Overview

What is Cline CLI?

Cline CLI brings the full power of Cline to your terminal. Whether you prefer an interactive experience or automated workflows for CI/CD pipelines, the CLI adapts to your needs.

The CLI supports macOS, Linux, and Windows, and works with all the same AI providers as the VS Code extension.

Two Ways to Use Cline CLI

The CLI operates in two distinct modes, automatically selecting the appropriate one based on how you invoke it:

Interactive Mode

Interactive mode is designed for hands-on development sessions where you want to collaborate with Cline in real-time. It provides a rich terminal interface that feels like chatting with an AI assistant.

When it activates: Running cline without arguments, or when stdin is a TTY (terminal).

cline

Key features:

• Real-time conversation - Type messages, see Cline's responses, and iterate on tasks
• Visual feedback - Animated welcome screen, syntax-highlighted code, and progress indicators
• File mentions with @ - Reference workspace files with fuzzy search autocomplete
• Slash commands with / - Quick access to /settings, /history, /models, and workflows
• Keyboard shortcuts - Tab to toggle Plan/Act, Shift+Tab for auto-approve all
• Session summaries - See tasks completed, files modified, and token usage on exit
• Settings panel - Configure providers, models, and features without leaving the CLI

Interactive mode keeps you in control. You review Cline's plan, approve or modify actions, and guide the conversation.

Learn more about interactive mode →

Headless Mode (Non-Interactive)

Headless mode is designed for automation, scripting, and CI/CD pipelines where human interaction isn't possible or desired.

When it activates: Using the -y/--yolo flag, --json flag, piping input/output, or when stdin is not a TTY.

# Headless with auto-approval (YOLO mode)
cline -y "Run tests and fix any failures"

# Headless with JSON output for parsing
cline --json "List all TODO comments" | jq '.text'

# Headless via piped input
cat README.md | cline "Summarize this document"

# Chain multiple headless commands
git diff | cline -y "explain these changes" | cline -y "write a commit message"

Key features:

• No visual interface - Clean text or JSON output suitable for scripting
• Automatic execution - With -y, Cline approves all actions and runs autonomously
• Process control - Exits automatically when the task completes
• Piped workflows - Read from stdin, write to stdout, chain with other commands
• Machine-readable output - Use --json to get structured output for parsing

Mode Detection Summary

Cline automatically detects which mode to use based on your invocation. This table shows how different command patterns trigger each mode, helping you predict behavior in scripts and interactive sessions.

Learn more about headless mode →

Supported Model Providers

Cline CLI supports all providers available in the VS Code extension:

• Anthropic (Claude)
• OpenAI (GPT-4o, GPT-4)
• OpenAI Codex (ChatGPT subscription)
• OpenRouter
• AWS Bedrock
• Google Gemini
• X AI (Grok)
• Cerebras
• DeepSeek
• Ollama (local models)
• LM Studio (local models)
• OpenAI Compatible (any compatible API)

During setup, authenticate with cline auth to configure your preferred provider. See setup guide →

What You Can Build

Automated Code Maintenance

Keep your codebase healthy with automated fixes. Cline scans for issues and applies corrections across multiple files.

cline -y "Fix all ESLint errors in src/"

Finds and fixes linting violations throughout your source directory.

cline -y "Update all deprecated React lifecycle methods"

Migrates legacy code patterns to modern equivalents (e.g., componentWillMount → useEffect).

cline -y "Update dependencies with known vulnerabilities"

Identifies outdated packages with security issues and updates them to safe versions.

CI/CD Integration

Integrate Cline into your continuous integration pipelines for automated code review and documentation.

git diff origin/main | cline -y "Review these changes for issues"

Pipes your PR diff to Cline for automated code review, catching bugs and style issues before merge.

git log --oneline v1.0..v1.1 | cline -y "Write release notes"

Generates human-readable release notes from your commit history between two tags.

cline -y "Run tests and fix failures" --timeout 600

Executes your test suite, analyzes failures, and attempts fixes with a 10-minute timeout.

Development Workflows

From quick edits to complex refactors, Cline adapts to your workflow.

cline

Launches interactive mode for exploratory development and back-and-forth collaboration.

cline "Refactor this function to use async/await"

Executes a focused task directly from the command line with approval prompts at key steps.

cline "Based on @src/api.ts, add error handling to all endpoints"

Uses file mentions (@) to give Cline context about specific files in your workspace.

Custom Shell Pipelines

Chain Cline with other CLI tools to build powerful automation workflows.

gh pr diff 123 | cline -y "Review this PR"

Fetches a GitHub PR diff and pipes it directly to Cline for review.

cline --json "List all TODO comments" | jq '.text'

Outputs structured JSON that you can process with tools like jq for scripting.

git diff | cline -y "explain" | cline -y "write a haiku about these changes"

Chains multiple Cline invocations together for creative multi-step workflows.

Features at a Glance

MCP Server Support

Cline CLI supports MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, the same extensibility system available in the VS Code extension. MCP servers give Cline access to external tools and data sources, from databases and APIs to browser automation and project management.

To use MCP servers with the CLI, add your server configuration to ~/.cline/data/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json. The format is identical to the VS Code extension.

Configure MCP servers for the CLI →

Learn More