Google is adding a Data Commons extension to the Gemini CLI to make it easier for developers to access and interact with publicly available data.
Data Commons is a large library of public data from around the world, gathered from sources like the United Nations, the World Bank, and a number of government agencies.
The new extension can be used to ask questions like “What are some interesting statistics about India?” or “Analyze the impact of education expenditure on GDP per capita in Scandinavian countries” directly in the CLI.
The Gemini CLI framework also allows developers to utilize this extension with other data-related extensions, like the MCP Toolbox for Databases to compare public data with proprietary datasets, or Looker to create visualizations from Data Commons results.
Additionally, because the Data Commons pulls from authoritative information sources, it can be used to ground or compare data to reduce hallucinations. A developer could, for instance, compare data returned by Data Commons with data returned by a Google Search.
“Data Commons gives anyone interested in public statistical data easy access to hundreds of datasets distilled from authoritative public sources. The Data Commons agent and tools are optimized to engage in conversations with exploratory and analytical questions,” Google wrote in a blog post.
