated update settings are dashboard steps. The agent says so, gives the path and the dashboard link, and never claims it changed them.
A temporary sudo user is for a specific job and is removed when the job ends.

Example prompts

What Can You Ask Gemini CLI to Do for Security?

Type these as written and swap in your own repository, site and server names. Reads and routine actions such as backups, cache purges, PageSpeed scans and vulnerability scans run straight away; creating, deploying, updating, rebooting, deleting, buying or starting a broken-link scan stops and asks first.

Prompt

List every xCloud site with open vulnerabilities, worst first, with the plugin name for each finding.

Prompt

Rescan shop.example.com and tell me the count by severity once it has finished.

Prompt

Show the banned IPs and firewall rules on the Frankfurt server, and tell me if SSH is restricted.

Prompt

Show the vulnerability count for every site on this team, sorted worst first, and name the top three findings.

Prompt

Run a vulnerability scan on the shop site and tell me what it finds.

Prompt

List the findings on the blog site and ignore the false positive in the contact form plugin, with the reason.

Prompt

Update every plugin on the shop site, then run a vulnerability scan, and stop if anything is still open.

Prompt

List the firewall rules on the Frankfurt server and tell me whether SSH is restricted to trusted IPs.

Prompt

Show the IPs Fail2Ban has banned on the Frankfurt server, and unban 203.0.113.10.

Prompt

Whitelist the xCloud IPs on the Frankfurt server.

Prompt

Which sudo users exist on the Frankfurt server? Flag any that look temporary or unused.

Gemini CLI and Security: Frequently Asked Questions

What people ask before they let Gemini CLI secure sites and servers through xCloud.

How do I stop Gemini CLI from changing firewall rules during an audit?

Add excludeTools to the xcloud entry in settings.json and list the firewall, Fail2Ban and sudo-user write tools. Gemini CLI then cannot call them in that session. Remove the filter when you intend to make a change.

Why do the xCloud tools in Gemini CLI start with mcp_xcloud_?

Gemini CLI names each tool mcp_ followed by the server name and the operation name. That prefix lets you target a tool in includeTools or excludeTools, for example to hide the tools that change firewall rules.

Can an agent show vulnerabilities across all my sites at once?

Yes. xCloud has a team-wide rollup that lists findings for every site you can reach, which the agent sorts worst first. For one site it reads the findings and the counts by severity, and it can start a rescan.

Can the agent ban an IP address on my server?

Yes. It can ban addresses in Fail2Ban, list the banned IPs and unban one, and it can create, disable and delete server firewall rules. It confirms the server and the effect first, so you do not lock yourself out.

Can the agent turn on the 8G firewall or the AI bot blocker?

No. Both are dashboard switches. The agent can read the 7G and 8G firewall logs through the site's nginx logs, and it tells you where the switches are: the site's Tools section. It does not claim to have changed them.

Can the agent block an IP for just one site?

Not from here. Per-site IP allow and block lists are managed in the dashboard under Site, Tools, IP Management, and the agent can only list what is there. Server-wide blocks, through firewall rules and Fail2Ban, are on the API.

Does the agent fix a vulnerability on its own?

No. It reports the finding and proposes the update that remediates it, usually a plugin, theme or core update. Updates always stop for your approval, and the agent can take a backup first and rescan afterwards to confirm the finding is gone.

Other agents