Why you'd want it
Cline edits files across a project, runs terminal commands and reacts to their output, and in VS Code and JetBrains each edit appears as a diff with checkpoints so you can undo its work. Plan mode explores the codebase and proposes a strategy before Act mode carries it out, and every edit and command needs your approval unless you turn on auto-approve. It works with Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, OpenRouter, Bedrock, Ollama, LM Studio and any OpenAI-compatible API, and extends through MCP servers, SDK plugins and .clinerules files.
Best for
- VS Code and JetBrains users
- Developers who want to approve each action
- Bring-your-own-model or local-model setups
Use it when
You want an agent inside your editor that asks before each change, and you want to pick the model provider yourself.
Skip it if
You need every client to be open source (the JetBrains plugin is not), or you want an agent that runs without per-step approvals by default.