Everything you need to get your AI tutor running on Windows.
About 15–20 minutes — and most of that is just waiting for things to download.
Mac guide coming soonA few steps ask you to type a command into a window. Step 1 installs that window (it's called Git Bash), and from then on everything happens in that one window. Don't worry if it looks intimidating — you'll only ever copy, paste, and press Enter.
The terminal doesn't quite behave like the rest of your computer. A few quick things will save you some "why isn't this working?!" moments:
cd and
CD are different.~ means your home folder. When you see
~/Documents, that's your Documents folder — the same one you see
in File Explorer.That's it. Your tutor explains the rest as it comes up.
20.x.x LTS or higher — anything 20 or above is fine).In Git Bash, type this and press Enter:
node --versionv20.x.x or higher. If it says
"command not found", close and reopen Git Bash and try again. If it still won't work,
message Becky or the group.
In Git Bash, type this exactly and press Enter:
npm install -g @google/gemini-cliIt'll print several lines and take a minute or so. Wait until the typing cursor comes back and sits there ready.
Then check it's there:
gemini --versionIn Git Bash, type this and press Enter:
geminiIn Git Bash, paste this exactly and press Enter:
curl -fsSL https://learn.fieldleveltech.org/setup.sh | bashIt'll print a few lines as it works. When you see "All set." your tutor is on your computer and ready.
~/Documents/my-gemini-project, plus a hidden
.gemini-tutor in your home folder where the tutor keeps
its teaching material.GEMINI.md, inside your project folder) and its teaching
material (the curriculum, diagnostic, and playbook).tutor, that takes you into
the project folder and starts the tutor — so you don't have to
remember a long command each day.One last thing before you meet the tutor: close this Git Bash
window and open a fresh one (Start menu → Git Bash). That's so the
new tutor command becomes available.
In the fresh window, type this and press Enter:
tutorThat one word takes you into your project folder and starts your tutor. It'll introduce itself and take it from there.
Once you're set up, two simple phrases run everything. Worth saving them somewhere (a sticky note or Notepad) — your tutor also reminds you at the end of every session.
To stop for the day — type this and press Enter:
End lessonYour tutor saves where you got to and tells you it's safe to close the window.
(A full stop on the end is fine — End lesson. works too.)
To come back next time — open Git Bash and type:
tutorThen, once your tutor is running, type Continue learning and press Enter.
Most "uh oh" moments at the terminal aren't broken — they're a key doing something you didn't expect. Here are the common ones and how to carry on.
I pressed Ctrl+C and something stopped. That's the
"cancel" key — your tutor stopped whatever it was doing. Just type your
next prompt and carry on. If the window closed entirely, type
gemini again and your tutor picks up where you left off.
I pressed Ctrl+V and nothing pasted. At the Git Bash prompt (before your tutor is running), Ctrl+V doesn't paste — use Shift+Insert (or right-click) instead. Once your tutor is running inside the window, Ctrl+V starts working normally for paste.
I want to wipe what I've typed and start over. Press Esc twice quickly. That clears the line. (A single Esc on its own cancels popups or menus.)
I pressed the Up arrow and my typing got overwritten. The Up arrow scrolls through your past prompts. Press the Down arrow to come back to a blank line, or Esc twice to clear.
The screen looks scrambled or empty. Press Ctrl+L to redraw it. Your conversation is still there — nothing's lost.
Looks stuck — nothing happens when I type. Click into the window first to make it active. If still nothing, press Esc to cancel anything in progress, then try again.
I can't figure out how to quit. Type
/quit and press Enter. Or press
Ctrl+C twice in a row.
Your tutor lives at ~/Documents/my-gemini-project. Don't move it, and don't edit the GEMINI.md file inside it — that file is what makes me your tutor. If you change it, the tutor breaks.
But Gemini itself works in any folder. When you want to start something new — a game, a website, a tool, anything — the pattern is:
cd into it (see below) or, if you've made an alias for it, use that. (Your tutor teaches you how to make aliases for new projects at the end of the curriculum.)Two terminal commands worth knowing:
cd ~/Documents/my-game — "change directory." Takes you into the folder you name. cd .. takes you back up one level.
ls — "list." Shows everything in your current folder. Useful for "what was that project called again?"
Using Gemini outside the tutor. Once you're in a project folder, type gemini and press Enter. That Gemini won't be your tutor — it's a generic, helpful Gemini, ready to build whatever you ask it to. Continue learning won't mean anything to it; ask it for what you actually want, plainly.
Every AI conversation has a memory limit. The technical name for this is the context window, and what fills it up are called tokens (roughly: words and bits of words).
What you need to know:
Your tutor saves your progress in progress.md regardless — so even a long-conversation crash won't lose your learning. But day-to-day, shorter sessions tend to be sharper.