- Developers who want step-by-step approval control over AI coding actions
- Teams that need an auditable, open-source coding agent with enterprise-grade governance
- Engineers who want browser automation integrated into their coding workflow
Apache-2.0 · Agents
Cline
Open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code that creates and edits files, executes commands, and uses a browser — all with human approval at every step.
59K stars 5.1K forks Apache-2.0 license 2026-06-04 verified
$
Open VS Code → Extensions → Search 'Cline' → Install Open sourceMCP
Overview
What is Cline?
Cline is an open-source autonomous coding agent that runs as a VS Code extension with 5M+ installs and 58K+ GitHub stars. It can create and edit files, execute terminal commands, use a headless browser for testing, and integrate with MCP tools. Every action requires human approval, keeping developers in control while automating complex development workflows.
Human-in-the-loop design
Every file edit, terminal command, and browser action requires explicit human approval with visible diff previews before execution.
Developers maintain full control and audit trail over AI actions, making Cline suitable for production codebases where mistakes are costly.Plan/Act mode separation
Cline separates planning from execution — Plan mode researches and proposes changes, Act mode executes with approval. This reduces errors and keeps the developer in the loop.
Planning before acting prevents the agent from making premature or incorrect changes, especially on complex multi-file tasks.Browser automation built in
Cline can launch a headless browser to test web applications, capture screenshots, verify UI changes, and debug frontend issues.
Full-stack developers can test visual changes without leaving their editor, closing the loop between code and verification.MCP marketplace
Access a growing marketplace of Model Context Protocol servers for custom tools, integrations, and extended capabilities.
Teams can extend Cline with custom MCP servers for their specific stack without modifying the core agent. Install
One command to start
$
Open VS Code → Extensions → Search 'Cline' → Install Use cases
What teams use it for
Ecosystem
Tags & capabilities
Integrations
Comparison
How it stacks up
Choose Cline for governance and control
vs Claude CodeCline offers step-by-step approval, browser automation, and a rich MCP marketplace. Claude Code has deeper codebase reasoning but less granular action control.
FAQ
Questions
What should I check before using Cline?
Start with one safe workflow for Cline. Inspect official setup instructions, required credentials, execution logs, approval points, and failure recovery before expanding from a sandbox task into production automation.
Is Cline open source?
Cline is listed with Apache-2.0 based on the official source links in this profile. Re-check the repository, model card, or docs before production use.
Who should evaluate Cline?
Cline is most worth evaluating for developers who want step-by-step approval control over AI coding actions.
What editors does Cline support?
Cline started as a VS Code extension and has since expanded to support JetBrains, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, Neovim, and a preview CLI.
Decision brief
JSON
Should you use Cline?
- Users who prefer terminal-only workflows over IDE extensions
- Teams looking for a fully autonomous agent that operates without human oversight
- Verified 2026-06-04
- License: Apache-2.0
- Repo: cline/cline
- Open-source signal
Deployment
cloud
Permission surface
browser, shell/files, external services
Decision signals
MCP
Agent packet
Structured decision data for Cline
This packet is the compact machine-readable view agents should use before following source links or taking action.
Capabilities
mcp, browser automation, workflow orchestration
Constraints
open source, mcp compatible
Deployment
cloud
Permission surface
browser, shell/files, external services
Recommended workflows
Browser automation, Coding agent workflow
Overview
What Cline does
What it is
Cline is an open-source autonomous coding agent that runs as a VS Code extension. It can create and edit files, execute terminal commands, use a headless browser, and work with MCP tools — all with human approval at every step.
Why it matters
Cline introduced the Plan/Act mode split that has become a standard pattern across the coding agent space. Its emphasis on human oversight, combined with browser automation and MCP extensibility, makes it one of the most capable and trustworthy open-source coding agents available.
How to evaluate it
Start with one safe workflow for Cline. Inspect official setup instructions, required credentials, execution logs, approval points, and failure recovery before expanding from a sandbox task into production automation.
Facts
Known metadata and operating surface
These fields are separated from editorial interpretation so agents can reason over facts and missing checks.
Resource type agent
Category Agents
Maturity active
Difficulty Unknown
License Apache-2.0
Pricing open source
Verified 2026-06-04
Source confidence high
Risk level elevated
Fit matrix
Where Cline fits in an agent stack
strong
Browser automation
Cline has multiple signals for browser automation, including matching tags, capabilities, category, or positioning.
- Run one non-sensitive website task and inspect clicks, waits, retries, and changed URLs.
- Confirm official docs, current maintenance, license, and runtime constraints before production use.
strong
Coding agent workflow
Cline has multiple signals for coding agent workflow, including matching tags, capabilities, category, or positioning.
- Run a small repository change and inspect the diff, tests, and rollback path.
- Confirm official docs, current maintenance, license, and runtime constraints before production use.
partial
Connector or protocol layer
Cline has at least one signal for connector or protocol layer, but should be checked against a real task before adoption.
- Connect one low-risk service, then inspect schemas, auth scope, errors, and logs.
- Confirm official docs, current maintenance, license, and runtime constraints before production use.
partial
Evaluation and observability
Cline has at least one signal for evaluation and observability, but should be checked against a real task before adoption.
- Add one repeatable test case and confirm results can run again in review or CI.
- Confirm official docs, current maintenance, license, and runtime constraints before production use.
partial
Reusable skill workflow
Cline has at least one signal for reusable skill workflow, but should be checked against a real task before adoption.
- Run one skill end to end and check whether it produces evidence or structured output.
- Confirm official docs, current maintenance, license, and runtime constraints before production use.
weak
Local or private AI stack
Cline is not primarily positioned for local or private ai stack in the current metadata.
- Verify hardware requirements, data path, storage, and whether all calls stay in your environment.
- Confirm official docs, current maintenance, license, and runtime constraints before production use.
Inputs and outputs
What an agent should inspect
Likely inputs
- Web pages, DOM state, screenshots, forms, or browser sessions
- Repositories, files, issues, terminal output, and test results
- Tool schemas, API requests, service resources, and auth scopes
- Prompts, messages, documents, images, or model inputs
- Official setup instructions and a small real workflow
Likely outputs
- Action traces, changed pages, extracted data, or completed browser steps
- Diffs, commits, explanations, test results, or review notes
- A decision on whether this resource fits the target workflow
Evidence
Sources, claims, and missing checks
Claims are marked separately from source links so future crawlers and reviewers can update them without rewriting the page.
GitHub github
Repository source for code, license, issues, releases, and implementation details.
Homepage homepageOfficial or project-controlled source for this resource profile.
Docs docsDocumentation source for setup, API shape, and operational behavior.
Source homepageOfficial or project-controlled source for this resource profile.
Cline is listed as open source.
License metadata: Apache-2.0Cline has a recorded GitHub repository: cline/cline.
Resource facts and GitHub source link.Cline supports these recorded deployment modes: cloud.
OpenAgent decision signal metadata.Cline is tagged with mcp, browser automation, workflow orchestration capabilities.
OpenAgent capability taxonomy.- Repository freshness has not been recorded.
Next action
How to start evaluating Cline
Inspect repository
Check license, recent activity, issues, examples, and security-sensitive code paths.
Open sourceOpen Homepage
Start from the official source before adopting third-party instructions.
Open sourceRead setup docs
Use docs as the source of truth for installation and supported interfaces.
Open sourceInstall Cline
Install from the VS Code Marketplace, then configure your API key and start using the autonomous coding agent.
Open VS Code → Extensions → Search 'Cline' → Install Compare
Alternatives and nearby resources
Use related resources to compare category fit, license, deployment model, and first-workflow behavior.
FAQ
Common questions about Cline
What should I check before using Cline?
Start with one safe workflow for Cline. Inspect official setup instructions, required credentials, execution logs, approval points, and failure recovery before expanding from a sandbox task into production automation.
Is Cline open source?
Cline is listed with Apache-2.0 based on the official source links in this profile. Re-check the repository, model card, or docs before production use.
Who should evaluate Cline?
Cline is most worth evaluating for developers who want step-by-step approval control over AI coding actions.
What editors does Cline support?
Cline started as a VS Code extension and has since expanded to support JetBrains, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, Neovim, and a preview CLI.