Default Command
Runningcline without a subcommand starts an interactive session or executes a task directly.
Syntax
Arguments
string
Task prompt to execute. If omitted, launches interactive mode.
Options
boolean
Run in act mode (default)
boolean
Run in plan mode
boolean
Enable yolo mode (auto-approve all actions). Forces plain text output.
number
Timeout in seconds for yolo mode (default: 600)
string
Model to use for the task (e.g.,
claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929, gpt-4o)boolean
Show verbose output including reasoning
string
Working directory for the task
string
Path to Cline configuration directory
boolean | number
Enable extended thinking. Default: 1024 tokens. Can specify custom token budget.
string
Reasoning effort level:
none, low, medium, high, xhighnumber
Maximum consecutive mistakes before halting in yolo mode
boolean
Output messages as JSON instead of styled text. Forces plain text mode.
boolean
Reject first completion attempt to force re-verification
string
Resume an existing task by ID. Get task IDs from
cline history.Examples
task (alias: t)
Run a new task with a prompt. This is equivalent to the default command but more explicit.Syntax
Arguments
string
required
The task prompt describing what you want Cline to do
Options
Same as the default command (see above).Examples
history (alias: h)
List task history with pagination support.Syntax
Options
number
Number of tasks to show per page (default: 10)
number
Page number, 1-based (default: 1)
string
Path to Cline configuration directory
Examples
config
Show current configuration including global and workspace state.Syntax
Options
string
Path to Cline configuration directory
Examples
auth
Authenticate a provider and configure the model to use.Syntax
Options
string
Provider ID for quick setup. Supported providers:
anthropic- Anthropic Claudeopenai-native- OpenAIopenai- OpenAI-compatibleopenrouter- OpenRoutermoonshot- Moonshot AI (Kimi)gemini- Google Geminivertex- GCP Vertex AIbedrock- AWS Bedrockazure- Azure OpenAIollama- Ollama (local)lmstudio- LM Studio (local)
string
API key for the provider
string
Model ID to configure. Examples:
claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929(Anthropic)gpt-4o(OpenAI)kimi-k2.5(Moonshot)gemini-2.0-flash-exp(Google)
string
Base URL for OpenAI-compatible providers (optional)
boolean
Show verbose output
string
Working directory
string
Path to Cline configuration directory
Examples
Bedrock provider requires complex IAM authentication and is not supported for quick setup. Use interactive mode instead.
version
Show the Cline CLI version number.Syntax
Examples
update
Check for updates and install if available.Syntax
Options
boolean
Show verbose output
Examples
dev
Developer tools and utilities.Subcommands
dev log
Open the log file for debugging.Advanced Usage
Piped Input
Cline automatically detects piped input and switches to plain text mode:Image Support
Include images in your prompts using inline references:Resuming Tasks
Resume previous tasks by ID (get IDs fromcline history):