How to set up Cline in VS Code, JetBrains or the CLI

Cline is an open source coding agent that runs in VS Code, JetBrains, a terminal CLI and a desktop app, with a human approval step before it acts. Here is a practical setup from the Cline README. Pick where to run it VS Code extension: install it from the VS Code Marketplace. JetBrains plugin: install from the JetBrains Marketplace (IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand and others). CLI, interactive or headless for CI and scripts: npm i -g cline Desktop app for macOS and Windows, which can run sessions in any folder and schedule routines. SDK, if you want to build your own agent on the same engine: npm install @cline/sdk What it does in your project Cline reads your project structure and makes coordinated edits across files. It watches linter and compiler errors while it works and fixes things like missing imports and type mismatches. In VS Code and JetBrains each edit appears as a diff you can review, change or revert, and checkpoints let you roll back the agent's work. It also runs bash commands and watches the output live: installs, builds, tests. For long running processes like a dev server it keeps working in the background and reacts to new output, such as a crash or compile error. Use Plan and Act deliberately Cline has a Plan mode and an Act mode. A good habit: Start in Plan mode and describe the task. Let it read files and propose steps, without changing anything. Correct the plan if it misunderstood the codebase. Switch to Act mode and approve each edit and command as it appears. Keep approvals on The human-in-the-loop prompts are the point. Approve file edits one by one at first, and read every shell command before allowing it. Only loosen approvals for commands you trust, like running your test suite. Headless in CI The CLI can run non-interactively for scripting. Start with read-only tasks, such as summarizing a failing build, before letting it change code in a pipeline. Check the CLI docs for the exact flags, since they change between releases. Things to check Model costs come from your own provider key, so cap usage on big repos. Review diffs for secrets and for changes outside the files you intended. The JetBrains plugin is not open source, per the README. More on Deduped Compare Cline with other tools in best AI repos for coding agents. If you add MCP servers to it, see best AI repos for MCP servers. Want the setup commands for 50 AI repos people actually ship with? Get the free AI Repos That Actually Ship pack: https://dedupedai.com/ship-pack/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=shippack