Pali Canon for Claude

Install in Gemini CLI or Antigravity CLI

Pali Canon works as an extension for Google’s Gemini CLI. An extension is an add-on package: one command installs the Pali Canon tools, a short set of citation rules for Gemini, and four study commands.

Google is moving many users from Gemini CLI to its newer Antigravity CLI (the agy command). Which one you have depends on your Google account. Both are covered below.

The extension needs no extra download: installing it copies this whole project, which already contains the built server and the whole canon. It works offline once installed.

What you need

No account or key is needed for Pali Canon itself.

Gemini CLI

  1. In a terminal (not inside Gemini), run:

    gemini extensions install https://github.com/DaniilKi/pali-canon-claude

    Gemini shows what the extension contains and asks you to confirm. To pin one version, add --ref v2.1.0. To get updates automatically, add --auto-update.

  2. Start Gemini with gemini and type /mcp. You should see the pali-canon server with its tools, such as resolve_reference and get_text.

  3. Try the four study commands:

    /study MN 10
/compare AN 3.65
/pali-word anicca in SN 22.59
/method Kv 1

    If another extension already has a command with the same name, Gemini renames ours with the extension’s name in front, for example /pali-canon.study.

  4. Or just ask: “Use Pali Canon to read MN 10 with a translation and cite the PTS page.”

Manage it later with gemini extensions list, gemini extensions update pali-canon and gemini extensions uninstall pali-canon.

Antigravity CLI

Antigravity CLI does not install Gemini extensions from a link directly. It imports the ones you already have:

  1. Install the extension in Gemini CLI as above (Gemini CLI still works for this step).

  2. Close Antigravity, then run:

    agy plugin import gemini

    Google’s migration guide says this converts your Gemini extensions into Antigravity plugins: server settings go into mcp_config.json, and commands become skills. Antigravity may also offer to do this for you the first time you run agy. We have not tested this step ourselves yet.

  3. Start Antigravity and type /mcp. You should see pali-canon and its tools.

If you do not have Gemini CLI, add the server by hand instead (next section).

Manual setup (any version, works today)

  1. Download this project: on the GitHub page click Code → Download ZIP and unzip it, or run git clone https://github.com/DaniilKi/pali-canon-claude. The server and the whole canon are already built inside it; no install step is needed.

  2. Add this to your MCP settings, with the real path to the folder. For Gemini CLI the file is ~/.gemini/settings.json. For Antigravity CLI it is ~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json (all projects) or .agents/mcp_config.json (one project), according to Google’s migration guide.

    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "pali-canon": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:/path/to/pali-canon-claude/server/index.cjs"]
    }
  }
}

    On macOS or Linux the path looks like /Users/you/pali-canon-claude/server/index.cjs. Use forward slashes on Windows too.

  3. For the same citation rules Gemini gets from the extension, copy GEMINI.md into your project or into ~/.gemini/GEMINI.md.

The manual setup gives you the tools but not the /study, /compare, /pali-word and /method commands. You can ask for the same things in plain words.

What the extension contains

File What it does
gemini-extension.json Names the extension and tells Gemini how to start the Pali Canon server.
GEMINI.md Citation rules Gemini reads at the start of every session: quote only retrieved text, cite precisely, name translators, report numbering differences.
commands/ The /study, /compare, /pali-word and /method commands. They follow the same steps as the Claude Code skills in skills/.
commands/ The /study, /compare, /pali-word and /memorise commands. They follow the same steps as the Claude Code skills in skills/.

The texts keep their own licences: VRI, dhammatalks.org, Access to Insight and the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary are for non-commercial use. See THIRD_PARTY.md.

Sources