CLI Overview

Use Cline CLI for interactive terminal sessions and automated headless workflows.

Prerequisites

• Cline CLI installed (install via npm i -g cline)
• Provider authenticated (cline auth) — use the Cline Provider, ClinePass, or your own provider key (Authorization Guide)

Quick Start

# Interactive session
cline

# Run one task immediately
cline "refactor this module to use async/await"

# Structured output for scripts
cline --json "list TODO comments"

Headless mode

Use headless mode for scripts/automation and processable output.

Headless is triggered when using flags like --json, when stdin is piped, or when output is redirected.

When headless activates

Invocation	Reason
cline --json "task"	JSON output mode
cat file | cline "task"	stdin is piped
cline "task" > output.txt	stdout is redirected

# CI/script style execution
git diff | cline "review these changes"

# JSON for parsing: print only the final answer
cline --json "summarize this changelog" | jq -r 'select(.type == "run_result") | .text'

See: Headless Mode

Autonomous execution

For fully unattended runs, use auto-approval:

cline --auto-approve true "run tests and fix failures"

Mode selection also works in headless runs:

# plan-first
cline -p "design migration plan"

# act immediately (default)
cline "apply migration"

Autonomous execution can modify files and run commands without further prompts. Use a clean branch and review results.

High-Value Commands

cline --help
cline <command> --help

Command	Purpose
cline	Start interactive mode or run a prompt
cline auth	Authenticate and set provider/model
cline config	Show the current configuration
cline mcp	Manage MCP servers
cline doctor	Diagnose/fix configuration issues
cline history	Show and manage task history
cline schedule	Manage scheduled tasks
cline hub	Manage local hub daemon
cline kanban	Run the Kanban app

Most-Used Global Flags

Source of truth: CLI Reference

Flag	Purpose
-p, --plan	Start in Plan mode
--auto-approve <boolean>	Global tool auto-approval (true/false, default true)
-m, --model <model>	Override model for this run
-P, --provider <id>	Override provider for this run
-c, --cwd <path>	Set working directory
--config <dir>	Use config directory
--data-dir <dir>	Use isolated local state
--json	Output newline-delimited JSON messages
--thinking <level>	Set reasoning effort: none|low|medium|high|xhigh. Bare --thinking uses medium. Without the flag, Cline uses the level you last chose with /model, or else the provider’s default
-t, --timeout <seconds>	Set task timeout

Automation Patterns

Pipe context in

cat README.md | cline "summarize key setup steps"
git diff | cline "review for potential regressions"

Chain tasks

git diff | cline "explain these changes" | cline "write a commit message"

Restrict command execution

The CLI has no allow or deny list for shell commands. To block commands, use a PreToolUse hook that cancels run_commands calls you don’t allow, like the .clineignore hook.

Include images in tasks

Mention an image file with @ and the CLI attaches it to the prompt:

cline "fix the UI shown in @./design-mockup.png"

Set execution timeout

cline --timeout 600 "run full test suite"

JSON Output Schema

When you give Cline a task with --json, each line is a JSON object with a type. Agent events arrive as agent_event lines, and a run_result line holds the final text when the run finishes. The CLI Reference describes the line types.

Next Steps

• CLI Reference
• ACP — use Cline as the coding agent in Zed, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, and other ACP clients