Cline SDK Skill

Cline SDK reference docs for AI coding assistants. Covers the direct Agent runtime, ClineCore sessions, custom tools, plugins, events, LLM providers, scheduling, multi-agent teams, and production deployment.

For full documentation, visit docs.cline.bot/sdk.

Install

Add the skill to your AI coding assistant for richer context:

npx skills add cline/sdk-skill

This works with Cline CLI, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, Goose, OpenCode, and Windsurf.

Manual install with git

If you prefer not to use npx skills, you can clone the repo and symlink the skill directory into your agent's skill folder.

For Claude Code:

git clone https://github.com/cline/sdk-skill ~/sdk-skill
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
ln -s ~/sdk-skill/skill/cline-sdk ~/.claude/skills/cline-sdk

For Codex CLI:

git clone https://github.com/cline/sdk-skill ~/sdk-skill
mkdir -p ~/.codex/skills
ln -s ~/sdk-skill/skill/cline-sdk ~/.codex/skills/cline-sdk

For Amp:

git clone https://github.com/cline/sdk-skill ~/sdk-skill
mkdir -p ~/.config/amp/tools
ln -s ~/sdk-skill/skill/cline-sdk ~/.config/amp/tools/cline-sdk

For Droid (Factory):

git clone https://github.com/cline/sdk-skill ~/sdk-skill
mkdir -p ~/.factory/skills
ln -s ~/sdk-skill/skill/cline-sdk ~/.factory/skills/cline-sdk

For pi-coding-agent:

git clone https://github.com/cline/sdk-skill ~/sdk-skill
mkdir -p ~/.pi/agent/skills
ln -s ~/sdk-skill/skill/cline-sdk ~/.pi/agent/skills/cline-sdk

You can also use project-level paths instead of user-level paths for per-project installation.

Structure

skill/cline-sdk/
+-- SKILL.md                  # Main manifest + decision trees
+-- references/               # API and concept subdirectories
    +-- agent/                # Agent runtime (4-file pattern)
    +-- clinecore/            # ClineCore full runtime (4-file pattern)
    +-- tools/                # Built-in and custom tools
    +-- plugins/              # Extension system
    +-- events/               # Streaming events
    +-- providers/            # LLM provider configuration
    +-- production/           # Deployment and security
    +-- scheduling/           # Cron and automation
    +-- multi-agent/          # Teams and sub-agents

Decision Trees

The main SKILL.md contains decision trees for:

• Choosing an API surface (Agent vs ClineCore)
• Creating and configuring tools
• Setting up plugins and hooks
• Configuring LLM providers
• Streaming events
• Multi-agent coordination
• Scheduling and automation
• Production deployment
• Troubleshooting

Topics Covered

API Surfaces: Agent (lightweight in-memory loop), ClineCore (full runtime with persistence)

Tools: Custom tool creation with Zod/JSON Schema, built-in tools (read_files, search_codebase, run_commands, fetch_web_content, apply_patch, editor, skills, ask_question, submit_and_exit), tool policies

Plugins: Extension system, hooks, lifecycle stages, distribution

Cross-cutting: Events, LLM providers, scheduling, multi-agent teams, production deployment

License

Apache 2.0 © 2026 Cline Bot Inc.