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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cline.bot/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

This feature currently only applies to Cline SDK, CLI, and Kanban. This feature is not applicable on VSCode and JetBrains Extension for now.
Plugins extend Cline with custom tools, lifecycle hooks, slash commands, and more. They can be installed globally (available in all sessions) or per-project.

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Installing Plugins via CLI

The cline plugin install command installs plugins from three source types: 
cline plugin install https://github.com/owner/repo.git
cline plugin install git@github.com:owner/repo.git
The installer clones the repository, installs production dependencies, and registers the plugin entry files.To install a specific branch or tag, append @ref:
cline plugin install https://github.com/owner/repo.git@v1.2.0
cline plugin install https://github.com/owner/repo.git@main
Additional flags:
FlagDescription
--forceReplace an existing install for the same source
--jsonOutput the result as JSON (useful for scripting)
--cwd <path>Install to <path>/.cline/plugins instead of the global directory
After installation, confirm the plugin is loaded by running cline config and checking the plugin tab.

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Example: TypeScript Navigation Plugin

The typescript-lsp-plugin is a good reference for how plugins work. It adds a goto_definition tool that uses the TypeScript Language Service API to resolve symbol definitions through imports, re-exports, and type aliases. Install it with: 
cline plugin install https://github.com/cline/typescript-lsp-plugin.git
Once installed, Cline can call goto_definition with a file path and line number to find where symbols are defined, which is much more precise than text search.

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Plugin Manifest Format

For a repository or npm package to be installable as a Cline plugin, its package.json should include a cline field that declares plugin entry points: 
{
  "name": "my-cline-plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "cline": {
    "plugins": [
      {
        "paths": ["./index.ts"],
        "capabilities": ["tools", "hooks"]
      }
    ]
  }
}
The cline.plugins array accepts:
FormatExample
Object with paths array{ "paths": ["./src/plugin.ts"], "capabilities": ["tools"] }
Plain string"./index.ts"
Each path should point to a .ts or .js file that exports an AgentPlugin (either as the default export or a named export). If no cline.plugins field is present, the installer falls back to auto-discovery: it looks for standard entry points, then recursively scans for .ts and .js files (skipping node_modules and .git).

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Host-Provided Dependencies

Dependencies under the @cline/ scope (like @cline/core, @cline/shared) are provided by the host runtime. The installer automatically strips these from the plugin’s dependency list before running npm install, so you should declare them as peerDependencies: 
{
  "peerDependencies": {
    "@cline/core": "*"
  },
  "peerDependenciesMeta": {
    "@cline/core": {
      "optional": true
    }
  }
}

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Plugin Directory Structure

Plugins are stored in the plugins directory at two levels: 
~/.cline/
  plugins/                     # Global plugins
    _installed/                # Managed by `cline plugin install`
      npm/                     # npm-sourced plugins
      git/                     # git-sourced plugins
      local/                   # local-sourced plugins

.cline/                        # Project root
  plugins/                     # Project-scoped plugins
Global plugins (~/.cline/plugins/) are available across all sessions. Project plugins (.cline/plugins/ in your repo) are available only when working in that project.

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Writing Plugins

For a guide on building plugins with the SDK, see Writing Plugins. For the plugin API reference, see SDK Plugins.