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The Cline SDK is an open source framework for building agentic applications, and is the same harness used in the Cline IDE extensions and CLI. It uses a plugin architecture that makes it easy to customize and comes with all the features you expect from agents like checkpoints, web fetch, MCPs, cron jobs, subagents, and more. Use the Cline SDK to run agents from CI/CD pipelines, create automations for end-to-end workflows, or embed agents directly inside your products.

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Install

npm install @cline/sdk
@cline/sdk exports all SDK packages: @cline/core for the full agent harness, @cline/agents for the stateless agent loop, @cline/llms for control over the model gateway, and @cline/shared for common utilities. Requires Node.js 22 or later.

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SDK Skill

If you use a coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cline, etc.), install the Cline SDK skill to give your agent context on the SDK’s APIs and best practices to help you build with the Cline SDK. 
npx skills add cline/sdk-skill
Prompt it to scaffold agents, create custom tools, wire up plugins, configure providers, and more.

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Your First Agent

import { Agent } from "@cline/sdk"

const agent = new Agent({
  providerId: "anthropic",
  modelId: "claude-sonnet-4-6",
  apiKey: process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY,
  maxIterations: 1,
})

agent.subscribe((event) => {
  if (event.type === "assistant-text-delta") {
    process.stdout.write(event.text ?? "")
  }
})

const result = await agent.run("Explain what an SDK is in two sentences.")
Here is a complete quickstart example. Clone it and run bun dev to try it.

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Packages

PackagePurpose
@cline/sdkPublic SDK surface (re-exports @cline/core)
@cline/coreNode runtime for sessions, built-in tools, persistence, hub support, automation
@cline/agentsBrowser-compatible stateless agent execution loop
@cline/llmsProvider gateway and model catalogs
@cline/sharedTypes, schemas, tool helpers, hooks, storage helpers
See Packages for package boundaries and exports.

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Next Steps

Examples

Browse complete, runnable SDK examples.

Plugins

Extend Cline’s functionality.

Tools

Add actions the model can call.

Building an Agent

Build a complete SDK agent from a tutorial.