Creativity · MCP — client

Cline (formerly Claude Dev) as an MCP Client

Cline (previously Claude Dev) is an open-source autonomous coding agent that lives inside VS Code. It is a fully-featured Model Context Protocol client — configure MCP servers via its settings panel and they become tools Cline can call while it plans, edits, runs commands, and self-reviews inside your editor.

MCP facts

Kind: client
Ecosystem: anthropic-mcp
Language: TypeScript (VS Code extension)
Transports: stdio, http, sse

Capabilities

GUI-driven MCP server management — add, edit, toggle from inside VS Code
Built-in MCP Marketplace for popular servers (GitHub, Postgres, Brave)
Plan/act modes: Cline proposes a plan, then executes with user approval
Works with Claude, OpenAI, DeepSeek, and local models via OpenAI-compatible APIs

Install

Install 'Cline' from the VS Code extensions marketplace

Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/you/projects"]
    },
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"],
      "env": { "BRAVE_API_KEY": "BSA-xxx" }
    }
  }
}

Frequently asked questions

Is Cline the same as Claude Dev?

Yes — Cline is the rebranded project. The extension ID, repo, and marketplace entry all carry the Cline name now; existing Claude Dev installs upgrade in place.

Where do I add MCP servers in Cline?

Click the MCP Servers icon in Cline's sidebar → Edit MCP Settings. That opens cline_mcp_settings.json with the same schema as Claude Desktop. Alternatively use the GUI 'Add server' flow.

How does Cline differ from GitHub Copilot?

Cline is an autonomous agent, not an inline completer. It takes a goal, proposes a plan, and executes edits + shell commands + MCP tool calls with your approval. Copilot completes one line or file at a time.

Sources

Cline — MCP server documentation — accessed 2026-04-20
Cline GitHub repository — accessed 2026-04-20