Plugins

Plugins extend Cline with custom tools, lifecycle hooks, slash commands, and more. They can be installed globally (available in all sessions) or per-project.

Installing Plugins via CLI

The cline plugin install command installs plugins from four source types:

File URL

cline plugin install https://github.com/owner/repo/blob/main/plugins/my-plugin.ts
cline plugin install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/owner/repo/main/plugins/my-plugin.ts

File URLs install a single .ts or .js plugin file directly. GitHub blob and raw URLs are supported, and remote plugin file URLs must use https://.

Git Repository

cline plugin install https://github.com/owner/repo.git
cline plugin install [email protected]: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/[email protected]
cline plugin install https://github.com/owner/repo.git@main

npm Package

cline plugin install npm:@scope/my-plugin
cline plugin install --npm my-plugin

Local Path

cline plugin install ./my-plugin
cline plugin install ~/plugins/my-tool
cline plugin install /absolute/path/to/plugin.ts

Local installs copy the file or directory into the plugin store. Both single .ts/.js files and directories with a package.json are supported.

Additional flags:

After installation, confirm the plugin is loaded by running cline config and checking the plugin tab.

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.

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:

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).

Host-Provided Dependencies

Dependencies under the @cline/ scope are provided by the host runtime. The installer automatically strips these from the plugin's dependency list before running npm install, so declare any @cline/* package your plugin imports as an optional peer dependency. The host currently provides @cline/sdk, @cline/core, @cline/agents, @cline/llms, and @cline/shared.

{
  "peerDependencies": {
    "@cline/sdk": "*"
  },
  "peerDependenciesMeta": {
    "@cline/sdk": {
      "optional": true
    }
  }
}

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
      remote/                  # file URL-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.

Writing Plugins

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