cline/docs/cline-cli/overview.mdx

---
title: "Overview"
description: "Install the CLI, run your first task, and learn to automate code reviews and integrate AI agents into your development workflow"
---

<Warning>
**Preview Release - macOS and Linux Only**

Cline CLI is currently in preview and only available for macOS and Linux users. Windows support is coming soon.
</Warning>

## What is Cline CLI?

Cline CLI runs AI coding agents directly in your terminal. Pipe git diffs for automated code reviews in CI/CD, run multiple instances simultaneously for parallel development, or integrate Cline into your existing shell workflows.

The CLI tracks instances across your system and outputs in formats designed for both humans and scripts—JSON, plain text, or rich terminal output.

<Tip>
Ready to get started? Check out the [installation guide](/cline-cli/installation) to install Cline CLI and run your first task.
</Tip>

## Supported Model Providers

Cline CLI supports multiple AI model providers, giving you flexibility in choosing the best model for your needs:

- **Anthropic**
- **OpenAI**
- **OpenAI Compatible**
- **OpenRouter**
- **X AI (Grok)**
- **AWS Bedrock**
- **Google Gemini**
- **Ollama**
- **Cerebras**

During installation, you'll authenticate and configure your preferred provider using the `cline auth` command.

## What you can build with this

**Automated code maintenance**
- Schedule daily runs to identify and fix linting issues across your codebase
- Create tasks that scan for security vulnerabilities and automatically patch them
- Build scripts that update deprecated dependencies and run tests

**Multi-instance development**
- Run separate Cline instances for frontend and backend simultaneously
- Spawn instances for different feature branches, each with isolated state
- Create parallel review processes for multiple PRs

**Custom workflows**
- Build shell scripts that combine Cline with git hooks for pre-commit analysis
- Create custom commands that pipe complex data structures through Cline for processing
- Integrate with your existing toolchain (jq, grep, awk) for sophisticated automation

**CI/CD integration**
- Add Cline to GitHub Actions for automatic code review on every PR
- Create GitLab pipelines that generate migration scripts from schema changes
- Build Jenkins jobs that use Cline to analyze test failures and suggest fixes

## Hooks integration

[Hooks](/features/hooks/index) let you inject custom logic into Cline's workflow to validate operations and enforce policies. You can enable hooks when running tasks from the command line:

```bash
# Enable hooks for a task
cline "What does this repo do?" -s hooks_enabled=true

# Configure hooks globally via CLI
cline config set hooks-enabled=true
```

This allows you to integrate hooks into automated workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and headless task execution for consistent enforcement across all environments.

## Learn more

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Installation" icon="download" href="/cline-cli/installation">
    Install Cline CLI and authenticate with your account to get started.
  </Card>
  
  <Card title="Three Core Flows" icon="route" href="/cline-cli/three-core-flows">
    Master the three ways to use Cline CLI: interactive mode, headless automation, and multi-instance parallelization.
  </Card>
</Columns>