Cline SDK Skill

Consolidated skill for building AI agents with the Cline SDK. Use the decision trees below to find the right entry point and API surface, then load detailed references.

Critical Rules

Follow these rules in all Cline SDK code:

1. Install with npm install @cline/sdk. The @cline/sdk package re-exports everything from @cline/core, @cline/agents, @cline/llms, and @cline/shared.
2. Requires Node.js 22 or later.
3. Use createTool() from @cline/sdk (or @cline/shared) to define tools. Tool names must be snake_case.
4. Return errors as structured data from tool execute functions. Throwing counts as a "mistake" against the agent's mistake limit.
5. Use lifecycle: { completesRun: true } on tools that should end the agent loop (e.g. a "submit answer" tool).
6. When using ClineCore, always call dispose() when done to clean up resources.
7. The standalone Agent and ClineCore have different event systems. For Agent: use agent.subscribe() to get AgentRuntimeEvent types (text streaming is "assistant-text-delta", result text is result.outputText). For ClineCore: use cline.subscribe() to get CoreSessionEvent types (text streaming is "chunk" with payload.type === "text", result text is result.text). There is no top-level onEvent field on AgentRuntimeConfig -- use agent.subscribe() or hooks.onEvent instead. Do not use event types like "content_update" or "content_start" with agent.subscribe() -- those are internal legacy types from the ClineCore adapter layer.

How to Use This Skill

Reference File Structure

The two main API surfaces (Agent and ClineCore) follow a 4-file pattern. Cross-cutting concepts are single-file guides.

Each main API surface in ./references/<api>/ contains: