How to use Cline: the open-source agent in your editor

Cline is an open-source coding agent from Cline Bot Inc., licensed under Apache 2.0, that runs as a VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin, and terminal CLI and requires user approval for every file edit and terminal command. The agent separates Plan mode, which can read code and search but cannot modify files or run commands, from Act mode, which executes changes, and it snapshots the project into a separate shadow Git repository after each step so users can restore files, the task, or both. Cline ships no model of its own, connecting instead to Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, Azure, GCP Vertex, DeepSeek, xAI, Mistral, and Cerebras, plus any OpenAI-compatible API and local models through Ollama and LM Studio.

The Primer · Tools & Stacks How to use Cline: the open-source agent in your editor Vendor-neutral Cline is an open-source coding agent that lives in your editor and terminal, and its whole design is that it proposes every edit and waits for you to approve it. Two things make it worth learning: it plans before it acts, and it connects to almost any model, including a local one at zero per-token cost. This is the whole thing, install to first approved edit, and the three ways to pay for the model behind it. Cline is an open-source coding agent that runs inside your editor, and its design choice is the thing to understand first: it does not quietly rewrite your project. It reads, it proposes, and it waits for you to approve each edit and each command. Its README calls it “the open source coding agent in your IDE and terminal,” it is licensed Apache 2.0, and it comes as a VS Code extension, a JetBrains plugin, and a terminal CLI. For a builder who wants an agent that does real work without taking the keyboard away, that approval-first design is the whole appeal. Here is the shape of it. Install the extension, point it at a model your own API key, a local model, or Cline’s own billing , and give it a task. It plans the change, shows you a diff, and applies it only once you approve. You keep a checkpoint to roll back to, and you decide how much of the loop to automate. Everything below is the how. What Cline is, and where it runs Cline is maintained by Cline Bot Inc. and is genuinely open-source under the Apache 2.0 license, which you can read in the repo. It installs three ways: from the VS Code Marketplace, from the JetBrains Marketplace as a plugin, and as a terminal CLI, so it meets you in the editor you already use or on the command line. One piece of trivia that answers a common search: the VS Code listing still carries the extension id saoudrizwan.claude-dev , the only remaining trace of the project’s original name, Claude Dev. Search for Cline in your editor’s extensions panel and install the one published under that id. Plan and Act: the two modes Cline’s signature is that it separates thinking from doing. In Plan mode it can read your codebase, run searches, and talk through an approach, but it cannot modify any files or execute commands. You use it to agree on what should happen before anything does. In Act mode it can modify files, run commands, and carry out the plan. The conversation history carries over when you switch, so the plan you settled on is the plan it executes, and you can cycle back to Plan whenever the task turns a corner. Starting in Plan on anything non-trivial is the habit that keeps the agent from confidently doing the wrong thing. Staying in control: approvals and checkpoints This is where Cline earns the trust to run in a real project. By default it is human-in-the-loop: every file edit and terminal command requires your approval, so nothing changes without your say-so. When you want it to move faster, Auto-Approve lets you lift that prompt selectively, evaluated per tool call across categories, file operations, terminal commands, the browser tool, and MCP servers, so you can let it read and edit freely while still confirming anything that runs a command. And checkpoints are the safety net: Cline snapshots your project into a separate shadow Git repository after each step, so you can restore the files, the task, or both without touching your real Git history. Approve edits as it goes, keep a checkpoint to fall back to, and an autonomous agent stops being a scary thing to run. Connecting a model: cloud and local Cline does not ship a model; you bring one, and the range is wide. It connects to the major cloud providers, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, Azure, GCP Vertex, DeepSeek, xAI, Mistral, and Cerebras among them, plus any OpenAI-compatible API. And it runs local models through Ollama and LM Studio, which means the agent can work against a model on your own machine at no per-token cost, the same setup our Ollama guide https://okaneland.com/primer/how-to-use-ollama/ and our LM Studio guide https://okaneland.com/primer/how-to-use-lm-studio/ walk through. Which model you pick is most of your experience with Cline, and most of your bill. What it costs: the extension is free, the model is not The confusion worth clearing up: the Cline extension itself is free and open-source, and it has no subscription of its own that you are required to buy. What costs money is the model behind it, and there are three ways to pay for that. You can bring your own key from any provider and pay that provider directly, which the homepage sums up as “bring your own key, your own endpoint, or your own weights.” You can use the Cline Provider for pay-as-you-go access without wrangling a key. Or you can take ClinePass , a flat monthly subscription, if predictable billing suits you better. All three reach 100+ models. The cheapest path is a local model, where the per-token cost is zero and you are paying only in your own hardware, which is exactly the lever our cost study https://okaneland.com/study/cut-your-ai-coding-bill/ pulls: the way to shrink an AI coding bill is to move the routine work onto a meter that does not run. Extending Cline with MCP Cline speaks the Model Context Protocol, so it can reach past your codebase to external tools and data. Through MCP servers, local or remote, it can query a database, call an API, or manage cloud infrastructure, and you add servers through a JSON config, the extension’s Configure tab, or the cline mcp CLI wizard. It can even help build a new tool on request, wiring up a capability through MCP when you ask for one. If you have read our MCP tax study https://okaneland.com/study/the-mcp-context-tax/ , the same discipline applies here: add the servers a task needs, and leave the rest off. Cline vs Aider vs Cursor The comparison worth drawing, stated as plain fact. All three put an AI agent on your code; they differ in license, interface, and how you pay. Cline is Apache-2.0 open source, runs in your editor and terminal, and lets you bring any model, cloud or local, or use its hosted billing. Aider https://okaneland.com/primer/how-to-use-aider/ is also Apache-2.0 and also model-flexible including local, and it lives in the terminal and is git-native, committing each change with a sensible message. Cursor is a commercial, proprietary AI editor with a free Hobby tier, Pro at $20 a month, Teams at $40 a user, and higher tiers above that; it is the polished all-in-one to Cline and Aider’s open, bring-your-own-model approach. Two of the three are open source and let you run a local model, and Cline is the one that combines that openness with an editor-native, approve-every-step workflow. Pick Cline if you want an agent you own and control, start it on a local model to learn the loop for free, and read the cost study https://okaneland.com/study/cut-your-ai-coding-bill/ before you point it at a frontier API. One email, when there's something worth sending Get the research in your inbox. No fixed schedule, no filler. You get an email when we've tested something, run the numbers, or found a tool worth your time. Free. Double opt-in, unsubscribe in one click. How do you have Cline set up? Get the research → https://okaneland.com/subscribe/ Sources | Source | Link | |---|---| | Cline repository and README github.com/cline/cline, read 2026-08-23 : the README calls Cline "The open source coding agent in your IDE and terminal," the repo description is "Autonomous coding agent as an SDK, IDE extension, or CLI assistant," it ships as a VS Code extension, a JetBrains plugin, and a terminal CLI, and it states "Every file edit and terminal command requires your approval, so you stay in control." Maintained by Cline Bot Inc. | github.com ↗ https://github.com/cline/cline | | Cline license raw.githubusercontent.com/cline/cline/main/LICENSE, read 2026-08-23 : the Apache License, Version 2.0; the GitHub API reports the SPDX id Apache-2.0. Not MIT. | raw.githubusercontent.com ↗ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cline/cline/main/LICENSE | | Cline VS Code Marketplace listing marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=saoudrizwan.claude-dev, read 2026-08-23 : the displayed name is Cline, published by saoudrizwan under the extension id saoudrizwan.claude-dev; that slug is the only trace of the project's original name, Claude Dev no primary states a worded "formerly Claude Dev" rename . | marketplace.visualstudio.com ↗ https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=saoudrizwan.claude-dev | | Cline Plan and Act modes docs.cline.bot/features/plan-and-act, read 2026-08-23 : Plan mode lets Cline read the codebase, search, and discuss strategy but "cannot modify any files or execute commands"; in Act mode it "can now modify files, run commands, and execute your strategy," and the conversation history carries over when you switch. | docs.cline.bot ↗ https://docs.cline.bot/features/plan-and-act | | Cline approvals and checkpoints docs.cline.bot/features/auto-approve and /features/checkpoints, read 2026-08-23 : Auto-Approve is evaluated per tool call across file operations, terminal commands, the browser tool, and MCP servers; without it Cline asks permission for each action. Checkpoints snapshot the project in a separate shadow Git repository after each tool use, keeping your real Git history clean, with Restore Files / Restore Task Only / Restore Files and Task. | docs.cline.bot ↗ https://docs.cline.bot/features/checkpoints | | Cline model providers and billing cline.bot and docs.cline.bot/getting-started/model-selection-guide + /for-new-coders, read 2026-08-23 : the homepage says "Bring your own key, your own endpoint, or your own weights" and names Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, Azure, GCP Vertex, DeepSeek, xAI, Mistral, Cerebras, and any OpenAI-compatible API, with Ollama and LM Studio for local models; the docs describe three billing paths bring your own key, the Cline Provider for pay-as-you-go, and ClinePass for a flat monthly subscription , reaching 100+ models. | docs.cline.bot ↗ https://docs.cline.bot/getting-started/model-selection-guide | | Comparison primaries aider.chat + raw Aider LICENSE.txt, cursor.com/pricing, read 2026-08-23 : Aider is "AI pair programming in your terminal," git-native auto-commits with sensible messages , connects to almost any LLM including local models, and is Apache-2.0 licensed per its LICENSE.txt; Cursor is a commercial, proprietary AI editor with a free Hobby tier no credit card required , Pro at $20/month, and Teams at $40 per user/month, prices exclusive of tax with usage-based billing beyond the included amount. | cursor.com ↗ https://cursor.com/pricing |