Packages

The SDK is split into layered packages. Dependencies flow downward: core depends on agents, llms, and shared; agents depends on llms and shared; llms depends on shared.

Package Stack

txt

Your application / CLI / VS Code / JetBrains
          │
          ▼
@cline/core
Sessions, storage, built-in tools, hub, automation, telemetry
          │
          ├── @cline/agents
          │   Browser-compatible AgentRuntime / Agent loop
          │
          ├── @cline/llms
          │   Provider handlers, gateway, model catalogs
          │
          └── @cline/shared
              Types, schemas, tools, hooks, extension contracts

@cline/core

Node runtime/orchestration layer.

Key exports include:

Export	Description
`ClineCore`	Main runtime entry point
`ClineCoreOptions`	Constructor options
`ClineCoreStartInput`	Session start input
`CoreSessionConfig`	Session configuration
`SessionRecord`	Persisted session metadata
`AgentPlugin`	Public plugin type
`createTool`	Re-export from shared

Capabilities include:

local/hub/remote runtime backends
session manifests and message artifacts
built-in tools
tool approvals
automation/scheduling services
telemetry hooks
plugin/extension loading
team/sub-agent tools

Depends on: @cline/shared, @cline/llms, @cline/agents.

@cline/agents

Browser-compatible agent execution loop.

Key exports include:

Export	Description
`AgentRuntime`	Core runtime class
`Agent`	Alias for `AgentRuntime`
`createAgentRuntime`, `createAgent`	Factory functions
`AgentRuntimeConfig`	Constructor config union
`AgentRunInput`, `AgentEventListener`	Runtime helper types
`createTool`	Re-export from `@cline/shared`

Methods on AgentRuntime include run, continue, abort, subscribe, restore, and snapshot.

Depends on: @cline/shared, @cline/llms.

@cline/llms

Provider and model layer.

Key exports include:

Export	Description
`DefaultGateway`, `createGateway`	Gateway for creating provider-backed agent models
`createHandler`, `createHandlerAsync`	Provider handler factories
`getAllProviders`, `getProviderIds`, `getModelsForProvider`	Catalog helpers
`registerProvider`, `registerModel`	Runtime registry extension
`ModelInfo`, `ProviderInfo`	Provider/model metadata

Depends on: @cline/shared.

@cline/shared

Foundation package for shared contracts and utilities.

Key exports include:

Export	Description
`createTool`	Helper for creating typed tools
`AgentTool`, `AgentToolContext`, `ToolPolicy`	Tool interfaces
`AgentEvent`, `AgentResult`, `AgentConfig`	Host-facing agent types
`AgentRuntimeEvent`, `AgentRunResult`	Runtime-facing agent types
`HookEngine`, `HookStage`, `HookPolicies`	Hook contracts and engine
`ContributionRegistry`, `AgentExtensionApi`	Extension registration contracts
`ModelInfo`, `Message`, `ContentBlock`	Model/message types
`BasicLogger`, `noopBasicLogger`	Logging contracts

No higher-layer dependencies.

Install

bash

npm install @cline/sdk

@cline/sdk re-exports everything from @cline/core. Install @cline/agents or @cline/llms directly only if you need lower-level control.

Design Principles

Strict dependency direction

Dependencies flow downward only. Lower layers stay embeddable without pulling in the full runtime.

Browser-compatible agent loop

@cline/agents exposes a browser-compatible runtime. It does not own session storage, built-in file/shell tools, hub transports, or Node-specific orchestration.

Core as orchestration layer

@cline/core owns Node runtime integration: session persistence, built-in tools, automation, hub/remote transports, telemetry, and extension loading.