Authorization

Cline connects to AI models through a provider. You have three common paths:

Cline (usage-billing) (recommended): sign in with Google/GitHub/email, no API key setup.
ClinePass: a $9.99/month subscription provider with access to selected open coding models and 2-5x API rate limits.
Bring Your Own Key (BYOK): use your own provider credentials (cloud or local runtimes).

IDE Setup
CLI Setup

IDE Setup

Open Cline Settings

Click the settings icon (⚙️) in the Cline panel.

Select Provider

Choose your desired provider from the API Provider dropdown.

Authenticate

Cline (usage-billing): Click Sign In and complete OAuth.
ClinePass: Select ClinePass, click Sign In, and subscribe if prompted.
BYOK cloud provider: Paste your API key into the API Key field.
Local runtime (Ollama/LM Studio): no key needed; ensure runtime is running.

Select Model

Choose your desired model from the Model dropdown.

Provider Options

Cline (usage-billing)

One sign-in, no key management
Built-in billing and free model options
Access to multiple providers from one account

Add credits in Cline settings or at app.cline.bot/dashboard.

ClinePass

Flat $9.99/month subscription
2-5x API rate limits for longer agent sessions
Curated open coding models including GLM, Kimi, DeepSeek, and MiMo

Subscribe from the ClinePass dashboard, then select ClinePass as your provider in Cline. See the ClinePass guide for included models and reference pricing.

BYOK (cloud + local)

Cloud Providers

Provider	Best For	Setup Guide
OpenRouter	Multiple models, competitive pricing	Setup
Anthropic	Direct Claude access	Setup
Claude Code	Claude Max/Pro subscription	Setup
OpenAI	GPT models	Setup
Google Gemini	Gemini models	Setup
AWS Bedrock	Enterprise	Setup
DeepSeek	Great value	Setup

Local Models

Run models on your own hardware for complete privacy and zero per-request costs.

Provider	Best For	Setup Guide
Ollama	CLI-based local runtime	Setup
LM Studio	GUI-based local runtime	Setup

Local models require sufficient hardware (especially GPU memory). See Running Models Locally for requirements.

CLI Setup

# Authenticate from the terminal
cline auth

# Shorthand
cline a

Runs the same auth flow as IDE setup.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
”Unauthorized: Please sign in”	Session expired. Click Sign In to re-authenticate.
Browser doesn’t open	Check default browser settings. Copy the URL from the Cline output panel manually.
Frequent re-authentication	Check org security policies. Ensure you’re not clearing IDE secrets. Try a full sign-out/sign-in.
Can’t access organization	Verify membership at app.cline.bot. Ask your admin about permissions. Sign out and back in.

ClinePass Local models

​Menu

​IDE Setup

​Provider Options

​Cline (usage-billing)

​ClinePass

​BYOK (cloud + local)

​Cloud Providers

​Local Models

​CLI Setup

​Troubleshooting

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