Getting Started

Create an API key and make your first request to the Cline API in under a minute.

This guide walks you through creating an API key and making your first Chat Completions request.

Prerequisites

A Cline account at app.cline.bot
curl or any HTTP client (Python, Node.js, etc.)

Create an API Key

Sign in to app.cline.bot

Go to app.cline.bot and sign in with your account.

Navigate to API Keys

Open Settings and select API Keys.

Create a new key

Click Create API Key. Copy the key immediately. You will not be able to see it again after leaving this page.

Treat your API key like a password. Do not commit it to version control or share it publicly.

Make Your First Request

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the key you just created:

curl -X POST https://api.cline.bot/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "What is the capital of France?"}
    ],
    "stream": false
  }'

Verify the Response

You should get a JSON response like this:

{
  "id": "gen-abc123",
  "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
  "choices": [
    {
      "message": {
        "role": "assistant",
        "content": "The capital of France is Paris."
      },
      "finish_reason": "stop",
      "index": 0
    }
  ],
  "usage": {
    "prompt_tokens": 14,
    "completion_tokens": 8
  }
}

The choices[0].message.content field contains the model's reply. The usage field shows how many tokens were consumed.

Try Streaming

For real-time output, set stream: true. The response arrives as Server-Sent Events:

curl -X POST https://api.cline.bot/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Write a haiku about programming."}
    ],
    "stream": true
  }'

Each chunk arrives as a data: line. The stream ends with data: [DONE].

Try a Free Model

To test without spending credits, use one of the free models:

curl -X POST https://api.cline.bot/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "minimax/minimax-m2.5",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Hello! What can you help me with?"}
    ],
    "stream": false
  }'

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
`401 Unauthorized`	Check that your API key is correct and included in the `Authorization` header
`402 Payment Required`	Your account has insufficient credits. Add credits at app.cline.bot
Empty response	Make sure `messages` is a non-empty array with at least one user message
Connection timeout	Verify your network can reach `api.cline.bot`. Check proxy settings if on a corporate network

Next Steps

Authentication：Learn about API keys, token scoping, and security practices.
Chat Completions：Full endpoint reference with all parameters and options.
Models：Browse available models and find the right one for your use case.
SDK Examples：Use the API from Python, Node.js, or the Cline CLI.