clineAI - AI Code Assistants Tool

Overview

clineAI (branded upstream as Cline) is an open-source, IDE-integrated autonomous coding agent that plans and executes multi-step development tasks with a human-in-the-loop permission model. The agent analyzes a project's file structure and ASTs, searches and reads relevant files, and can create/edit files, run terminal commands, and use a headless browser to interact with web apps — all while presenting diffs and asking for approval before making potentially-destructive changes. According to the project repository and documentation, Cline can monitor linter and compiler output, iteratively fix missing imports or syntax errors, run dev servers and tests, capture browser screenshots and console logs, and extend itself via the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to add custom tools tailored to a team’s workflow. ([github.com](https://github.com/SKirov82/clineAI)) The tool supports multiple model providers (Anthropic/Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini, OpenRouter and others) and can run either as a VS Code/JetBrains extension or a CLI, letting teams choose local models or cloud inference. Its human-in-the-loop UI records workspace snapshots (checkpoints) and shows diffs so developers can review and restore changes. For teams evaluating agentic tooling, Cline balances automation with explicit approvals and checkpointing to reduce accidental changes while enabling complex automation like refactors, test-driven fixes, and mockup-to-UI conversions. ([github.com](https://github.com/SKirov82/clineAI))

Installation

Install via npm:

Clone the repo (developer/local build): git clone https://github.com/SKirov82/clineAI.git && cd clineAI

Install dependencies (local development): npm run install:all

Build & run extension in VS Code (dev): code . && press F5 (launches Extension Development Host).

Install CLI globally via npm (official CLI): npm install -g cline && cline version. ([docs.cline.bot](https://docs.cline.bot/cline-cli/getting-started?utm_source=openai))

Install VS Code extension from Marketplace: open VS Code → Extensions → search ‘Cline’ → Install. (Or install a VSIX.) ([docs.cline.bot](https://docs.cline.bot/getting-started/installing-cline?utm_source=openai))

Optional: Docker-based run (community instructions vary): docker build -t clineai . && docker run --rm -it clineai

Key Features

• Create and edit files with presented diffs and human approval before applying changes.
• Execute shell/terminal commands and monitor output for build, test, or deploy steps.
• Headless browser automation: launch, click, type, capture screenshots and console logs.
• Project analysis: AST parsing, regex search, and selective file/contextification to scale to large repos.
• Extendable via Model Context Protocol (MCP) to add custom tool servers (Jira, AWS, etc.).

Community

Cline has an active upstream project and documentation, a public Discord and Reddit presence, and formal contribution guidelines and a changelog; the codebase and docs are geared for community contributions and local development. The project is licensed Apache‑2.0 and supports many model providers and deployment modes (VS Code extension, CLI). There has been recent security reporting (the “Clinejection” supply-chain/issue-bot vulnerability was publicly analyzed in February 2026), so teams should follow release notes, verify extension package provenance, and apply recommended mitigations before broad adoption. For install and usage patterns, follow the official docs and marketplace listing. ([github.com](https://github.com/SKirov82/clineAI))

Key Information

• Category: Code Assistants
• Type: AI Code Assistants Tool