Cline capabilities

Cline can launch a Puppeteer-controlled Chromium window or connect to a running local Chrome instance via remote debugging, then navigate, click, type, scroll, and take screenshots to verify UI work or perform web research.

The Cline CLI can bridge an agent session into external messaging platforms via a `cline connect` command, letting a user chat with Cline from Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, or Linear instead of a terminal. Each platform runs as an adapter with its own credential setup, and a conversation on that channel becomes an agent session capable of executing tasks on the host machine.

Automatic per-tool-call snapshots of the entire workspace, stored in a shadow git repository, letting users compare, restore files, or rewind the conversation to any intermediate state without disrupting their real git history.

An open-source agent runtime framework (@cline/sdk) for building agentic coding applications on top of Cline. It is a ground-up TypeScript rewrite of Cline's harness, packaged as a standalone SDK so any team can embed the same agent loop that powers the Cline CLI and IDE extensions into their own products, CLIs, or CI/CD pipelines. Out of the box it provides the agentic loop, tool orchestration, session lifecycle and persistence, a multi-provider LLM gateway, plus native checkpoints, web fetch, MCP connectors, scheduled cron jobs, and subagents/agent teams - so developers do not have to implement orchestration themselves.

Users inject targeted context into the chat by typing @-prefixed references to files, folders, problems, and URLs, letting Cline pull in exactly the relevant content without manual copy-paste.

Persistent markdown instruction files that guide Cline's behavior across conversations without repeating preferences each time, covering coding standards, architecture conventions, testing patterns, and any project-specific constraints.

Enterprise plan adds SSO, role-based access control, centralized model/tool policy enforcement, OpenTelemetry-based observability over usage, costs, and audit logs, the JetBrains IDE plugin, and VPC deployment support — all while keeping code and inference on the customer's own infrastructure.

Cline runs as a native sidebar panel in VS Code (free, 4.3M+ installs) and JetBrains IDEs (enterprise plan only), works in the VS Code forks Cursor and Windsurf, and integrates with Zed and Neovim via ACP mode, plus a standalone CLI and web Kanban board.

Built-in hub for discovering and one-click-installing Model Context Protocol servers that extend Cline with databases, APIs, browser automation, cloud services, and more. Users can also configure MCP servers manually or via the CLI wizard.

Users bring their own API keys for any supported cloud provider or run local models, paying provider inference rates directly with no Cline subscription. Alternatively, the Cline Provider offers a managed pay-as-you-go account via OAuth.

A local web-based Kanban board for running multiple coding agents in parallel, each in its own isolated git worktree, with dependency chains that auto-start downstream tasks and an inline diff review interface.

The Cline VS Code extension, CLI, and SDK are fully open-source (Apache 2.0) and free for individual developers; users pay only for the AI inference they consume at their provider's rates, with no Cline subscription or seat fees. The JetBrains plugin and enterprise features (SSO, RBAC, centralized billing) require an enterprise plan.

Two-phase workflow separating strategy from execution. Plan mode lets the agent read code and discuss architecture without touching files; Act mode implements the agreed plan with full tool access.

Cline can run shell commands directly in the editor terminal and watch output in real time, handling package installs, build scripts, test runs, and deployments as part of an autonomous coding loop.